“With Apple effectively announcing the end of all Power-based products, it is really hard to see how Apple hardware can survive until the Intel-based offerings show up. Given that Apple normally isn’t this stupid, it has led many of us to speculate that there is a summer announcement that will provide the market with its next iPod-like offering,” Rob Enderle writes for Designtechnica.
“What makes the most sense to me, and a number of the folks who have written to me, is a Media Center done right. Microsoft’s Media Center remains, much like the pre-iPod music players, too complex and difficult to use for the broad market. By focusing on a great music experience first and the creation of a perfect general-use host for the iPod, Apple could probably light a fire under this segment and dominate it, much like they did the MP3 space,” Endlerle writes.
“It could be based on any processor because this class of product typically does not run general applications. It could get ahead of the curve and release with Intel or with Power PC and be equally successful as a result… One thing is for sure: there is a big announcement coming, and like all things from Apple, it probably will only look obvious from hindsight,” Enderle writes.
Full article here.
YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYES!
Big surprise. Enderho, pulling stuff out of his a** as usual.
Apple + Speculation about really cool new products = applegasm
Oh crap….
I can’t wait! I’m so frickin’ excited!…
I bet it has somethin to do with the remote control tablet whatchamadingle!!!
I want an I-video AirPort Express with an H.264 hardware decoder, and I want it now.
Oops! Sorry. I ment “iVideo”
Please, when has Enderle ever been right about anything Mac related? Apple will survive just fine leading up to the Intel switch, people are making a big deal about nothing.
It’s funny that he actually has a “job” writing this. Go meaningless speculation without basis!
Maybe he took a hint from Thurott and saw the light.
MW= free, as in the truth shall set you free
Wishful thinking yet again. Continue proving my theories writers.. come on!
NEWAYS… As much as I too would like to be true I think Apple will be waiting a bit longer to release a media center… if the ever will. It makes perfect sense for them to go for this one, but still, Apple likes to stay orginal… so there will be a twist.
Both Enderle and Thurrott are intellectual prostitutes. They will do whatever they think will bing them money. The very best response would be to behave as if they did not exist. Apparently, some people cannot resist the temptation to try to respond to them with logic. It will not work, because they are not guided by logic, honesty or decency. They are guided by egos and a desire for money.
MW: lower, as in “they will stoop even lower.”
[I]Given that Apple normally isn’t this stupid[/I]…
Unlike Rob Enderle, who will have to live to the age of a Lord Of The Rings elf merely to live down his ridiculous “iMac G5 is dangerous in earthquakes” criticism.
Seriously, giving Rob column inches is actually more pointless than giving Thurridiot space.
Enderlie had the Intel switch right about a year and a half before the rest of us. Intel is one of his clients. He is a marketing analist and right now he is marketing for Intel. He is probably right. He is on our side now. Get used to it.
Thurrot, Enderle, Enderle, Thurrot, I get these guys confused. I’m starting to think MDN, Thurrot, and Enderle are all the same person and we’re being played like a cheap violin.
Sigh. The reason Apple hardware will “survive” the transition is that the vast majority of Apple’s customers don’t give a flying fig about what processor is inside. Here’s an experiment. Ask random Apple store shoppers what their opinion is on the Apple Intel switch. My guess: most of them won’t know what you’re talking about.
Wouldn’t be shocking news.
Let’s forgive the guy and move on.
He has seen the light as evidenced by his quote “like all things from Apple, it probably will only look obvious from hindsight,”
Amen
I have absolutely no respect for Enderle, but on this occasion there is something that he said which goes along with something I had been thinking.
He mentions that the switch to MacTels will kill the market for Macs and that Apple needs something to bring in revenue during that fallow period.
I don’t think that Mac sales will dive to the extent that many believe. If you use Macs to earn a living and need one, you won’t wait, you’ll buy a Mac and carry on earning money from using it.
I expect sales to dip, but not to dry up.
However Apple do try to keep one jump ahead and while the iPod is doing spectacularly well at the moment, it’s hard to believe that such a staggering rate of market penetration can continue indefinitely. Add that to a dip in Mac sales and you’ll see that a new income stream would be prudent. A new product is needed and now would be a particularly fortuitous time to launch it.
The digital hub has been talked about for a few years now, but in reality, all we have on offer is the digital music player, with a photo feature and a movie/DVD creation system.
I’m not in any way knocking them, they are each superb and they integrate beautifully, but they still don’t add up to a full digital hub. There is no remote control and there is no video streaming. Both of those features are vital to a Digital Hub.
My hunch for a long time has been that the long-awaited Apple tablet might actually appear in the guise of an Apple universal remote control on steroids. If you have any sort of vision, you’ll be able to imagine how that could have immense appeal and sell by the squillion. It could make iPod sales look insignificant by comparison.
It would also be an essential partner to an Apple Media Centre or Digital Hub. You could sell the remote control before the Digital Hub were available, but a Digital Hub without a remote control is only half a product.
So I’m expecting a remote to be introduced and the Digital Hub will appear either at the same time or afterwards.
The potential for such a product is awesome. Apple has the skills, the credibility and the imagination to do this one right. They are already on a high and can create the next big opportunity for themselves.
It fits in with what Apple have been doing over the last few years, it fits in with what Apple are doing now and it fits in with what Apple and Intel can do together in the future.
Steve told us that this year will be the year of HD. I’m sure he was hinting about more than just HD editing. If they get a fully integrated system to control HD video in the home, together with an iTunes HD video store, they can create an entirely new market.
Apple could by-pass all that stuff and go straight to the top of the class. Microsoft is still trying to make the digital equivalent of a VCR. Apple could offer the digital equivalent of the cinema.
“With Apple effectively announcing the end of all Power-based products, it is really hard to see how Apple hardware can survive until the Intel-based offerings show up.”
To quote Bugs Bunny: “What a maroon!” Rob Enderle keeps beating his drums but ignores fact. The fact is that, in the month since Apple announced the shift to Intel based processors, sale of Power PC based computers has gone UP … not down. Apple hardware is going to survive just fine during the transition. Enough people will want to buy new, some will buy because they don’t want Intel chip Macs, and some will buy because they could care less. Thus far, the fears about a crash in the Mac PC sales simply hasn’t come true. I will grant, it’s early yet … and in 2006 we will probably start seeing some dips in pc sales. However, it doesn’t look like it’s going to be as bad as many “experts” thought.
And, of course, ANYTHING AT ALL isn’t as bad as Rob “Apple-Death-Knell” Enderle’s so-called “expert” prognostications. After all, Apple is still open for business even though he said it would be dead “in a year” every year (it seems) since 1984.
MW: club … which is what Enderle should beat his brains out with … assuming he had any.
I will NOT give Enderle a hit on his website no matter what he writes. I would hope that most of you feel the same. He hasn’t changed his stripes; that’s a guaranteed for sure thing.
Me, if I need a new Mac now, I would buy it. I don’t care if I ever use a piece of software written to work with MS OS. Don’t need it; don’t want it! I do very well with all things Mac OS.
I want this more than almost anything!! Like Red Ripe Apple, I also want an iVideo AirPort Express with a H.264 hardware decoder; and like Gambit, I also want the remote control tablet whatchamadingle. I’ve been waiting for this. So hope it’s actually about to happen!!
How aout leveraging their relationship with Motorola and putting OSX in my cable box!!!!
Of course, this speculation is based on Enderle’s assumption that Apple is getting out of the computer business.
What a bozo. He is so far off the mark, I’ll tell you this. There is as much chance of us getting out of computers are there is Me announcing a switch back to G5s because IBM got the 3GHz processor done.
Endrele, the anlayst’s bozo.
My bet is still a Newton sized tablet with a touch screen capable of use as a wireless controller as well as a portable Video playback device with internet access via airport. We may have to wait until the intel portable processor on OSX comes on-line but, if SJ can do a 180 degree turn on other subjects, why then can’t the Newton II rise from the ashes !!
OK – I’m back after reading the article. A bit disappointing. I don’t understand why “One thing is for sure: there is a big announcement coming.” I’m not sure a “big” annoucement in the near future – and I missed why he is so sure of this. Unless it’s because he thinks they need to sell something until the Mactels come out. Seems like a bit of speculation and little else.
He mentions that he doesn’t think the announcement will happen in Boston. Well he got that right! Is there a big Apple thing in Paris in August every year – or am I dreaming that up? When is the next keynote scheduled? Could Aple annouce something “big” without a keynote?