“The ‘Apple Media Center’ din is growing, again. For those of you who dare ride the bucking rumor bronco, you know that the Apple DVR rumor mill reached significant output levels in November of last year when Apple rumor sites reported that their “sources” could confirm that Apple was going to launch a DVR at Macworld in January. At the time I expressed serious doubt, and lo and behold, there was no announcement. The rumor sites, however, were so firm in their predictions that some of the faithful believed that the product was perhaps merely delayed, and would be soon introduced (yeah, that’s the ticket!). The big February 28 show came and went, and still no DVR,” Ken Fisher writes for Ars Technica.
“Now rumors are heating up again because Steve Jobs purportedly said ‘we hear you loud and clear’ in response to a vague question about Windows Media Center. There’s no official transcript and no reliable information, so as you can see, all the pieces are in the right place for another round of rumors. And inasmuch as the topic has entered my inbox in force, I feel inclined to address it again, op-ed style,” Fisher writes.
Full article here.
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Related article:
Notes from Apple shareholders’ meeting: ‘exciting’ TV ad campaign to launch next week – April 27, 2006
Interesting read and perspective
I hope it can record HDTV programs and play them back at 1080i with surround sound.
i hope for existing users it can sync with alchemyTV and EyeTV
I really hope they do this, and Jobs comment is interesting both because of what he said, and the fact that he rarely says even that much.
Of course he could have said that and then followed up with thinking “but we really don’t care”. : )
We all know it will be coming, we just can’t predict when it will happen and what it will be once it does happen. It may have been scheduled for launch and SJ may have pulled it if he felt it was not ready — but we’ll never know the true story. Meanwhile I’m not buying another TV or stereo system until I see what Apple has in mind for my living room.
What shape would it take?
Trapezoidal. That’s my bet. Oh, oh… dodecahedral! Ooh ooh! Elliptical spheroid.
Education means developing a weirder sense of humor. And debt. Lots of debt…
I hope it’s shaped like an apple and has a gum dispencer that dispences apple flavored pez!
I also hope that if I scratch it, it smells like a juicy apple.
I heard that it will be able to teleport you into the tv shows audience so it’s just like you are there!
Jobs is Genius!!
Well… whatever they come up with would need to have really fast wireless (802.11n) so it could transmit the HDTV signal directly to client displays (yes, ma… no wires to the flat panel TV on the wall), in addition to plenty of storage capacity (perpendicular?) for the HD DVR portion and a Blue-Ray HD DVD disc player/recorder for games and movies.
Pie in the sky? No. Perfectly doable within a year or so.
Cha-ching? Yes, you bet!
But I want one already…
I hope they offer an alternative color in black. White and silver do not blend with some entertainment systems.
silver and white don’t blend????
Since when did Apple ever Blend.
The Hi-fi does not blend. It’s different. it amazes me that apple users can’t think different.
An inverted cube. Or like a Victrola.
It will only come concurrently with a iTunes movie store rollout. It will be a complete solution. Not a product looking for a market. Their is no reason for Apple to produce a product which does not provide an income stream from downloads. Full-res TV downloads. “DVD quality” or broadcast quality MPEG 4.
Any shape as long as it has a freaky, funky visualizer.
No
Why? TV’s and computers both jockey for the consumers attention.
TV’s are designed to be watched from far away, to turn a mind off.
Computers are designed to be watched up close and the mind turned on.
I have TV on my computer, do I watch it? No, because online gives more interaction, faster information and freedom of choice.
Computers on the internet give more satisfaction than TV.
It should look more like an iServe than a Mac Mini.
Standard component width so it can be stacked with other equipment.
Clean, simple front in a brushed aluminum finish with one hell of a remote that could even be an ipod.
Oops, I meant XServe. But they could name it with an “i” to follow the sucess of the ipod and iMac.
It will look
like this!
But with a DVD slot instead of a floppy.
Why does everyone want to turn a mac mini into a DVR?
I would rather have a 40″ iMac with a few video inputs as my TV. Have audio outputs for my stereo and iTunes. Hook the cable modem up to it, hook up my DVR/Cable Box, and go with it.
Want to record onto the iMac TV? just record the incoming stream from the DVR.
So, no DVR, but an iMac TV. That would be a killer product!
Also, this removes any patent issues with Tivo. Just bypass it and let them fight it out.
Just a thought.
Ampar – how many people frequenting this site, do you suppose, even know what a Victrola is, or have even seen one up close and in person?
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Black is the new silver again (thank God). We’re finally just barely starting to get back on track with unobtrusive a/v equipment. If you disagree, I bet you just haven’t noticed yet. The trickle down should reach Wally World in a couple more years.
Apple’s high on style for sure, but why make a gawdy case for a tv that will just distract you from what you’re watching? There’s no frame at the movie theater, so there should be no frame in a home theater. I would never try to second guess SJ, but I can’t believe he’d do it any other way. (if he ever does it at all) I can envision a tasteful white Apple logo on the bottom of a matte black frame, a la G3 powerbooks.
Here’s what’ll happen: This fall, they should release MacMini 2.0 with a TV tuner. They will also release a TV tuner adaptor for Intel MacMini 1.x and other forms of Intel Macs. Update front row for TV. Recording TV shows will set the resolution only as iPod format. The file will be protected so you can’t edit those commercials out. No such thing as free TV.
What shape? Why a cube, of course. DUH!
http://getkickedoffaplanewearingthis.blogspot.com/
I hope it works simply. I still can’t program a VCR.
You have a VCR?
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Based on your response (and no one else), I’m guessing two? Chipper but not Nipper remember.
The above post was meant for BuriedCaeser.
iTrolla
Professor: “iTrolla”
That will be name of the Dell or Korean knock-off.
MW: fact
It should have an engraving of an angry, vengeful Greek woman on the top.
Then, they can market it as the “Apple Medea Center.”
Let’s hope it comes in the form of a mac news page where no one advertises their cheesy blogs or kitchen table t-shirt bid’nesses.
Apple will NOT release a media center.
That battle has already been fought and Apple lost.
What they WILL release will be a improved, finally, Hi-Fi Boombox.
Finally with more connectivity and a screen to see across the room.
This is verified, you heard it form me first.
Ampar, when I first read that I thought you said “vengeful Geek woman”! lol
A Cable Card Slot.
Since I already have an EyeTV setup on an iMac with Front Row, I’m most of the way there. Set your Eye TV to output your recordings to iTunes and your shows are automatically in Front Row.
The achilles heel is the lack of Cable Card support. With this, the EyeTV 500 would be able to access encrypted Digital Cable.
pat: “vengeful Geek woman”
That would have changed Euripides story a bit too much. Well, at least Angelina Jolie could play the part.
here is what it looks like. DVR-sized iServe mini.
http://66.134.41.67/~ron/apple/index4.html
Ampar & BuriedCaesar:
Actually the Victrola was a late comer. The early machines I’ve used had foil covered cylenders for the media. These were replaced years later with hard wax, then hard “plastic” (bakelite?) media.
But my Sir Harry Lauder records still play on my Victrola (and my other turntables) at 16 RPM. (The 78s, 45s and 33 1/3s did not come until later.) Of the records I have, my personal favorite is “Coming through the Rye”.
Ah the changes in music media since the days of red wax records! Music has gotten higer in fidelity and then lower in fidelity since then (peaking with the limited edition, very high fidelity LPs).
My vote for a Multi Media Mac form factor? A Mobius Band… and of course it will come packaged inside a Klein bottle. Now THAT would be innovation!
Wonder if the Mac tablet that the rumor mills have been talking about with the touch screen interface is actually the remote control the the Mac media center?
http://www.victor-victrola.com/DUMMIES.htm
very interesting
Apple won’t be producing a DVR anytime soon. As the article lays out so well, that would needlessly cannibalize iTMS video sales. It’s also antithetical to having DRM on all these new Macintel machines, which they do. If you allow digitizing of video willy nilly, and then provide the iLife tools to manipulate it (cut commercials, burn to DVD, and so forth) and essentially you’ve made both things irrelevant – and I just can’t see Apple investing the kinds of time and money they have in both to allow that.
My call at the time was that all this talk about Apple makng a DVR was a poker play, designed to get the recalcitrant hollywood studios to stop dragging their feet and offer content on iTMS. I find it no coincidence whatsoever that literally weeks after that ‘rumor’ hit, suddenly we started hearing how paid-for video downloads was soon on it’s way, and the Disney/ABC?iTMS announcement soon followed. I think the fear that Apple would circumvent the whole paid-for business model, after they showed so much success in music, scared the hell out of every CEO who was stonewalling Jobs to prevent his becoming as powerful in video as he had in audio. They thought that was the least risky way to go, to try to keep Apple from making more money than they thought ‘proper’, and were soon faced with a scenario where ONLY Apple would make money on digitized video. They blinked.
Now that battle is over – the video download genie is out of the bottle, Apple is again leading the pack, and will no doubt ride until there’s no more joy to be had. Until and unless the video download market proves itself to be a dry well, Jobs won’t need a DVR – or the threat of one – again, so I sincerely doubt we’ll see it. If the well does go dry, then everything is fair game again.
“That battle has already been fought and Apple lost.”
Apple LOST? You hae got to be kidding. Windows based media PCs are total crap. Some day soon MS is going to learn the hard way that you can’t just continue to use your large market share as an excuse to continually produce crap products. Everntually, even the most dim witted people will figure it out.
Speaking of dim witted, aren’t there some fries somewhere that need to be salted Andrew?
“Ah the changes in music media since the days of red wax records! Music has gotten higer in fidelity and then lower in fidelity since then (peaking with the limited edition, very high fidelity LPs).”
Oh Yeah! Those special pressings on virgin vinyl played through a good system were SO enjoyable. I loved when the neighbors would come out on their porches and scream at me to “Turn it DOWN!!”
Ahh… good days.
Here is what I think: Apple will release a Blue Ray Mac Mini and a price drop for their 23″ Display. This would cost more than a regular Mini but less than an iMac.
I hope it can help you travel at light speed, cure aids and change your hair color, with a 3 button remote control