Apple TV review: A diamond in the rough - very rough

Let's get a few things out of the way first thing. This is not the be-all and end-all of set top boxes. Not even close. In fact, right now the Roku 4 bests the 2015 Apple TV in a whole bunch of ways. Steve Jobs once called the Apple TV a hobby and at no point in its history has it seemed more like a hobby than right now.

The third generation Apple TV felt like a finished product. A limited product, to be sure, but finished and polished. This new fourth generation Apple TV feels like the beginning of something, probably something very big... but almost too early, almost still-in-the-garage early.

Before I go further, I'd also like to establish my Apple TV bona fides. I have owned all three previous generations of Apple TV. There's even a hacked old Gen2 Apple TV in the gym currently running XBMC and Boxee (remember Boxee?). I have two generation three Apple TVs, one I just replaced with this new one, and another hooked up to my iMac and providing me with a fourth screen using AirPlay.

I've been doing set top boxes since they first came out. I go all the way back to VideoGuide. We have a Roku 3 in the garage and a Roku stick in the bedroom. I dropped a Chromecast on my Dad's TV so I can show him puppy pictures and videos when I go over to visit him. So, yeah, been there. Done video add-on boxes.

So, I know what a good set top box is like, and here's the thing: right now, the new 2015 Apple TV is not a good set top box.

Everything I'm about to tell you is fixable, either through software revisions or through growth in the ecosystem. But right now, the new Apple TV is disappointing -- enough so that I'm considering returning mine.