Apple no longer includes the Apple Remote with very many machines, but this article that is 17 months old gives you some good reasons to go and purchase the $19 item
Ross McKillop wrote it for simplehelp.net in April of 2007.
All the software he mentioned is free and/or open source. At least of the date listed.
The list is:
1. iRed Lite – your Apple Remote on steroids
2. iTheater – an open source Front Row alternative
3. iAlertU – good luck stealing my MacBook from the inet cafe
4. Aurora – never get out of bed to hit Snooze again
5. Pandora Boy – Pandora + Apple Remote = bliss
6. Using the Apple Remote in Linux – for the dual-booter in all of us
7. Tip: Pair your Apple Remote w/ your Mac
8. Tip: Put your Mac to sleep w/ the Apple Remote
9. Tip: How to listen to Internet Radio in Front Row
10. Tip: How to play backup DVD’s (Video_TS) in Front Row
He goes into great detail about all of these items. Of course, there is probably updates to some of them by now.
Check out the full article with comments here.
