I don't think Apple has to constantly release products as groundbreaking as the iPod or iPhone to be successful; they just need to focus on their products and make sure it's better than the competition's. There's a ton of companies with histories far longer than Apple's... and they survived and are successful by offering consumers good products and adapting to market and societal changes.
If anything, constantly releasing groundbreaking products can be as much a detriment to a company as not releasing anything. Can you imagine what would have happened to Apple after they spent millions on R&D, marketing, etc for the iPod or iPhone... only to have it fail on an epic level?
And as some thoughts on your suggestions/questions:
1)Where's the true living room experience? A real stereo receiver with loss-less quality and integration?
The interesting thing with audio equipment is that old-school technology is still king in many aspects. There's been millions of advances in technology...yet things like vacuum tube amplifiers are still highly desired and prized.
Additionally, when Apple introduced the iPod or iPhone, they were still producing products that had roots in the technology/computer world. Audio equipment is a very different world and Apple's previous attempts to get into this area were pretty big failures (remember the iPod Hi-fi?).
That being said, if the upcoming Apple TV ends up being successful, I can potentially see Apple branching out into this area. But highly unlikely IMO.
And as a side note, in the audio world, Bose is actually kind of looked down upon... so maybe trying to be like Bose isn't a good thing.
2)More personal computer desktop options. iMac is nice but it forces me to dump my nice LCD monitor and invest $1000+ in Apple. How about bringing back some more of the traditional desktops where I can buy the Apple box and use my wonderful monitor for years? The Mini is an answer, but it's about $900 once you add the keyboard, mouse, and any converters to work with your monitor...not to mention the deathly slow 5400RPM drive and obvious hardware limitations due to its size.
I know that's been a common criticism of Apple. But introducing a new desktop is hardly a groundbreaking product (which is what you were asking for before). If you don't consider the iPad innovative, then neither will a new desktop be innovative. Also, another desktop option would likely cannibalize sales from the Mini, iMac, and the Mac Pro. Add in the R&D costs and it doesn't appear to be a good financial move from my perspective.
3)How about a gaming platform? Apple's been pitching games since the Touch arrived and there are no serious games. Why not have some $399 box like Xbox or PS3 or Wii or whatever else?
Apple has greatly impacted the gaming world with their iDevices. Before, it was expected to buy a $400 console and spend $60 per game. Because of Apple, $1, $5, $10 games became readily available and satisfied enough casual gamers that MS, Sony, and Nintendo have been struggling to keep sales of their games up. Mobile consoles like the 3DS have struggled too.
Also, Apple, once upon a time, released a console. It failed.
That being said, I remember reading something about Tim Cook visiting Valve recently. I wonder if perhaps Apple will integrate something into its TV...
Or perhaps a console is actually in the works..... But that's the catch. Even if Apple is working on the most revolutionary console of all time... given Apple's secrecy, we won't know of it until it is released (or near release). They may appear to be out of ideas... but we won't know for sure until we can see Apple's actions in hindsight.
