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For Easy, Economical, First Class Service, Fly Apple Air!

By Chris Aykroid November 28 , 2017

Sit back, relax and experience the geography. The world is an interesting place, since the advent of the Internet, it has become even easier to see.

Last year I received an Apple TV as a Christmas gift, the 4th generation 64 gig version. Having been an Apple lover for, well almost since the beginning with the original Mac in 1984. I use a MacBook Pro, have an Iphone and wear an Apple watch on my wrist. my original interest in the Apple TV was the "airplay" feature where you can wirelessly share your screens from other devices such as an Iphone , Ipad or Laptop. I wanted to use my flatscreen monitor to assist in my work as a designer. Over time I started appreciating many other features on the device, not only the many channels available for entertainment, like many of the networks, Hulu, Netflix, and many news outlets. I use the "Streaks" workout, the Lynda.com app for training almost every morning.

Another great feature that Apple has added to the 4th generation are the screen-savers. The are quite unique in the industry, using drones to record video of many cites and geographic areas in several views. Cities like San Francisco, New York, London, Hong Kong and Dubai. In addition, I have seen scenes from wilderness areas in Hawaii, China and Greenland, views probably never see even with a helicopter and a guide.

My favorite "Fly-Over" on the Apple TV is the city of Dubai in the UAE, (United Arab Emirates). Many of the fly-overs have several views but Dubai is the most spectacular.

See them in motion here

If you have a Mac you can download all of them here

I love this aerial "Look down" video of of the downtown area right over the excavated river called Dubai Creek. The impressive thing other than the video itself is the development of this relatively young city. You get to see this canal, that they have named a creek, carved out of the landscape by actual humans, (as you do further research on the city, you find there are even more impressive human achievements). As the drone flies down the creek you see the vast number of new completed buildings as-well-as projects in progress. As you watch you will see yachts in the water, some in motion, cars driving over bridges, lots of building details, some being balconies, heli-pads and even rooftop pools. In all of the times I have seen this it's sequence, I always look for a person out on a balcony or walking down the street, though I have yet to see a single one. In another Apple" Look down" fly-over, on the California coast, in Santa Monica, the Apple drone makes it's way over the beach and Santa Monica Pier where you can see thousands of folks out enjoying the beach or even on the pier itself with the Roller Coaster and Ferris Wheel in the shot.

Back in Dubai I am wondering about the sheer number of people and their stories. Most of these, judging by the pools, are residences or hotels and all obviously by "well-heeled" folks. Not being only intrigued by the thought of it, but I'm looking forward to writing more about the people of Dubai, maybe even as some kind of fictional work such as a thriller or action novel.

The super cool thing about today's technol

ogy is with Google maps or Google earth, you can find the address you are looking for and go to "street view" and just walk up to the front of the building you are looking at. If it's a commercial property, business or a hotel, you can go to their website to find out even more information.

The forward looking fly-bys are also pretty amazing, both in the blue hour of dusk. The lights on the Burj Khalifa strobing and the fountains shooting. Downtown busy with moving commuters busy getting to home or where ever they are going,

After having the screen savers running on my TV for this long, not only do I feel like I know Dubai fairly well even though I have never been there, I also am having the the same experience with London, San Francisco, New York and Hong Kong.

If you are looking for a unique gift for the holidays this year for a friend or even yourself, I high recommend the Apple TV. Even if you only use the screen saver function, this will certainly add to your enjoyment of your television and the world.

If you want to see all of the Apple screen savers, check out this page

Please comment and let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you for reading!

Downtown Dubai Apple fly-over of the man-made

Dubai Creek that runs thru downtown

A "fly-by" of the Burj Khalifa and other buildings

Downtown Dubai Apple fly-over "Look Down" of the main street

Downtown Dubai fly-over "fly-by" of downtown.