“Where others saw nothing beyond a pitched battle pitting peer-to-peer networks selling stolen music versus generic but expensive CDs in hermetically sealed cases, Steve Jobs saw iTunes,” Bob Evans writes for InformationWeek.
“Where others saw smartphones and notebooks converging into hybrid devices that offered nothing new and often failed to match up to the performance of either original product, Steve Jobs saw the iPad,” Evans writes. “And now, where others regard the nascent generation of sprawling new data centers as little more than highly automated powerhouses for online operations, Steve Jobs could well be seeing a new broadcasting network.”
Evans writes, “While others might call Apple’s nearly complete $1-billion facility a data center, Jobs might be calling it his all-digital, all-customizable, all-streaming, and all-Apple broadcasting system and network of the future.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “W.T.Effyall” for the heads up.]
You didn’t hear? Apple is starting an iPorn streaming business. Typical Steve mindset, condemn an industry and then reinvent it.
Steve Jobs: Inventor of Global Television
And how will he get the content providers to go along with the plan? Discuss.
I wonder what type of servers they use in that data center?
No Xserve in the $1-billion facility a data center though, is there?
OK TIGER LEOPARD – Back up your weak attack.
Facts on iPorn = NONE
Lets hear the typical mindset examples ??
You just can’t handle the truth……loser!
I’ve been saying this for years. If Apple ever offers (through iTunes and Apple TV) unlimited music, TV shows, and movies – streaming, on-demand, the entire catalog of each category ever released – I will be the first in line. I don’t care if it’s $200 a month.
Imagine being able to think, “Hey, I’d like to watch/listen x, y, or z”, and whatever it is, you can do it.
Awesome!
Apple.tv?
I just checked.. Apple.tv is the address that links to the AppleTV site. Kind of a no brainer, but cool nonetheless.
If Apple wanted to, they could get the ATV into about 20 million homes and pitch the networks:
“Hey, its just a tiny sliver of the market, let’s try it out..”
Remember the iPod?
@Tommy,
Tiger Leopard was being sarcastic. Look back at some of Steve’s comments re: porn.
Sweet hope the war with Oceania will be on…
We are the all singing all dancing crap of the interwebs.
I’ve been saying this since the beginning: Apple hates diluting their brand with the frustrating, expensive and unfair dealings of Mobile carriers. This datacenter is not for building a content network. There’s too many obstacles to overcome with content owners. No, this datacenter is for Apple’s VoIP service, coming next year to Mobile Me subscribers. Apple’s been determined since the beginning to turn the carrier’s into the dumb pipes they deserve to be. This is them making that happen. Remember, you saw it here first.
Strange idea. It is as if the writer can only see the old network model and thinks an Apple server farm must be to recreate the same thing on line.
So far, the Apple way has been to provide tools for being creative and quality hardware on which to do it. They have not succumbed to providing pabulum for the masses or to controlling the experience in ways that limit the choices the users really want.
I hope things stay that way. It will be something of the future all right. I don’t think labeling it broadcasting or network has much meaning.
@John Smith
VOIP is already available. The data center is just for Apple to continue to be Apple. I am sure Mobile Me will be part of it. Devices that can compete with larger computers with less resources and more portability. This continues to be the course.
@ JMO and I CAN HAZ XSERVE?
It really isn’t that hard to find the info about what Apple is using at the NC data center.
Here is another job posting on Apple’s site for a position they’re trying to fill. This gives you a good idea of what Apple is using there:
http://jobs.apple.com/index.ajs?BID=1&method=mExternal.showJob&RID=63055&CurrentPage=6
Lots of high-end IBM servers like the P Series here:
http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/power/
As far as this article, it’s interesting speculation but we’ll see. I’m not holding my breath.
@ Not Bill
I agree wholeheartedly with both of your posts.
The last paragraph of the extract uses the word “might” more than I would like.
Nick Carr might just be guessing, and Bob Evans might be publishing nonsense. However I would like to think that they might be right.
@ alexkhan2000
Quite, hence me saying there aren’t Xserve in there! If Apple themselves weren’t using Xserver, then …
…
I wonder if we’ll get OSX Server on IBM or Oracle hardware?
I suppose this had to happen. I guess I’m a bit surprised it has taken this long for all the speculation to start heating up. But, as usual, it’s all vaporware until Apple says what it is.
I just kinda wish it was some kind of fab for Apple chips.
You’ve been a naughty boy. No Xserve for you.
So that’s where all the unsold xservers were taken. That billion dollar building will have the best run equipment known to man… Well maybe not so well known.
iChannel
For free live TV on your iPhone try here:
http://www.filmon.com/tv/?mid=13
(there is some porn in that one, so careful about telling your kids)
And here:
http://veetle.com/index.php/mobile
@ I CAN HAZ SARCASM?
Sorry, kind of hard to see the sarcasm (especially without smileys) when quickly browsing through these posts.
I’ve been trying to get people off the notion that Apple uses their own servers to run a $65 billion operation (and growing at over 60% rate) and manage 160 million iTunes customer accounts as well as build a streaming cloud service out of that NC data center.
I really don’t think IBM or Oracle (although close partners of Apple’s) would be interested in the OS X Server software. The volume would still be too small for what they do. It has to make business sense for both IBM and Oracle and I just don’t see it.
And why would HP and Dell be interested in offering it when HP has their HP-UX and they both have Windows and various flavors of Linux? Why would they want to do *anything* that helps Apple when Apple is beating the crap out of them in the consumer space?