Yesterday was Fathers Day. Happy belated Fathers Day to all those dads out there.
I had a great day. My wife and kids took me out to brunch at the Cheesecake Factory here in San Diego. The picture above was taken by my wife of the remnants of her smoked salmon spread. After eating, we went to the Apple store to pick up a better keyboard for me, and an Apple TV.
Of the two purchases, the keyboard is the hands-down winner. I got the Apple Aluminum Wired Keyboard. I have been using one at the office for a couple months, and it is the best keyboard under $100 I’ve ever used.
The other purchase, the Apple TV, was not such a good decision. I admit that I allowed the Reality Distortion Field to consume me. I assumed that like all other Apple products I’ve owned, that this would somehow enhance my life. It didn’t, and I’m taking it back.
This product is simply not up to the high standards of quality user experience that Apple is so well known for. The device seems underpowered in terms of the internal processor – too much lag time in response. In addition, the device doesn’t have nearly enough functionality. The selections are rather limited for content, and while it does work nicely with our two MacBooks and my iPad, I couldn’t get Netflix streaming to work, which I understand is a fairly common problem. I’ve never had to spend hours configuring and setting up an Apple product before. And don’t get me starter on how horrible it is trying to enter secure passwords into a device using nothing but a small (but elegantly designed) remote.
Instead, I’m thinking of getting this: Roku 2050X XD Streaming Player 1080p. I had forgotten about the Roku, but after visiting the site last night, I realized this device does everything I want, for less money, and with less reported problems.
All in all, it was a very good day, and I was reminded of an important lesson: every once in a while Apple releases a product that is a dog. The original Apple TV was not the most well-loved product, and the latest incarnation isn’t much better.
On another note, the Dulce de Leche cheesecake was damn good!
AEC Forensics 