Apple TV Already Being Hacked

TunesBoy writes "Only a couple of days after being shipped, the Apple TV is already being modified in a variety of ways. A thread at Something Awful discusses installing VLC, and a dedicated site, AppleTVHacks.net, has appeared and is cataloging hacks including a hard-drive upgrade tutorial. Did Apple intend for the Apple TV to be so easy to upgrade and hack?"

Probably on purpose

[LegionX]

That way they'll save a lot on support (you hacked it, then we don't support you). And later it'll be a lot easier to "open it up" to comply with EU ruling ;)

Re:Why not ?

[ScrewMaster]

jo(e) public buys it so (s)he

One of the most compact examples of political correctness I think I have ever seen.

Re:Awesome!

[ScrewMaster]

If they made it a more generic media centre box, they could probably kill off the windows media center market before it even gets noticed by most people.

I have the feeling that Apple (probably correctly) figures that Microsoft will do that all by itself without Apple having to lift a finger.

The Mac Demographic

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple's customers are like no others--a rich blend of the most sociologically elite [atspace.com] with those seeking elegant [atspace.com], simple computing... Unlike users of Intel/Windows computers, a significant portion of Apple's users are active [atspace.com], exploratory [atspace.com], avant-garde [atspace.com] and early adopters [atspace.com]. The activities they enjoy are unique in the way that they more often incorporate rich media such as video [atspace.com] and music [atspace.com] as well as more active prosumer behavior than many more passive Windows [atspace.com] [and Linux [atspace.com]] users.
                                          — MetaFacts, Inc. [metafacts.com]

With above-average household income and education levels, the Mac population [atspace.com] [is] very attractive [ intellectually [atspace.com] as well as physically [atspace.com].]
                                          — Nielsen/NetRatings (as quoted by C|NET [com.com])

Re:Why don't I just buy a 360?

[Solra Bizna]

It makes more noise than a medium sized air craft at take off.

This is a slight exaggeration. It's actually more like a small truck in neutral.

-:sigma.SB

Re:Awesome!

[Kristoph]

How many people want to be locked into buying videos from Apple?

Totally! I mean, does anyone seriously think any intelligent person would buy media from a company that only played on that companies device?!? I think Apple tried that with that iPod thing and look how that turned out ;-)

]{

The problem with (s)he

[commodoresloat]

It's a good start, but that pronoun clearly discriminates against animals and inanimate objects that one would normally refer to as "it." Thus, for true political correctness, a better gender- and species-neutral pronoun to use is the following:

(s)h(it).

Re:Awesome!

[name*censored*]

*I* laugh at people who use MythTV in Australia, since there is absolutely nothing on TV that is worth watching - there is next to no good local content, and anything from overseas is shown up to 18 months late, so you can download it or buy the DVDs before it even airs here. Spending time and money setting up a box that is basically only good for viewing aired (not prerecorded) content only makes sense if there's something aired that's worth viewing.

PS. By "Media PC", I assumed you meant a PC with lots of disk space for prerecorded media..

Re:20 foot VGA cord

[seanadams.com]

I don't know about you, but the basement I live in is more than 20 feet long.