There are the Apple enthusiasts out there who purchase every Apple product without exception. For the rest of the world, however, not every Apple product is created equal, which is why a product like Apple TV remains in relative obscurity when compared to the iPhone, iPad or iPod. This is not to say that Apple TV is not a great product, only that it has not yet achieved the degree of notoriety of other Apple products. In fact, there are probably those out there who have yet to even hear of Apple TV.
Apple TV comes in one small package, and all but transforms a regular television. With Apple TV, consumers can use their television to connect to the Internet and access various forms of media. Basically anything that is available on iTunes can be available with Apple TV. This means that people with Apple TV are spared from making those runs to the video store, and can instead download their favorite movies directly from iTunes. And the same goes with television shows, as most all of them can be downloaded directly from iTunes as well.
In addition to granting access to iTunes, Apple TV allows consumers to access their music library from their home entertainment system. Apple TV networks with the consumer’s home computer and taps into their iTunes library so that it can be played over their television or home theater. This feature resolves the common issue of having an amazing music collection with nowhere to play it but a MacBook.
Now, all this being said, the days of Apple TV may be numbered. A recent article in the New York Times reported that the iPad does most everything that the Apple TV can do. And given that the iPad also provides a host of other capacities, it may make more sense for consumers to make the additional investment, and purchase an iPad instead of Apple TV. The article in the New York Times is titled, “A $30 Cable and an iPad on a Television” because it goes into the fact that with a $30 cable, consumers can use their iPad to send media from the Web to their television.
Of course, as with most other scenarios where consumers attempt to rig things together that weren’t specifically intended for one another, this method has its shortcomings. For instance, many Web pages fail to connect to the television via the cable. Even pages such as Google will not display on a television, so consumers should not expect to do much Web-surfing from their televisions. Nor can consumers access their Netflix accounts via the iPad and signal it to their televisions. Ultimately, consumers connecting their iPad to their televisions are limited to viewing movies, music and television shows from their iTunes library on their television. While other Web pages do work as well, it is kind of hit and miss determining which ones will display on the television.
Connecting the iPad to a television is not difficult to do. Consumers must connect their iPad to the television using a VGA cable, which most new televisions have, and an audio cable, since VGA only transfers video. With these two cables connected, the television should work as an external monitor for the iPad, and consumers can begin experimenting to see which Web pages properly transfer to their television.
