Apple TV…am I the only one who thinks this is a sleeper product?

August 10th, 2008

This is part commentary and part theorizaticalation. Not only do I think that the next great thing to come out of Apple is the Apple TV, but I think it could – and should – become something somewhat different than what it is right now.

(quick note…I’m throwing this random tidbit into this here post both because I don’t believe it deserves its own post and because a commercial aired just now reminding me of it: I’m heartbroken that the next star wars movie is the animated piece of crap that’s being released in 4 days. and here I thought George Lucas couldn’t make star wars suck even more than the last three movies did. or technically the first three. whatever.)

Okay, back on point. Apple’s strategy for a while has been to embrace how the market has borne their products for the last decade or so, and that’s basically if the enterprise world won’t love Apple’s stuff, Apple will make things that rock the world of their existing fan base: consumers. That being said, I also believe Apple’s about to/in the process of making a huge power play for significance in the enterprise market as well, but that’s another post for another time. Currently, my point is that Apple is going after being our homes’ digital service provider. They want our digital universe to revolve around their products. They’ve done it with music, and I think they’re going to do it with video as well.

The Apple TV is dangerously close to being a digital media server, which is dangerously close to, well, a server. I believe that if Apple does it right, they could turn the Apple TV into THE digital hub of our homes: serving up all of our media, email, shared calendars, documents…you name it. It could become like a giant iPod for your home. Or rather, a giant iPhone for your home.

But I don’t want to discuss what the Apple TV could be in terms of the service it could provide or the merits of an Apple-made home server. I’m sure a quick Google will reveal many many articles about these two topics written by analysts and theorists much more qualified than I who make compelling arguments and probably much brighter ideas about what could be. No, what I want to talk about specifically is what form I believe the Apple TV is bound to take, and how surprised I am that nobody else seems to have thought of this. If you’re a blogger who has, or know of someone else who has, please do let me know. However after searching high and low, I’ve been completely unable to find anyone else who thinks this should or will happen.

Rather than get straight to it, I’m going to follow my normal operating procedure and loligag around the point before finally making it. You know you love it.

So…think about the awesome HD monitors that Apple already sells. Pretty sweet, right? And there’s a huge one that could probably be an awesome HDTV were it mounted on a wall…dang, I think you probably know where I’m going with this. That won’t stop me.

Next, let’s consider the lowly iMac. The savior of Apple. The original all in one pc. Responsible for singlehandedly making the home computer cool. And pretty much one of those neato HD monitors which a computer inside. Now you REALLY know where I’m going with this.

Why can’t the Apple TV be…a TV? Make an entertainment center/digital media server/HDTV that hangs neatly on your wall or sits in your awesome blue entertainment armoire? Call it the iTV. Call it the Apple TV Pro. Call it whatever you want, but the idea is take the current Apple TV and iMacize it.

They’ve done it before, and they have all the pieces to do exactly what I’m describing. Has nobody else thought this is a good idea? I’d love to hear anyone’s theories as to why it’s not. Or is. I’m fairly confident that it should happen and probably will. I just don’t know why nobody else seems to be.

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Be That Guy

August 5th, 2008

In a the recent Olympic Preview issue of Sports Illustrated, and interviewer asked Michael Phelps if he could recommend any exercises that would help build a swimmer’s body. Phelps replied – I’d imaging with just a hit of irony in his voice – “Um, swimming.” (paraphrased)

The simplicity of this statement brought me back to some advice I received many years ago. I was trying to improve my martial arts skills and aiming directly for my black belt, but I’d hit a wall. My instructor at the time simply said “You know that guy you see at all the competitions? The one who can’t seem to lose and is constantly ranked? Be that guy.”

This was pretty profound. He didn’t mean flip a switch and magically become this other person. What he meant was that if I wanted to be a better martial artist, I needed to behave like a better martial artist. I needed to fall in love with the sport more, read more literature, practice more, and in pretty much eat and breath it. That’s how that guy did it. If I wanted to be like him, I had to become him.

Though you could apply this principle to just about any type of goal (becoming a civil war buff, getting skills in the kitchen, having a George Hamilton tan…), I like to think of it in regards to my own physical, spiritual, and mental character. If I want to be more fit, I need to start behaving like a fit person. If I want to improve my spiritual life, I need to start behaving like a spiritually healthy person. If I want to improve my mental capacity, I need to start behaving like smarter people behave.

I’m in no way suggestion that we should pretend we’re healthier, smarter, or more spiritual than we actually are. I’m a big fan of authenticity, even though I struggle to be more authentic each day and have never quite perfected it. This isn’t about some hokey self-affirmation practice of tricking myself into being smarter or healthier just by speaking the words or thinking positive thoughts. Instead, think of it like Michael Phelps. How do you think he became the best swimmer in the world? He swam. All the time. He still swims. The Olympics start in a couple of days and he may have just landed in China, but I bet he’s thinking about swimming right now this very moment. Michael Phelps had a life goal to be the best swimmer in the world, so he simply set out to be that guy.

How do healthy people behave? Maybe they eat better things. Maybe they run. If I want to be a healthy person, I need to emulate that behavior. In this case, being goal oriented may not help me. In other words, I shouldn’t think of being a healthier person as an end, but rather who I am. In this way, I don’t “diet” and my exercise program doesn’t really have a time frame. It’s just a part of who I am.

Simply put, I’d encourage any of you who would like to change something about yourself, even just a little, or if you have a goal that you’d like to accomplish, analyze the average person who already is how you want to be or has already accomplished that goal…and then be that person.

To add onto this, I’d also like to state another quote that I find inspiring. “If you want to be what you’ve never been, you have to be willing to do what you’ve never done.” (if anyone can help me attribute that, I’d be very appreciative) You are capable of doing/being much more than you think. You just gotta be willing to be that guy.

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