There was an Apple HER memo that got passed around to the Resellers in Canada today which made me guess at the release date of the Intel iBooks as March 25. On certain products, Apple is offering an HER back end rebate when machines are sold with AppleCare. Both the iBooks, the 15" PowerBook, the 20" G5 iMac, and all the PowerMacs are covered under this program. It basically means that the reseller gets a rebate for each of the qualifying machines that they sell with AppleCare. It starts February 6, and ends March 24. So, March 25 or soon after seems an ideal time to release Intel iBooks at the very least. I have doubts about PowerMacs being released in Intel form due to their sheer kickass factor as they stand.
As for the Media Centre rumour, I have one thing to say which I've been wanting to since the release of the Mac mini: Get over it already!
In short, since the Mac mini was rumoured, there has been this idea going around that Apple really wanted to introduce a media centre. It undoubtedly spawned from Apple's "Digital Hub" strategy. Once the Mac mini was released, not as a media centre, but as a PC replacement, it seemed like most of the community wasn't willing to accept Apple's marketing strategy. Instead came calls that Apple really meant to release it as a media centre, or that it would become one some day. Now, every time it gets close to product announcement time, the rumour comes up again, in only slightly varying form.
Apple hasn't shown much interest in getting TV on to computers. None of them ship with tuners, or even video in. So why would Apple start going after such a niche market by adding this sort of thing when they can instead keep doing what they do best, and make computers to sway people from all walks of life? Apple wants people to create media, or at least alter it. iMovie, Garageband, iDVD, iWeb, iPhoto. Do you really think that these products are geared toward just watching boring old video, or listening to music? They're creativity apps. They open up the world of editing and creating to the average individual.
In short, Apple's been trying to pull us out of the livingroom, a place ruled by the TV and nothing but passive involvement in entertainment, and put us in front of the computer, where we can interact with the media, and make it into something new and unique. Think Different. That's the point. Why does everyone want them to suddenly think the same as everyone else?
Apple doesn't walk on to the playing field in order to defeat their opponent. Rather, they create a whole new field, a whole new game, and make everyone else want to play their way. The iPod is the perfect example of this. No one made hard drive mp3 players before Apple, or at least no one really made them well. We had the tiny flash based offerings with tiny little screens. Apple made a whole new market, and lo and behold, everyone else suddenly wanted to play it Apple's way.
With the iMac, MacBook Pro, and Front Row, Apple is saying that you can put your media centre wherever you want. More importantly, they're trying to get home the fact that the TV no longer has to rule the livingroom. Let the Mac rule the livingroom. Forget television shows. Download shows, music, movies, whatever. We've got a new, fast, perfect medium for transmission of media with the advent of the internet. Why are we relying on cable and satellite? Moreover, why are we letting the TV networks produce the content, and schedule it? We have the power to schedule their content, or make up our own.
In short, everytime you hear another rumour of a Mac media centre, think about how it would really fit into Apple's strategy. The campaign may have ended long ago, but it's still important to remember: Think Different.
