“Apples have a storied history. Eve allegedly ate an apple from the Tree of Knowledge, giving her great insight into the world. On a sleepy Sunday afternoon, an apple dropped onto Isaac Newton’s head, causing him to discover gravity. And during the Great Depression, former stock traders began selling apples as a means to get by,” Joe Small Cap writes for Seeking Alpha. “Remarkable, really. For such a relatively benign fruit to have such a history is impressive. But more impressive than the history of Apple the computer company? I’m not so sure.”
“The global market for video games and consoles has reached $67 billion, and is expected to hit $82 billion in another 4 years. Constant rumors of Apple’s around the corner video game console have persisted for quite some time. The funny thing is, Apple’s video game system already exists,” Joe Small Cap writes. “Much like Siri is Apple’s default search engine project, it seems increasingly clear to me that a combination of Apple TV and an iOS device is Apple’s clandestine path into immediate gaming success. And remember, this is a market where a combined 150 million console units have been sold between Xbox 360 and PS3. The stakes are high, and after 7 years since their respective releases, the video game market is relishing a new product.”
Read more in the full article here.
“Joe Small Cap,” eh?
Two problems with this story, one historical, the other current but of an historical nature:
1) The apple didn’t hit Newton on the head… http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2010/01/newtons-apple-the-real-story.html
2) If the gaming industry has a seven year lead on Apple much the same that Google Maps has a multi-year lead on Apple, why is that Apple is thought able to conquer the game console industry but not the maps industry? (Google Maps went live in Feb., 2005 http://www.google.com/about/company/history/)
Actually there is a third problem with the story. The Bible says Eve (and then Adam) ate fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Nowhere is this fruit identified as an apple.
In Latin, the words for ‘apple’ (“mālum”) and for ‘evil’ (“malum”) are nearly identical, hence the apple found itself being an artistic representation of the forbidden fruit. Of course many foods have had a bad representation throughout history. Tomatoes comes to mind as it was once considered the devil’s fruit and was banned by the Church of Rome as a sinful indulgence.
No good fruit shall go unpunished I guess, unless of course you are a fruity clergyman.
Seven year lead? Not sure where you got that number. Was that the Xbox 360 launch? Games have been around a long time, but doing something this year is not bad timing. All the next gen. consoles will be released in 2013 so long time gamers are making a buying decision. That being said Apple continues to drop the ball in gaming. Why they did not introduce a standardized controller and real connectivity 2-4 years ago is a shame. Plenty of iOS developers who would of supported it. Android has since introduced a controller and console that could see widespread adoption before Apple ever gets it’s act together.
Not sure where I got the seven year lead figure from?
“The stakes are high, and after 7 years since their respective releases, the video game market is relishing a new product.”
Read more at http://macdailynews.com/2013/03/19/apples-living-room-strategy-can-conquer-gaming/#PCiJOeuu14U0iBz1.99
The game industry does not have a lead on Apple.
Apple has reinvented and redefined how, where and which people play games. Apple is now leading the game industry, while not even really being in it.
All this is true and Apple will take the TV gaming market place easily. Only one thing blocking Apple. Apple is blocking Apple here! If Apple would open the apps up to 3rd parties on the AppleTV, this market would be Apple’s in just a few months.
Apple, please get out of the way and stop making AppleTV a hobby BY CHOICE!
As a developer of a game app that uses the Apple TV as something more than a mirror of the iPad screen, I’d appreciate your thoughts on how users would interact with games on the Apple TV if not through an iOS device.
The game resident on the device and streaming to the TV is a great way to go. No need to put the game or other apps on the TV. They are already in the controller.
“Down, out and near bankruptcy in 1997…”? Really? Apple had over a 10% market share, a roughly $2.5 billion market cap, plus $1.7 billion in quarterly revenues and $1.2 billion in cash when Jobs replaced Amelio, about 7 months after announcing the partnership with Microsoft which entailed its largely symbolic $150 million investment in Apple at the 1997 Macworld event. Estimated time to look all this up: 15 seconds.
No dispute over the market cap, revenues, and cash in the bank, but by 1997, Apple’s market share was more like 5% and dwindling fast.
The failed Taligent/PINK OS project called Apples’ ability to make a modern OS into question. Amelio and Hancock deserve far more credit than they are given for dumping the project before it did drive Apple into bankruptcy, or ship a spaghetti code mess of a dog OS to market ala Microsoft. Down and out is certainly an appropriate description for Apple at this point in time.
I totally agree with Seeking Alpha’s article. Apple will have stiff competition with Microsoft and Sony but they will prevale. Apple already has the console the ATV and the hand controllers the iOS devices. All what Apple needs is to release a SDK for the ATV to put the whole package together.