Macworld Expo: Thursday Supplements

Some one-day-later follow-ups to yesterday’s coverage:

1. I admitted yesterday that, spurred on by the hardware price drop, rental movie service addition and direct iTunes Store access inclusion (not to mention the Prying Eyes and hacking possibilities), I dropped $200 on a refurbished Apple TV on Tuesday after the keynote. Less than 24 hours later, it was sitting at my front door. Wow. Granted, Apple’s warehouse is in Elk Grove, a two-hour drive down the highway from me, but…wow. Especially considering that shipping was free.
2. Now that my new toy is sitting here, I tread water until the firmware upgrade that’ll unlock its added capabilities arrives. While I wait, my mind wanders…the unit supports 720p video output, but will I be able to play high-def rental content untouched over Apple TV’s component video connections, or did Hollywood insist on Apple down-scaling the material unless I tether the unit to my TV over HDMI? Note: neither cabling option is included in the box. Fortunately, I have spares of both. Shades of Sony…
3. Speaking of rentals, the non-technical ‘press’ are such sheep (or, if you prefer, cattle) sometimes. Countless audience members whose post-keynote accounts I read dutifully regurgitated the fact that playback over Apple TV began only a few seconds after Steve Jobs kicked off the rental content download. Nobody comprehended that Jobs’ demo system might have been fed by…oh…a T1 line, mebbe? Or even more likely, tethered to an iTunes Store server mirror sitting off-stage? And that your progressive download instant-gratification mileage might vary under more mainstream connectivity conditions? Baa…moo…and boo-hoo…
4. And speaking of Hollywood-induced usage restrictions, folks have already figured out how to get around the rental content’s 30 days/24 hours limitations. Now lessee…how do I change the system clock setting on this Apple TV…???
5. Nice to see that the new Apple TV firmware will also support AirTunes audio streaming from a PC. As soon as I confirm that Rogue Amoeba’s Airfoil will be Apple TV-cognizant, I can retire my Airport Express, since I’m not using its additional features (Wi-Fi access point and USB print server support). Anyone wanna buy a gently used unit, including a Griffin AirBase, off me?
6. I may have spoken too soon yesterday; it’s not yet clear if Time Capsule can be used as a generic NAS, or if it only supports Time Machine backups. If the latter, the unit’s already dubious price justification is even less defensible. Readers, if you find out the definitive word here before I do, please let your fellow Brainers and I know.

Followup: I admit it, I broke down this afternoon and hooked up the Apple TV. No new firmware yet, therefore no rental experiences to share, but I did briefly enjoy some interesting, albeit incredibly upscaled and artifact-ridden, YouTube clips (Mahalo Daily’s ‘Steve Jobs 90 Minute Keynote (in 60 Seconds)‘ was particularly useful for this perpetually time-strapped senior technical editor).