Jobs on the Digital Hub and TV's

The "digital hub" concept is right on, I think. Interesting to compare and contrast this concept to Gate's Mira project, with it's global vision of the convergence of TV, the PC, indeed the home itself. Job's vision is less ambitious, but I think it is also more realizable. One journalist (I forget who) wrote today that Jobs designs computers in a vacuum, that he doesn't take the real world of everyday users into account. I think nothing could be further from the truth. I think that people who design a single device to control the TV, PC, and the home, are designing in a vacuum. Even though such a device is technically feasible there is no reason to think that most everyday PC users are going to adopt such an ambitious and doubtless complicated product. Job's vision for the home computer is "local" and respectful of the ecology of the home environment, not "global" and speculative.

By the way, domes have been around since the Romans invented them, and there is hardly a more structurally sound shape, or clean, classical form. When I get my imac I may paint it to look like St. Paul's cathedral (lol).

I agree completely...

convergance is not the answer.

Jobs said something similar to this in an interview at one point - his analogy is that people could create refrigerators that also make toast - the technolgy exists... and yet this doesn't exist... that's because no one wants it.

Now, this isn't 100% true, in that my computer now does a lot of things that my other applicances don't do...

for example - my mp3's. I have a 200 disc CD changer as well... which I no longer use. That's because Mp3's do it better than any component system out there.

So there is a fine line....

arn

The nerve of pee cee users to say anything to us. When bill the pie face gates is going to essentially disassemble the pc and make it into a T.V ....hahahahah that's loyalty for ya.

hmm is he saying surprises at macworld?

Never heard the quote about refrigerators that make toast (lol!). That's a great analogy. As you point out, the doubtfullnes of a global convergence of electronic commodities does not preclude the occurence of local convergences here and there (e.g., as with mp3's). And yet, convergence may be the wrong metaphor altogether. Convergence denotes a bringing together of two things into one. A "hub," in contrast, denotes a thing which connects things, while allowing those things to remain formally distinct. The difference in vision between Gates and Jobs is perhaps one of "convergence" vs. "connection." The design of the imac itself is an instantiation of this vision of connection: Two forms allowed to be distinct, to be, as Jobs put it, what they "naturally" want to be--connected yes, but not converged into some compromised and unaesthetic tangle of forms (e.g., IBM's NetVista).

I have the Radeon All-In-Wonder card in my PC and watching TV is a much better experience. I can be watching stuff live and if the phone rings I just hit the space bar to pause the TV and it starts buffering until I come back and unpause it. I can "catch up" to real time by FF through comercials.

The software that comes with the vid card downloads my local TV programing and gives me the schedule for a week ahead. If I click on the schedule it changes the channel to that station. If I'm browsing shows that are not on yet I have the option to record the show. It records it when the show is ON. OR you can set it to record anytime "Friends" is on.

As a dream wish I would like an All-in-one 22inch cinema display with a new ati 8500DV vid card(mac version not out yet), G4, cordless keyboard and mouse and wall mount the thing.

I hope Job's changes his mind for a macTV merger.

Steve Jobs represents less than 5% of computer users? Why is that? Why am I still stuck with a one button mouse on the macs I own, unless, of course I have changed those mice out for microsoft mice? When will Apple listen to what people want rather than correct them when they try to tell them what they want.

Now before you get your feathers ruffled, stop and think.

I have owned practically every type of Mac made. I'm writing this on a TiBook. But I am watching an Enterprise episode on a Sony PenTablet LX920. My office and surgery schedule are stored on a Win2000 server with Exchange so I can sync it with a iPaq so I can have that information with me since I do not live at a desktop or lug a laptop.

I'd love to have a way to get that information on my QuickSilver tower onto a handheld or some portable computing device. But Steve Jobs didn't like the Newton (I did) and doesn't think the rest of us needs something like that. I know I know I could use a Palm, but the Palm I prefer is a Sony model and they don't even ship with syncing software for a Mac - why should they, it's < 5% of the computing market.

Now this digital hub idea is starting to sound like the "Going where no PC has gone before" and "Way past the rumor sites" and "Full speed ahead, lust factor ten." I understand the concept, but it' not what I want to do and I am the customer here. Sure iPhoto is real nice at organizing photos - something I do once or twice a month. And iMovie 2 is great to edit video - something I do three or four times a year. Are they something I do enough to make them part of my "lifestyle" - no, sorry but it's not.

So let's look at iTunes/iPod - I listen to music every day. And if I am lucky, most of that day will NOT be at a computer. So, that's what makes iPod so nice - I can take the information I need with me. Let me repeat, I CAN TAKE THE INFORMATION I NEED WITH ME.

And for most of us that work or don't live in a Zen garden or happen to be CEO's with underlings to do our bidding, there are other things I do daily that could use a computing device - like reading and taking notes, looking over lists and messages, finding where in my schedule I should be or will need to be. I see no spoke on the digital hub from Apple to address this. But worse Jobs pretends it doesn't exist and so the rest of us should belive it doesn't exist.

Well, Bill Gates company does get that it exists and they will make products that only get it done half way BUT ITS BETTER THAN NOT GETTING IT AT ALL!!!!!

You think TV/Home Stereo/Theater and computers aren't converging - you must not own a TiVo/DTR or you must play your mp3's only on your computer - in fact, in the apple vision, all computing life is on a desktop.

You think Bill Gates doesn't get what people want - I present a > 95% market share that begs to differ. Granted, they do it with barely adequate software but then again that's all most people need.

I want to use the Mac for every part of my life - but to do that I would have to change my life to suite Apple - that's not the way it's suppose to work - Apple needs to suite us.

Id love Apple to move in that direction at least. What the hell is wrong with your mac being your home entertainment center, all wired to your surround sound speakers and Plasma screen? Why not iTv? That seems like it would all be part of the digital hub...

I know you can jerry-rig your mac to get that kind of performance with a couple third party hardware/software components, but why is Apple pitching such a fit about being a more central part of it? As long as there are people, there will always be a couch, beer, football, music, games and movies.

C'mon Apple. Wake up!

my Visor Platinum screen busted 2 weeks ago... they want $100 to fix it. I waited for Macworld for a digital device i used daily... i was holding my $ for someone Apple might release... not this go-round.

I went to CompUSA (yuk) and was gonna just buy a new Visor Edge or Prism or something... but I started playing around with some iPaqs, etc. While they run the evil OS, I have to tell you, they kick ass. I run Macs and PCs at work in my office, and the ability to sync up my contacts, calendar, appointments, email, etc. is a wonderful thought. I could run movies on them, run a Flash Player, and a lot more. The display is about 300% better than any palm os pda out there. They are pricy ($400+) but they pack a lot of stuff. I didn't buy one... but I sure was close.

I use my iPod every single day - for listening and transfering files to my home office. It's amazing. If Apple could create a PDA for us (the 5%), they would sell a ton of em. I'm still waiting for that magical moment to see an apple pda. i don't care if it runs mini-OSX or not. as long as it can sync with outlook or an app which runs like it on a mac, etc... i'll drop my coin.

digital devices most used: pdas (everyone has one) & cell phones. the Handspring Treo is gonna be a smash hit, but I know Apple could create something along those lines but FAR better and more powerful. I used to love my Visor until i saw what those PocketPeecees could do. Now I want an Apple solution.

Fingers crossed.

ps. i dont mind the new iMac - people at my work are ordering them for their homes. you can always tilt the screen down to hide the cantaloupe base...

Get an iBoing! They are much cooler.

http://www.trentondesigngroup.com/imac/iboing.htm