Does anyone else groan when people exert all this effort to be part of a closed ecosystem that Apple only tolerates to remain competitive? I thought it was a joke after the first paragraph to be honest, it sounds like someone being sarcastic about Apple dragging their feet.
Still don't know why people want Smart TVs anyway. Buy a GBox Midnight, flash j1nx's nightly build, use uPnP to push content to your TV. So simple, your mom can do it. Mine complained and then was queueing stuff up faster than I was able to.
Blech, I'm so tired of hearing people complain about Apple's "closed ecosystem." Seriously, we get it; you don't like buying a device you don't have absolute control over. Though, you do realize that a lot of people LOVE buying closed systems and breaking into them, right?
This website is called Hacker News, not "So simple your mom can do it News." The fact that someone class dumped the ATV's private headers, provided the tools to create 3rd party apps for it, and even lists POI for the API is amazing! That's hacking. That's fun. Telling someone to buy an $80 Android box just to be done with it is curmudgeonry and is, well, boring.
>you do realize that a lot of people LOVE buying closed systems and breaking into them, right?
Yeah, that's probably the common starting point for me just "not getting it".
>Telling someone to buy an $80 Android box just to be done with it is curmudgeonry and is, well, boring.
Yeah, how dare I recommend a cheaper solution that already has an open development platform for it without having to rely on Private Headers that are likely to break and forcing me to kowtow to Apple. It's "cool", but I don't know why ANYONE would want to expend any effort to create an app usable by almost no-one. That's why my comment is relevant to "hackers" who want to build something useful for other people to use.
There is some really special irony that allows you to mock me for wanting control of my device and then turning around and acting like I'm an idiot for not wanting a locked down device JUST so that I can jailbreak and use private headers to develop for that almost no one will be able to use.
Also, if you're paying $80 for the cheap Linux/XBMC set top boxes, you're paying way too much.
Sigh, this comment makes me kind of sad. It shows a lack of understanding of the tinkerer/hacker mindset.
People enjoy doing what they're told not to. Half the fun of owning an Android phone is overhauling the UI, flashing a completely different ROM, and over clocking it to test its limits. Sure, you could just buy a phone and be done with it, but why? Isn't it fun to which your tech speed up, be altered, and even sometimes break? It's the feeling that you're making it YOURS. Not to mention that you learn so, so much in the process.
Remember, hacking isn't about making something that everyone will use. If so, then why aren't hackers making Angry Birds or Microsoft Word? Hacking is about pushing the boundaries, sharpening your skills, and hopefully learning in the process. If I were to make an AppleTV app(liance) that I really liked and put it online for 3 people to download then I would be happy. That's 3 people's AppleTV's who are better due to my hobby; isn't that great?
Also, please note that I never meant to "act like you're an idiot." I disagree with your viewpoints but I'm sure you're intelligent; you come to HN, don't you? :) I'm just tired of people who complain about Apple's "closed ecosystem" and then turn around and suggest an Android system which usually involves rooting (Android's "jailbreak") and flashing a custom ROM. Android actually is more involved than jailbreaking an iPhone is as far as time, energy, and scope go. I apologize if I took my frustration out on you but this whole "anti-tinkering mentality" that's being spread solely because people dislike Apple is getting to me. Technology should be about having fun using and abusing your systems!
> I'm just tired of people who complain about Apple's "closed ecosystem" and then turn around and suggest an Android system which usually involves rooting (Android's "jailbreak") and flashing a custom ROM. Android actually is more involved than jailbreaking an iPhone is as far as time, energy, and scope go.
Nothing about creating an app for Android or GoogleTV requires any of those things. "Jailbreaking" my phone involved plugging it in and typing two solitary commands. On my old phone it involved three. The Android set top boxes come with root out of the box and have no signature protection in recovery.
Well, jailbreaking an iDevice usually takes one click or a visit to a website. I was just noting that many people forget that "rooting" is, in principal, the exact same as jailbreaking.
Jailbreaking is not nearly as easy as you make it out to be, and you don't do anybody any good by exaggerating it like that.
A viable jailbreak for iOS 6 has only just become available, and all indications are that it will stop working with 6.1.3. Maintaining a jailbroken device is requires fairly substantial effort and research, and extreme care when it comes to OS updates and device restores.
I didn't mean to make jailbreaking sound "easy" or exaggerate the effort involved but my point still stands; to jailbreak iOS, the end user only really needs to do one step.
Sure, there are versions without jailbreaks and there are updates you can't use but that's beyond my point. I never said that jailbreaking an iDevice is easy for every version and that it's permanent; I said that only one button is needed to jailbreak a device. Remember, there are Android devices that can't be rooted, flashed, or updated, too. Risking the loss of updates comes with the territory of hacking any device (see Xbox 360, PS3, Hackint0shes, and more).
If you're talking about the exploits themselves, then I'd just like to say that I've watched the method to jailbreak progress from "one symlinked folder" to "6 kernel and user land level exploits." Discussing the complexities of how a jailbreak is achieved is beyond the scope of what I was saying, though.
So, uh, you had to restart the device? You're specifically talking about placing the phone in DFU mode which is restarting the phone and holding the home button while it's turning on. I really don't mean to sound crass, but that's hardly painful.
Assuming this was supposed to be a reply to me, I can't tell if you missed the part with the timer and the multiple attempts to get it right, or if you just don't think it's relevant, or what.
They're rarely "only one button" these days. Last time I jailbroke, I believe I had to, approximately, restart the device while holding down buttons in a precisely timed sequence (the jailbreak app actually had a built-in timer to help) while sacrificing a live chicken over the dock cable. (I did make that last part up.) I had to try it several times before I got it right.
For very creative definitions of "usually". I watch the iOS jailbreak scene as most of my friends have such devices. Exploits that easy haven't been around for a while now.
This conversation is quickly becoming pointless anyway.
It is amusing however to watch my karma bobble with intervals of 4 as people vote enmasse by username.
The objection is not that you're an idiot for not wanting a locked down device. It's that you're a socially inept whiner for showing up in stories about Apple products to complain that Apple continues to make Apple products rather than Android products.
You'll note we're not in your Android threads telling you how much better Apple products are–at least, not on HN. The conversation is one-sided. We understand why you like what you like, there's no need to barge into our conversations to condescendingly remind us that Apple is Apple. We get it. If you can't understand why we might value other things besides openness, it's your limitation, not ours.
Still don't know why people want Smart TVs anyway. Buy a GBox Midnight, flash j1nx's nightly build, use uPnP to push content to your TV. So simple, your mom can do it. Mine complained and then was queueing stuff up faster than I was able to.