Trevor is right in the fact that it does take a bit extra technical know-how to even consider setting up an Xbox for media streaming. Most users are intimidated by that or don’t even realize you can do it. Apple TV is pretty obvious about what it does — stream media to your TV.

Another advantage of Apple TV is that it is truly cross platform. As long as you use iTunes, you can stream from Macs and PCs. Connecting a Mac to an Xbox is basically a hack, and most Mac users I know don’t even bother with it.

Regarding the iPhone, I don’t think it’s fair to compare the price of the iPhone to the price of a PS3. They are two different products that serve very different markets. PS3 is targeted specifically at high-end gamers and technophiles and people who generally understand the underlying technology of the system. It is also competing with Xbox and Wii, products that typically cost no more than $300 and that actually have content available for them. Compared to those systems, the PS3’s relatively high cost and lack of content doesn’t seem like a good value.

The iPhone, on the other hand, is geared towards a mobile technology lifestyle crowd (IMHO). It’s designed to be a tool in daily life to get stuff done while still being able to offer a bit of entertainment along the way. People using the iPhone most likely won’t understand or even care to understand how it works and what the underlying technology is. They just want it to work. Compared to the other smartphones on the market, the iPhone does offer a lot for its premium price, namely usability, connectivity, integration, and, of course, style.

Given the right service plans, the iPhone could be a great device for me. I spend a lot of time out and about, and it would be sweet to be able to get general net access in a sleek, attractive, and easy-to-use device that syncs (hopefully, easily) to my Mac. I’m very picky about user interaction and user experience, and, so far, all of the currently available smartphones have failed on that front.

It’s a lot like the success of the iPod. Feature-wise, it’s not all that different from other MP3 players out there. What sets it apart from the rest is how easy it is to use the iPod and how simple it is to sync music and videos from iTunes to the iPod. The iPhone looks to be on the same path.

I realize this is very geeky and takes +average knowledge, but man is it fantastic. I have been watching video podcasts on a 52″ TV for over a year now; much better experience than a ~19in. monitor.

As for the iPhone; wow. Amazing product (like you said, danny), but the price! People bitch about the PS3 (that plays blu-ray, games, and runs linux; i’m saying that and I HATE sony) being 600 bucks, but they will praise this phone for ever.