I don't actually, but what I do think is that we disagree about what this device should be. I believe it should be more like what it is today, you believe that it should be all things to all people.
No, that's not what I said. I said it should be open enough so that it could be all things for EACH buyer, meaning that if a buyer wants to attach a BD player to it, why not? And Apple can feel BD is a "bag of hurt" leaving this option to a third party to develop. If a buyer wants a TV tuner/DVR, why not? And Apple could leave that hardware and software add-on to someone like Elgato.
Apple could still build the exact unit you want- not much different than today. But by adding cheap expansion ports and room for apps/hooks/plugins, they could let other companies create add-ons to serve those that might want it to be a bit more than it is today.
That way, Apple can sell one to every single person- like you and not. And every single person can buy a box that can cover whatever bases they want to cover (as long as third parties decide to build add-ons that people want to buy).
This device today is about streaming digital content to my television. Steve Jobs has said, blu-ray licensing is a bag of hurt, the future is digital downloads.
So, The Steve has spoken and all should bow to The Steve? Just look through this single thread and you'll see comments from a number of people saying what they want it to have. If a new one is largely the existing one, they're not going to buy it. If Apple wants to sell lots of them- and Steve's #1 obligation to stockholders is maximize profits- he needs to stop trying to make the market want this thing the way he wants them to want it, and instead give the market more of what it wants.
He doesn't have to bend on "bag of hurt"; just let someone else develop that add-on if they think people might want BD. He doesn't have to bend on DVR; just let someone else develop that add-on. Etc. Then, every buyer gets what they want and Apple maximizes sales of this next-gen box. And every buyer gets to enjoy all the benefits "as is" and hooked to iTunes, as well as BD discs or DVRd programs, etc.
Then, when the cloud is fully functional and capable of serving up everything that they can get via BD, they'll just stop using the BD add-on (much like I don't use the modem built into one of my Macs anymore) and buy/rent from iTunes. When it can serve up every program that they DVR for less than it cost to capture it via DVR (ha, ha), then they can stop using the DVR add-on. And then Apple achieves the goal of iTunes domination, and BD and DVR obsolescence.
However, if the masses don't buy
TVs, there's NO WAY to achieve domination. If the box that is hooked to iTunes is not hooked to the crowd's TVs, there is no possible way to get their content from the iTunes cloud et all on their HDTVs. So then BD and DVRs, etc continue to rule, while
TV remains a niche player on that stage.
Whether you like it or not, it's about a device which streams in a lovely way all digital content, whether from your desktop (or NAS/SAN/other) or from the cloud. That's the future, and that's what Apple is selling. This new device will support that, and will not support blu-ray (SJ has said so) and will not be a DVR (consider the number of tuners it'd have to support around the world).
Apple is not a commodity product company, otherwise they couldn't charge premium prices.
I like it just fine and have bought more than one for myself and some as gifts for others. But this thread is about a next-gen device that "takes it to the next level". Since the current level is not good enough, the next level needs to bring something more than mostly "as is". And if the next level is about selling a lot more units, it obviously needs to add features that BUYERS want to BUY- either directly as built-in features or indirectly as hardware and software add-on options (from third parties).
Even you have hacked the "as is" model to get it to do a little more than it can out of the box. What's wrong with others wanting it to do a few other things that hacks can't cover?
I'm all for the vision, cloud, BD obsolescence, itunes streams replacing DVR functionality, and so on. But I know that can't come very quickly on tepid entrenchment of
TV units to just the "special people." Just like the iPhone, Macs, iPad, etc, Apple needs to strive to dominate this space with sales way beyond the little pod of buyers that count as you & I and a few others. They've already been trying with it "as is" for 4 years. It's not selling in high enough volume to grow out of "hobby" status. Time to try something better, which translates to more appeal, which translates to give more BUYERS what they want to BUY.
They know this works because almost everything else they sell has the hooks for third parties to add functionality. Why must this ONE thing be different?
And how does it hurt YOUR experience if the next-gen has the flexibility for other people to add things to it to do what they want with it?
