form 9to5 mac:
Nobody wants to really think about it, but perhaps Fake Steve/Dan Lyons is right in today's Newsweek story? The writing is on the wall for the Macintosh. This week's WWDC was all about the iOS, the Apple Design Awards were only iOS apps and Mac OS 10.7? Not even a hint. Mac IT technical tracks? Gone.
Apple killed the 'I'm a Mac' commercials recently and has been pumping out iPad and iPhone ads like crazy. It isn't hard to make the argument that the Macintosh is being pushed to the side.
But then Lyons starts to put on his Fake Steve face a bit:
For one thing, with iOS 4, Steve gets to decide which apps can run on the platform. I mean he can literally pick and choose the apps. He gets to approve each one. He has total control. You know how Steve is about control. Also, those apps can only be sold in Steve’s online app store, and he gets a 30 percent slice of the revenue. Also, there are ads. I know, Mac—you were always the platform that was so pure, with no ads, no crapware. That was what Steve always said he loved most about you.Remember how Steve used to go on and on about how people didn’t want their personal computers cluttered up with garish ads like some ugly stock car circling a NASCAR track? Well, not anymore. This new iOS 4 is a full-blown tart, and will come splattered with ads everywhere. And guess what? Steve thinks it’s great. In fact, he’s the one behind it. He’s making the ads himself! And he’s keeping 40 percent of the revenue.
Newsweek story aside, I think the most telling hint that the Mac is going to be reduced to bit part was when Jobs gave the Car/Truck analogy at the AllThingsD conference. Initially all vehicles were trucks, but most people found that they didn't need a truck and they now use car.
"I think PCs are going to be like trucks. Fewer people will need them. And this is going to make some people uneasy."
Steve Ballmer, being...Steve Ballmer, the next day said "That's why they call them Mac Trucks!" not realizing Jobs was also talking about Microsoft's core Windows business as well. And how many times in the past decade has Jobs made Ballmer eat his words? What does Microsoft have in Mobile?
It makes sense too. If you can possibly imagine it (and having an iPad without a computer for a few days helps), most people don't need a $1000 Mac. In fact, I'd say within a year, the iOS devices could be over half of the US population's only computer.
And remember how the iPod has scaled up in functionality and down in price? The first 5GB iPod cost $500 and has a B&W LCD screen. In five years, is it hard to imagine a $99 iPod touch for developing countries? A $250 iPad?