I suspect that iTunes will remain the name going forward, much as we have stores like “Tower Records” still in existence. And I, like you, suspect that the future for the mac mini is as a media center type of PC, something I initially talked about almost 5 years ago. Since then, though, I’ve come to think that Steve Jobs does not want to mix the entertainment experience with the computing one so the mini is a bit of an odd bird these days…

I also think that the Apple TV and the Mac Mini would form the perfect merger. A ‘casual’ computer that could offer basic functionality as a home computer, but would excel at functions with regards to entertainment would give Apple a real way in to the Media Centre market.

I’m not yet over-40 (getting pretty darned close though) but the reality is that most of the new technologies are aimed at the sub-30s crowd, whether it is in music or in the rest of the consumer electronic space. We can wish it otherwise and it’s true that there are MANY customers over 30 but it appears that the primary concern of electronics manufacturers are to ensure support in this sub-30s crowd.

Decrying that reality does not make it go away, as you rightly point out

I think Hamranhansenhansen was taking exception to your statement that the “stereotypical Apple customer” was under 40.

The reality, I believe, is that the bulk of music consumption is by teens to 20-somethings (that period when they have a lot of time & energy, some spending money, and not yet saddled with career and family). This is not specific to Apple or the iTunes store. As an older music appreciater myself, I also believe that the over-40 crowd is a fairly wide tail, but it doesn’t wag the dog.

Thanks for the insightful & thought-provoking analysis. It should be fun to see where this all goes. I’d like my appletv to be more useful.

Cheers,
Nathan.

As the former owner of a Sinclair zx81, I would beg to differ on the idea that the Mac was the only interesting computer in the 80s. I also believe that the Amstrad line in Europe and the Commodore 64 were interesting machines

As far as music, you’re inherently wrong. Most of the music from the late 80s didn’t involve the mac.

And Tim Berners-Lee did indeed invent the web a while back but I think it was around 1991, if memory serves me right (I administered sunsite.unc.edu, which we launched in 1993 and was one of the first 25 sites on the web)

However, while what you point out is interesting, what does it have to do with the discussion at hand?

Young whippersnappers, etc.

Thanks for mentioning that. You know, I had totally missed that. I just checked the resolution on my macbook and you’re right. I think iTunes LP can go full screen ( wasn’t that part of the demo during its introduction?) but will have to double check.

Brilliant line of thought. I hadn’t considered the http streaming but your analysis makes total sense and seems to tie into the idea of broadcasting from the iPhone. One could easily charging for some “live report from the scene” for example.…

Thanks for sharing what you found.

I suspect we may see an AppleTV version of Safari, but probably without Adobe Flash (in a fashion similar to the one on the iPhone)

Thanks for the comment,

True, tools like Tunecore are indeed part of the equation in today’s world but what would happen if Apple decided to disable access to the iTunes store from it? What if iTunes Connect were the only way to get onto iTunes? Would artists then abandon Apple?

iPhoto and iMovie are indeed consumer tools but I’m sure that they could be an entry. There’s a lot of consumer generated content out there that, for one reason or another, does not necessarily need high production value. So your assumption is based on the concept that Apple would need to make many changes to “professionalize” those tools, which I suspect is a flawed assumption.

As far as video editing built into the OS, if the core separation of tracks, frames, etc… could be easily access through some of the QT API, some new tools could emerge. Not sure of what but my gut tells me that directionally, it might work. And direct publishing from the OS might allow someone to use any professional tool and publish to store with a single click.

You have the right to feel my assumptions are incorrect and you are right that I’m projecting based on those assumption but that’s what prognostication or forecasting is about.

And guess what, they don’t pay 30% commission, but $0.99/track

And iPhoto, iMovie or iWeb are great tools to create content you want to share with your family and frieds, but not for things you want to sell, that should be pretty obvious, there is no indication what so ever, that Apple intended otherwise.

I have no Idea where you are going with that idea that video editing is build into the OS. Even if it was, you can only clip the beginning or the ending, how useful is that for content producers who want to be payed for that content.

Whatever, you build your ideas on wrong assumptions and make up things as you go. Alas, kudos for getting featured on DF for this BS.

Michael suggestion of an Airport like device that you stick into the back of your TV is also bang on, although this will, of course, cost an extra $50.

Any parallels? See where I’m going?

With HTTP streaming, while you do have some non-trivial setup on the recording side (camera + encoder + stream segmenter software), the complexity is entirely on the local side and from there the result “just” needs to be sent as it is recorded to regular HTTP hosting (which of course you’ve made sure has sufficient bandwidth to serve the connections you’ll get). While one could make a permanent TV channel with this tech, this strikes me as so last century, instead I think it will be more for event-like things, for instance an indie band could record and broadcast its concerts– live. I think it has the potential to generate a revolution similar to the “radio libres” (a movement in France in the 70s-80s similar to that of LPFM broadcasting in the US).

The other interesting question is since Apple will provide an HTML engine in the AppleTV, will they let us browse the Internet?