Apple Entertainment System strategy

[krohde]

OK, it's been a while since I have posted but here is my current take on the whole business surrounding Apple and especially with the upcoming release of new displays.

Many people have wondered what the deal is with the new DVI connections. According to ThinkSecret the reason for the deviation from ADC is the immense power required by especially the upcoming 30" display. My belief is that there will only be two cables. From the look of it the cable going from the computer to the screen will be a multi-cable. It will at one end connect with a proprietary plug to the actual display while at the other end it will have a DVI, firewire, and usb connection. this will not only limit the amount of cables, but also entice windows users to buy the product since it is 100% compatible. the other cable will obviously be for power.

The addition of FireWire is very significant. One user speculated that the new displays play a major role in Apple's digital hub strategy and I agree. The newly released Airport express, is in my mind, a sign that we can see similar product releases from Apple surrounding FireWire. Imagine being able to add a FireWire stick (like the current USB bluetooth sticks) to the back of your monitor hanging on the wall in the living room getting the image of the powermac sitting in the neighbouring room. Surf the internet (bluetooth keyboard and mouse - could we see WiFi versions in the future?), watch movies, play photo slideshows, and listen to iTunes with your visual plugins show on the gigantic screen. This is possible as the new FireWire wireless protocol has been developed and approved by the IEEE.

Get the picture? The possibilities are endless now that speed is no longer a significant barrier...

What's your view on this?

 

[KingSleaze]

Sure makes Apple's prior comments against Tablet PC's seem kinda moot. You got your WiFi keyboard and mouse, a huge flatscreen monitor wirelessly connected to the processor (wirelessly hidden somewhere else around the house).......connect in that Apple PDA for small pen based applications. Hmmmmm. Could be onto something here.

 

[aussie_geek]

just a few thoughts....

You will have a Powermac box somewhere in the house connected wirelessly to monitors in areas where you would like to access your computers. The Powermac will be the wireless server for your house. With the advent of Airport Express this could be developed into a power hub for the monitors as well as the wireless access point to the Powermac server.

There have been reports that the new OS - Tiger will have advancements in speech recognition technology. Imagine that you could just walk around the house with a bluetooth style earpiece, go to one of the monitors on the network and just give voice commands for navigating the OS and applications.

For the entertainment side of things you would have a Powerbook. Think of it as the centre of the hub. This is where you can cue up music and dvds etc to your plasma tv using Airport Express style hardware. Connect the audio port to your main room sound system and a digital video cable to the tv.

As khrode has pointed out, data transmission speeds via wireless are getting so fast that we are entering a new realm of computing. Give Apple a few years and we will hopfully see some really cool stuff fly our way....

aussie_geek