Don’t be so presumptive, I am a software developer I own apple products and write Apps for Apple products and Android products I have several Apple products in my home, I get a deposit in my bank account every month from Apple for products I write and sell for their platform, that doesn’t mean however that I’m a blind fanboy who thinks Apple can do no wrong.
Airplay is another nonsensical thing, I can share video, photos and all that from my iPhone on my TV through my cable box with an APP and countless other ways as well from computers etc. Again, nothing new here, same old same old. This product doesn’t have a real distinct reason to exist.. Its not a class leader, and brings little to the table. This sort of feature is just a commodity, its not a game changer.
Like I said, I view this as an apple fanboy product. It may have been at one time envisioned as more, but all its got is mostly me too-ism, with the sole exception of iTunes integration there is nothing distict or remarkable, at least at this point.
Apple’s probably making a few bucks per unit sold since the hardware in it is nothing more than a few bucks, but there is nothing unique about this product to justify the selection of it over dozens of other offerings, most with the functionality of this device built in with other hardware (game systems, blue ray players, dedicated streaming players etc). 5 years into its life cycle and it really is and never has been anything noteworthy.
Apple may have plans, but after 5 years on the shelves this thing is still completely unremarkable. Its pretty obvious whatever their original plans were for it, they didn’t work out, so maybe they are trying a different tac and something will come in the future that will make it distinct, but at present its just a fan boy device.
AirPlay also allows apps to display themselves on the AirPlay server device -- because of the sandboxing model, one app can't allow a second app to display remotely, it has to be something the app builds in. So, it's not "nothing new", there is value to AirPlay beyond existing apps. The particular value of that feature is debatable, of course.
The ATV is roughly equivalent to the Roku -- the Roku has more "channels", ATV has iTunes store integration. And they're about the same price (and a lot less than Google's TV attempt) for a full 1080p model. There are a lot of hints that with iOS6, we'll see a more open set of "apps" for ATV, but for now, that's just rumor; if true, however, expect to see ATV catch Roku in terms of "channels" within a year or so, while still having the iTunes integration and AirPlay advantages.
I suppose I qualify as an Apple Fan Boy, but you are exactly right, it offers nothing that is not available on a ROKU, I have both of them. I currently have a Mac mini attached to my big screen, but I need a little more horse power, so I am going to put a 21 inch iMac quad core in its place, just run it dark behind the TV, thinking about unplugging the LCD in the iMac to save energy.