There are many apps on iPad and iPhone that would work equally well on an HDTV and an Apple TV. In other words, portability is not essential for all the things an app can do.
So, why are there not at least some of these useful apps for the Apple TV? There could also be apps that are only for the Apple TV like apps that might need a larger screen. I could see a stock trader using a feed via Apple TV to an HDTV in his office full of stock graphs. Via a Bloomberg app?
Apps by photographers, artists, musicians, etc. could showcase their work via Apple TV. Even magazines could be shown on Apple TV.
Apple should be looking at the Apple TV not as a competitor to people buying an iPad or iPhone but rather much like the Mac Mini. A cheap device that introduces the user to the Apple environment from which they then move up to an iPad, etc.
Lack of apps for the Apple TV is a inexplicably long missed opportunity by Apple.
