Last week I finally caved in and bought an Apple TV. I got it off Craigslist, new in the box, for $60 less than buying it from the store.

I wish I’d bought one ages ago.  My wife and kids can easily use the interface to watch TV shows, photos, podcasts and movies. We’ve also found purchasing and renting movies quite convenient: click “rent” and the movie is ready to watch (almost instantly).

Blockbuster recently joined the digital media game with its own box.  I can see Blockbuster having a slight advantage in that they have existing retail stores from which to promote their new box. However, I think a lot of this is about how “cross-platform” a given solution is.

When I buy a movie on iTunes, it becomes available to my wife’s iPod, my iPhone, our home iMac, my work Macbook and our Apple TV. That makes it a convenient, and attractive, choice for homes that already own one more of those Apple products.

This kind of cross-platform functionality just isn’t there for the competition: Vudu, Roku, Xbox 360, TiVo, or Blockbuster.