One more thing..

If you haven't, watch this first - Stream from y'day

Gotta admire Steve Jobs. He maintained perfect composure as he delivered a double whammy yesterday at Apple's special event. To me it confirms that Apple has an eye on dominating digital media in the home the way I would like them to. Sure, they're moving far more slowly than I would like them to but they're working within the limitations of being a big corporation working with other big corporations. As it is, it is stunning how far we have come over the last couple of years. Lets look at Apple's acts from yesterday.

Act 1: The iMac - surely the biggest surprise of them all. With hardware upgrades, an improved enclosure (hopefully one that avoids heating issues), a built in iSight and Front Row w/ Apple Remote, this is an amazing desktop for the home! In fact, its more than a desktop. If I could connect coaxial and watch TV on the iMac, I'd throw out the TV in our bedroom and replace it with this! It would be a 20" HD capable TV with a built-in DVD player and media player functionality, a huge hard drive to store your digital library. Third parties could write software that brings DVR functionality, the possibilities would be enormous. And Apple is inches away from this..
The iMac G5 can be wall mounted now - mount it on an arm attached to the wall. Position it as a TV when you need to, use it as a computer when you need to. Get the wireless mouse / keyboard and you're all set. The iMac has built in wireless / bluetooth, DVD burning (dual layer) and what not. Please put that TV tuner in, Apple. I beg you..


Act 2: The iPod - not unexpected but a smart move nonetheless. Apple is testing the video waters with this iPod that can play video. First impressions of the screen have been surprisingly good. I'm not going to complain if my music player can play videos. But will customers buy videos in droves? I suspect not. Audio appears to be a much better value than video at the moment. However, the TV shows are killer! If Apple lands more shows, and I suspect they will, this will be great. Imagine getting on a long domestic flight with no entertainment. I could take the effort to buy some UMDs for my PSP or I could spend the time to rip them from my DVDs onto my Memory Stick Duo or I could launch iTunes and pick up a half dozen TV shows for less than the cost of one UMD. The answer is obvious and I think this will catch on.
Hardware-wise, the iPod keeps abreast in the style department, and the black color is very desirable. However, black glossy finishes tend to appear more scratched than white ones, like the nano this will need a sleeve.

Act 3: iTunes. Not much of a surprise here, the aforementioned hardware changes usually mean a change in iTunes. However a jump to version 6 was a bit of a surprise. iTunes keeps evolving.