My wife and I share a Mac and use separate iTunes libraries for our iPods/iPhones, but I can’t find a way for her to purchase content using the AppleTV (which is on the living room TV that we both share as well) and have it go into HER iTunes library…

Think different Apple, think FAMILIES!

I have friends come over for dinner - and after dinner we listen to music, chat and watch any number of the literally 20,000 digital pictures scroll by. (Been shooting digital since 1998)

or we surf YouTube - or, now, watch a vid pod cast. My son wanted to know what the international space station looked like - poof Nasa Podcast all about it. How cool is that?!

It makes for a fun thing to be enjoyed. It is simple and it works because or in spite of it’s simplicity.

1. No adjustable aspect ratio. Some TVs don’t offer that, and Apple’s DVD player offers it.

2. Menu navigation got harder with having to go to main menu, and having to go to shared movies and shared tv shows for streaming videos from your computer. Both should be grouped together.

But so few journos get it. I’ve berated two senior tech journos in Oz because they’ve taken Apple’s “If it’s on iTunes it’s on Apple TV” marketing line literally, declaring the Apple TV useless because the Oz iTunes Store doesn’t do TV programs or movie rentals (yet). Um, like… duh. I’ve also had a heated email exchange with the editor of an English Mac magazine, whose editorial policy regarding the Apple TV seemed to be to tear it down because it was an easy target and, in the larger picture, a relatively insignificant one.

I’d really like to see writers, especially at sites such as MacObserver, place more emphasis on the Apple TV’s versatility. Ted touches on it in this column but doesn’t go nearly far enough. I’ll give you an example. I partner a photographer to create wedding packages. When clients visit me to see a photobook layout, I can “softproof” it for them using the Apple TV and a slideshow by exporting the photobook as a PDF and bringing each page back in to an image slideshow. The client gets to watch the show on a large LCD panel from a comfy lounge. Sweet. Neither of us need to be in my office, which is a cramped place for any more than one person and therefore not a space conducive to selling.

FYI, I recently replaced my 802.11n Airport with an 802.11g wireless modem router. I’m not experiencing any negative impact as a result, although my Apple TV always displays synced rather than streaming content. I’ll try streaming a movie from a computer and check the result.

I am a little annoyed with how often the interface locks up, even when just trying to move the cursor. I have an Airport 11.n base station and a fast (24Mbit/ps) ADSL connection, so I don’t know why this is happening. With the previous version, 1.1, it would only lock up when syncing or sometimes when browsing YouTube or downloading YouTube and trailer videos. Now it’s widespread.

The update is unquestionably worth doing, however, even though here, in Australia, there is nothing extra in the way of movies and TV shows. I can buy music and music videos and directly access podcasts, which will make the Apple TV far more feasible here where video content can’t be purchased or rented.

Apple needs to release a fix for Apple TV that will allow continuous looping of Music Video playlists. (You are currently limited to viewing one video at a time and are thrown back to the main menu to select another video.) I’ve read all the mainstream reviews of this excellent product but no one seems to be reporting this sorely lacking feature. If you go to the Apple Support forums on Apple TV you’ll find literally hundreds if not more of postings about this subject. I love the new upgrade and am wowed how Apple incorporated Airtunes into the product! Bravo! But this continuous playback of music videos feature has been lacking since the initial 1.0 version and lots of people were expecting the upgrade to fix this. Myself and countless others have purchased many music videos in hopes we could make a playlist for parties and let itunes continuously play them… similar to audio only music. Apple should implement what seems like a minor fix or explain why they can’t.