“Apple is at a crossroads where it must decide what it will be over the next decade. It’s not the first time, either. In the late ’70s it set itself up to be the inward-focused, proprietary computing wunderkind it became in the ’80s. In the late ’80s, it set itself up to be the flailing, disorganized disaster it became in the ’90s. In the late ’90s, Steve Jobs set Apple up to be the streamlined, user-focused, iPod-fueled juggernaut it is today,” Jon Fortt blogs for Business 2.0.
Fortt asks, “So it’s the late ’00s. How’s Apple setting itself up this time around?”
“Let me be the first to say that anyone who claims the ability to specifically divine Apple’s future is delusional; the best any longtime Apple watcher can do is read between the lines. That’s what I’m doing here,” Fortt writes.
Fortt writes, “And to me, it looks as if Apple’s positioning itself to be the Sony of this century, only without making clock radios, movies and TV shows. Apple’s focus remains on crafting software and hardware that’s an indulgence and a delight for everyday people, it just wants to take that philosophy beyond the computer and into more facets of life. (Sony followed a very similar path after its early success with tape recorders and transistor radios.)
Fortt writes, “At the foundation of this move by Apple is not the Mac, not the iPod, but iTunes… And that’s why every new device Apple introduces – Apple TV, iPhone, you name it – will connect to iTunes. Apple wants to grow iTunes into the control panel for our digital life.”
Full article here.
Where are my coffee grinds so I can read them too!
Honey! Don’t forget to tell iTunes to do the laundry tomorrow!
Apple has already decided what it’s going to be: not a computer company, but a consumer solutions company. Apple is taking everyday products/services that people need or want and is redesigning and enhancing them to be what they should be – easy and pleasant to use, packed with features and hidden gems, and cool. Whatever the next trouble area for technology solutions, Apple will be there.
Fortt is wrong about iTunes. Apple’s key for success is OS X; that’s what everything is being based on. iTunes may be the catch-all front end app, but you need the power of OS X to be able to handle all of the data, sync info, create projects, manage files, etc. That’s what these analysts don’t understand, and it’s why Apple will continue to release great products packed with features while their competition doesn’t.
I’d say an Apple branded HD TV is next. Of course it will integrate with iTunes!
That article had some Fortt (at)titude.
Without a doubt, an Apple HDTV is coming. They’re just waiting for the internet to catch up to HD content. I’d peg the release in 12 to 18 month – perhaps a little longer. But there’s no way that Apple will settle in long-run having other TV vendors display it’s beautiful software offerings. Not a chance.
How long before they change the name of iTunes or comes out with a new front end software tha is iTunes, but so much more? They are already up to version 7, I bet this year they come out with something new, but it will be similar to iTunes.
While we would all like to believe that everything is based off of osX you must think of how many itunes users are on windows machines. Steve wanted the mac to be the digital hub and for many of us it is. However, through the release of itunes on windows it has become the digital hub of most computers; be it a mac or windows. The beauty of it is that most people don’t realize that itunes has become their hub. The only company that seems to sense this is MS with their updated version of windows media player. I think OSX is much better than windows but many people do not. So, itunes is the way for Apple to be the center of your digital universe regardless of which OS you have on your system. People are still using windows, despite its shortcomings, so Apple is going to conquer your digital world through software and not hardware.
It took some forttitude to post that!
J
Rock on G-Spank… with a fully integrated OS X 10.5, bluetooth, wireless networking, iTV, maxed out HD (i’m talking about TB’s!!) BlueRay drive, DVR functionality … and something cool no one even knows about yet (its the apple way). Apple is going to rock the next decade.
I like OS X too, but realistically iTunes is truly the ultimate key to it all. No matter whether they use a PC or a Mac, all of those tens of millions of iPod users must install iTunes (along with QuickTime). Apple TV and the iPhone are likely just the first in a line of additional gadgets that will link with iTunes as well.
I’d say an Apple branded HD TV is next. Of course it will integrate with iTunes
and of course with built in apple TV
I wouldn’t be suprised to see apple sell apple TV to other manufactures either
This guy gets it. I suspected this to be true back in 2001 when the iPod came out and every year more and more devices and content interface through iTunes. Soon we’ll have smart appliances that hook up through iTunes, and WiFi cars also. The possibilities are endless. iTunes is really the “killer app”, not the devices. M$ and Sony should be peeing themselves as they quake and tremble before the master of all things techno-cool, the omnipotent Steven P. Jobs!
I would be very surprised to see Apple do a TV set. They already did and it was miserable in the market place. Apple has it covered with the set-top box, let the others battle it out on low margin TV sets.
Apple likes high margin products.
If this guy got it, he’d know that iTunes is software. It requires a computer to run it. The Mac, iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV all have one thing in common: they’re computers.
Apple is avoiding the use of the word computer because 90% of computer users associate that word with trouble. Why wouldn’t they? They’ve been using the world’s most problematic OS.
Okay, now that we have the iPhone rumors out of the way, let’s get the ball rolling on those Apple HDTV rumors.
I said it before and I’ll say it again, I can think of a better way to widen the distribution pipe:
I don’t really see Apple doing a hi def TV. Too much low end competittion. Now if you mean something like a 37″ iMac, then sign me up! It would be worth 3 grand to me.
the specs need to be better (contrast-8000:1, 500 cd/m brightness, <5ms response)
Plasma would be a welcome.
Definately wall mountable.
Wow! A journalist who actually does research into the topic and makes sense! Well, there’s at least one out there.
I predict that Apple will retire the Macintosh and perhaps the PC as we know it. Here’ some clues:
1. Steve Jobs said when he first came back to Apple that the PC wars were over. Microsoft won and Apple was going to move on to the next big thing.
2. Apple renamed every computer in it’s product line to include Mac in the name. Perhaps to differentiate it from whatever replaces the Mac when it is retired.
3. Apple removed the word Computer from their name.
4. Apple releases iPhone with a new multi-touch user interface which it has spent years developing and patenting in over 200 areas.
5. Adobe takes 2 years to update their software for Intel. Is that really what’s taking so long or are they developing Photoshop and other aps with dual interfaces to work both on current Macs and with top secret, new, non-Mac, OSX running devices which will have a multi-touch interface?
I think there is a lot more going on here than meets the eye. It’ll be fun to watch.
Alec-
Don’t forget them saying “I bury Paul” at the end of “Strawberry Fields”.
Oh, dam. I’m in the wrong story…
Apple will not relinquish the Mac. However, Apple will set the standard for integrating digital information, entertainment, and communications; and networking these functions simply and seamlessly with collaborative devices and technologies. When Apple talks about “ecology” and “environment” it’s not just pedagogic embellishment wrapped up in bewildering geek-speak. Your iPhone, desktop Mac, notebook Mac, iPod, AppleTV, radio, and other home and business appliances and devices will be intrinsically linked. Individual users will be able to effectively manage their personal lives in ways that are only just beginning.
I don’t think Apple need to change their cleverly chosen name ‘iTunes’ for what seems to be becoming their central co-ordinating platform for their devices.
Tunes suggest a whole lot more than music …. as in … all devices playing to the same tune (whether it be data exchange, sync, video, hd, some future superdooper media). The word “Tunes” is more generic and has shades of meaning far beyond just audio tracks.
iTMS is one of Apple’s least successful products. If the iTunes store vanished tomorrow the iPod would still be successful. Since most people don’t get their music from iTMS, most wouldn’t care.
Use your own moniker, asshole. Don’t plagiarize or forge threads unless, of course, you are too dimwitted to conjure an original thought on your own.