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On Apple Remotes and Remotely Controlling Apples

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Last week Erin and I gave in and purchased Apple TV. What is Apple TV? you ask. Well, it's a little black box, about the size of a coffee shop brownie, that sits next to your TV and allows you to access YouTube and Netflix on a screen bigger than your laptop's. This doesn't sound very magical, but our family watches a lot of YouTube (as you can tell by my frequent video links), and Netflix Instant has finally matured to the point were I can browse and find videos old and new that are worth watching. Hello, David Attenborough documentaries!

There are a couple of downsides. The biggest is that Hulu isn't available through Apple TV. Boo! Erin suspects this is because Apple would prefer to charge you $2.99 per episode of popular TV shows rather than letting you get by on your $8/month Hulu Plus subscription. I guess you gotta love the player but hate the game.

The other downside was more minor, and fortunately easy to fix: the infrared remote that comes with Apple TV likes to simultaneously talk to any laptop within earshot (eyeshot?). Fortunately the interwebs provide an easy fix, which simply involves unlinking the remote from your computer. Duh, I guess.

The note of remotely controlling someone else's computer reminded me of this xkcd cartoon:


This gives one pretty good ideas about how to prank one's office mate or spouse. Others include turning on voiceover narration in Universal Access, which allows a Steven Hawking-like voice to narrate the user's every move: "Safari, Dock, Finder, search for 'turn off voice.'"
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Leah Bennett said…
first, i'm jealous you got the MacTV... maybe we'll get one someday :) second... hilarious comic strip :)
April 23, 2011 at 1:26 AM
Bonzer said…
Then there's my personal favorite, using mobileme to send a loud beep and message to Lindsay when she's forgotten to turn the ringer back on.
May 13, 2011 at 9:27 PM
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