“Long-time Mac users who may have taken a wholly pastoral sojourn in the last 18 months would likely return to the technology landscape, take a quick look around and wonder just what the hell happened in 2004 and 2005,” Seb Janecek writes for Silicon.com. “Apple’s strategy has taken an entirely new direction in recent times with the company treading unknown ground, making sweeping changes to its design ethos and taking risks that a couple of years ago would have been largely unthinkable.”

The debut of the Mac mini, announcing the dropping of PowerPC for Intel-based Macs, the multi-button Mighty Mouse are cited by Janecek as unthinkable a few years ago.

“However, it’s with the iTunes Music Store and the iPod that Jobs has ushered in the single most significant culture change – a strategic shift that has altered the raison d’etre of the company irrevocably,” Janecek writes. “Apple’s evolution into a global media company has been explosive and the company is likely to continue in that vein as it evolves beyond music with the expected move into videos and movies.”

“So what role does the Mac play in Apple’s plans? Many Mac users have become frustrated as the iPod and the iTunes music business rose to the ascendancy and computers seemed to become increasingly marginalised. However, Apple is one of the few computer makers making ground in a tough market,” Janecek writes. “Crossing the divide between content and computer could be an Apple media entertainment centre. Such a device has long been rumoured and may already be here in nascent format in the shape of the Mac mini… Even a Mac user who’s never owned an iPod or downloaded a track from iTunes can appreciate the luxury afforded by the ever-growing revenues they generate which allow the computer business to move to a stronger platform… The future of the Mac may never have looked stronger.”

Full article here.

Related article:
iPod success opens door to Mac OS X on Intel – March 04, 2004