As stated in today’s Wall Street Journal, the silver square known as Apple TV seems small, in actuality it represents a huge media and technological revolution. Apple TV wirelessly connects your widescreen TV to computers in your house and the internet with a few clicks of a button; putting your music, videos, and photos from iTunes at your finger tips.

With this new device Apple has done the unthinkable again, making a complex idea seem so simple and easy to use. Apple TV is smaller than typical DVD player’s and cable boxes, at only eight inches by one inch, and has a forty gigabyte hard drive, Intel processor and a modified Mac operating system that is compatible with both Windows and Mac computers (old or new).

Not only is the device easy to use, but setting up the system is quite easy to follow and navigate through. Just plug in the Apple TV with one cable and from there the device will find and connect to your home’s wireless network almost instantly. To link your new Apple TV up with your computer (can link up with a maximum of six computers in the house), simply enter a five digit code that appears on your Apple TV start up screen into your personal iTunes. Any music, videos, or photos that are on your iTunes is immediately replicated on to Apple TV’s hard drive andt can be displayed or played on your regular TV.

Now with every new product comes a few minor “issues”, and the Apple TV is no exception to this concept. For instance, Apple TV cannot stream video or audio directly from the internet. Currently it can only temporarily connect to the internet to preview movie trailers and short music clips. Nor will Apple TV allow you to purchase music and movies directly; one must purchase those items on iTunes on their computer and then upload it to their Apple TV. The good news is that Apple has stated that they plan to resolve both of those complaints with future upgrades.

Apple TV’s biggest competition is the Xbox 360 gaming console (which happens to be distributed by Microsoft), which has the capabilities to play content from Window’s computers on to the TV and allows users to purchase and download movies and TV shows from the internet (something Apple TV cannot do). But have no fear, Apple TV still has the advantage because the Xbox 360 costs 50% more and can only hold half as much content.

Generally speaking, Apple TV is an easy to use technological device that represents another new era of well designed products from Apple Inc.

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