So Apple is going to revolutionize home media (again?) with there upcoming iTV (stand by for rename—that one is owned already.) Basically the iTV is a box to allow you to stream your digital content from your computer to your home entertainment system. But Apple is taking baby steps. I think they need to get up and run.
There are few things that I would like to see Apple do:
- Think big!
Apple recently added a 24 inch iMac to the line up but I would like to see them go bigger. How about a 30 inch or even 36? - I hord data
Now that we have a bigger screen on our iMac we have a lot of extra room down below the screen where the guts of the system are. Lets use it! Memory is cheap. Give me more, say 1 or 1.5 terabytes. Yea that’s good. We’ll need it. - It’s all about the Connectivity
While we’re at it lets add a few things to the back of that iMac:- 2 HDMI inputs
- Component video
- Optical audio
- Stereo phonos audio
- Coaxial input
- Even better I’d put them on the stand of the iMac rather than the back of the screen as the wire hanging down bother me. (Oh yea, put a firewire 800 port or two on the iMac too!)
- iPause
Time to add some functionality to Frontrow. Great program but we need to add a TV function so we can use that Coaxial imput to watch TV. And while we’re at it lets add a good DVR function too. - Control
To pull it all together we need to update that dinky little Apple remote we use to control Frontrow. We have a TV and DVR in the system now so we need a full scale TV/DVR remote. Maybe it can still magnetically mount to the side of the system maybe not. Who cares, you’re going to lose it between the sofa cushions anyway.
Now we have a great system. Who needs a TV? If Apple packages the thing with a wireless keyboard and a wireless mighty mouse it’s the first real all-in-wonder digital home entertainment center.
But is the world ready to use a computer as their main entertainment hub in the living room? I don’t know, but I am. I want one. Take note Steve.