“With everyone focused on the incredibly expensive acquisition of YouTube by Google, attention once again drifted away from the Apple connection to Google and what may be the big long term plan jointly being executed by both companies,” Rob Enderle writes for Digital Trends. “Microsoft’s Media Center and Intel’s Viiv initiative have fallen way short of expectations and neither Tivo nor 3rd party PVR’s have successfully filled the gap either.”
The door is currently “open to someone that can connect the dots between on-line rich content and the living room experience we seem to want, but are currently not getting,” Enderle writes. “Apple has the upcoming iTV and a demonstrated capability of making the overall user experience vastly better than we have now. The iPod not only demonstrated that Apple understands what the market wants but that, even after Apple demonstrated the solution, that most competitors still don’t get what makes the iPod a success. But Apple really doesn’t, by itself, have a good delivery or video file management system for the content already on the web. With YouTube, they get content and content management, and with Google they get access to the massive amount of dark fiber (high speed data lines that Google has purchased but which currently are not being used).”
“The resulting power of the combined entities could be enough to open up the other movie studios and accelerate the movements of the networks to provide their content libraries over this new service. Cable and DSL suppliers should not only be worried but Cisco and Microsoft as well because, should this be successful, Cisco and Microsoft’s efforts could be rendered obsolete,” Endlere writes.
A possible Apple-Google merger that “would allow Steve Jobs to finally follow Bill Gates and Scott McNealy into a more formal semi-retirement” in the full article here.
When Enderle leaves out his usual forced pro-Microsoft / anti-Apple comments, he makes for much more interesting reading. While we don’t foresee a merger or any evidence that Jobs is looking forward to retirement, it would be very interesting to see what two powerful allies such as Apple and Google could conjure up together.
Related articles:
Enderle: ‘4th quarter will be Apple’s hardest since the first iPod Christmas’ – September 18, 2006
Enderle: Microsoft Zune ‘a design mistake’ – September 15, 2006
Enderle: Anticipating an Apple-Google Merger – September 05, 2006
Enderle details his idea of ‘Apple’s Leopard Strategy’ – August 14, 2006
Enderle: Microsoft’s ‘iPod killer’ Zune is ‘brilliant strategy’ – July 24, 2006
Enderle on what it would take for Microsoft to kill Apple’s iPod – July 10, 2006
Enderle spouts some incredible nonsense about Apple iPod+iTunes – July 07, 2006
Enderle: If Apple can’t double market share it will abandon Macs – May 02, 2006
Enderle: Apple as Windows OEM – April 10, 2006
Enderle: Apple’s Boot Camp allowing Windows on Mac ‘could change PC landscape as we know it’ – April 06, 2006
…’But Apple really doesn’t, by itself, have a good delivery or video file management system for the content already on the web.’
What does Enderle really know of Apples file management system? In the past he has proven over and over he doesn’t know shit.
I consider Enderle articles unconditionally worthless.
I don’t know about the conclusions but Enderle is merely pointing out the obvious to a tech clueless public/investor.
YouTube comes to FrontRow thanx to Google?
This is one of the more coherent speculation pieces I have read to date, regardless of author.
Apple+Intel+Nvidia+Google+Disney+SAP?
DingsA?
apple merger with nintendo / disney / google, change accordingly every week
Well over a year ago, Dave Winer was publishing that he had it on good sources that there was an iTunes/Google collaboration in the oven. Nobody paid much attention at the time but perhaps they should have, given recent circumstances and developing inter-company relationships.
We demand Core Porn!
MDN magic word: meet?? That should have been meat??
Is meat sencored word in the USA??
When are people going to get it? The majority of people don’t want total convergence of the computer and the living room TV.
Interesting suggestion by the doofus. maybe he read this?
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/Q4.06/F9CDD0D5-6239-489A-8A45-8AB702939731.html
I don’t see SJ retiring any time soon. I think he loves the business too much. Bill Gates was more of a software guy that was thrown into a position where he had to run his company. Jobs is a pure businessman. I think Jobs is more like Sumner Redstone, and will run his company as long as he can. Since Sumner is about 214 years old, I think SJ will be around awhile.
This article from last week is significantly more insightful
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/Q4.06/F9CDD0D5-6239-489A-8A45-8AB702939731.html
Five Ways Apple Will Change TV: 3
Daniel Eran is true genius and he explains the whole lanscape better than anybody has.
If anybody is interested in this topic Roughly Drafted is a MUST READ.
Daniel is the new Neo. Heck, he is much better than Neo and what he is writing about is the real Next Wave of the Internet.
ex-Neo fan, now Roughly Drafted fan.
Daniel Rules.
“When are people going to get it? The majority of people don’t want total convergence of the computer and the living room TV.”
Since when is this ‘total convergence’. It isn’t. It’s adding content to the living room, not taking it over. People aren’t likely to use their TV sets for their computing, but it would be nice to bridge the content gap for video since many people are getting video content from the internet.
Bill Gates?
More like William Gates III rich bitch III.
He has super rich mom and dad behind his fortune.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Gates,_Sr.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Maxwell_Gates
I’ve made the point about the Apple/Google alliance having Google supply the bandwidth for Apple’s multimedia download needs. Bandwidth to the home is in a choke hold applied by the local telephone and cable companies. I expect Google to break that hold using wireless technology. They already concentrate caching servers in shipping container sized units that can be dropped off wherever needed. They just need to add wireless delivery and the ISPs can be bypassed. Google and Apple might well be planning to play this win/win game. Something has to give for downloading HDTV content to be practical. Sometime during the transition to HDTV I expect the Apple/Google plan to be launched.
SJ loves what he’s doing, no way he’s retiring.
Wait until the iCon shows up on youtube for ipod specific downloads. Hello social network, listenup Zune bois.
Will youtube have a special place in itunes with folders and playlists.
Bill Gates = William Henry Gates III
DAD = William Henry Gates II
Owner of the Preston Gates & Ellis
Preston Gates is ranked among the top 100 law firms in the United States by both The American Lawyer magazine and the National Law Journal.
MOM = Mary Maxwell Gates
Mary Maxwell Gates is one of the biggest owners of the First Interstate Bank of Washington.
“
“When are people going to get it? The majority of people don’t want total convergence of the computer and the living room TV.”
Since when is this ‘total convergence’. It isn’t. It’s adding content to the living room, not taking it over. People aren’t likely to use their TV sets for their computing, but it would be nice to bridge the content gap for video since many people are getting video content from the internet.
“
Yeah, I should have read before I posted. I thought it was pushing media center idea. I definitely see a need for iTV and I’ll probably get one.
In general, Enderle is a Fsck Nut. In this case, he has had a moment of clarity and sensibility – incredible!
Right now I have a dedicated Mac hooked up to my LCD HDTV and I use it to watch movies from the Internet. It’s also good for reading PDFs in a format large enough to be read from across the room and games take on a new dimension. I think the iTV is going to be a much cheaper solution to the system I’ve set up and it will be the next step towards computer/television convergence.
I probably won’t buy the 1st generation, though. I’ll wait a year for the technology to mature and get the bugs ironed out (always a wise decision for any of Apple’s 1st gen products).
b
“The majority of people don’t want total convergence of the computer and the living room TV.”
I support that idea “b” but I would like to know where you found that statistic so that I too can use it with some degree of credibility
b: “The majority of people don’t want total convergence of the computer and the living room TV.”
– I disagree. I think a more accurate statement would be, “The majority of people don’t want the current form of convergence between the computer and the TV.”
I think that once a good product is made, people will buy it to replace their TV/Computer systems. The 24″ iMac and the Mac mini are both products that are getting close to the TV/Computer holy grail. It really isn’t a stretch to imagine a 30″ plasma screen TV with a harddrive and processor in it and wireless peripherals. It’s just a matter of putting the mini into a TV or putting some audio/video inputs and better software into the iMac.
People are already connecting their DVRs, DVD players, VCRs, game consoles, and cable boxes to their TVs. Why not consolidate that all into one box that just so happens to include a state of the art operating system as well?
I bet that ahole hopes Steve Jobs retires. I pray he doesn’t.
“When are people going to get it? The majority of people don’t want total convergence of the computer and the living room TV.”
Disagree. Being able to view “TV-like” stuff like the videos on YouTube on your big screen television will be HUGE. As an owner of AAPL stock, I’m salivating over what’s coming in the next few years.
As macromancer pointed out, my original statement was off topic.
But I’ll stand by my “When are people going to get it? The majority of people don’t want total convergence of the computer and the living room TV.” This is what media centers do, and they are not successful. You could argue, that’s it because they suck, but I think if a lot of people really wanted it, it would happen. They’ve been out long enough.
As far as viewing TV-like stuff on TV’s, that’s not total convergence of the PC and TV and iTV will go towards solving that.
To realist, I can see a 30″ TV with an embedded computer and operating system (hopefully that never crashes or bogs down) for increasing media enjoyment, but this will not replace someone’s computer. Especially if there is more than one person living in the house. PC computing is a very individual experience. How often do you sit in front of the computer with someone and surf, write an email or paper, update your quicken, edit movies or photos? What I do do with others in front of the computer is view photos, home movies, downloaded TV. Again, solved elegantly by iTV.