Apple TV Ups the Game Yet Again

I've had an Apple TV for a while now and always loved it. Having this little device in my living room that allowed the family to play our whole music library on the stereo, rent movies and watch videos on the big screen television was all awesome.

Then yesterday they pushed out a software update that made me love this little device even more. It also means that once again, my love of Apple products and their ecosystem has been renewed.

Usually, a software update isn't that sexy or big of a deal, but this one was because of two major features they added in.

Vimeo Integration

I've been a user and fan of Vimeo for a long time. They've always allowed and embraced long form video and has been haven for digital storytellers who were limited by the time limits of YouTube and other sites. I've always found the Vimeo community full of creatives and every day I could discover something new there.

They've had a watch later feature for a while, that I use when I don't have time to watch a video I've found. Now, I'm going to be using this to flag videos that I'd rather watch on a larger screen. It also means that I know when I have those nights where I can't find anything stimulating to watch elsewhere, I'll fire it up on the screen and click around.

Full Access to Purchased Television Shows

I've never understood how this wasn't already a feature. I buy a lot of television seasons via iTunes and if I had the files on my computer then I could stream them to the Apple TV, but now the device does it directly. This means the episodes can stay in the cloud and I don't have to download them. Plus, they have all my previous purchases so I can go back and watch an old episode if I feel like it.

While I don't know the numbers on how many people currently own an Apple TV, this is yet another win for all video creators and another headache for the cable companies. I love it!