Posted on 10/24/2011 1:51:17 PM PDT by Red Badger
San Francisco - Steve Jobs told his biographer that he had cracked the problem of creating an effective interactive television, fueling rumours that Apple will release such a device next year.
Jobs made the comments to author Walter Isaacson, whose portrait of the technology visionary was released Monday.
Titled simply Steve Jobs, the book is the only biography authorized by the Apple co-founder, who granted Isaacson some 40 interviews to outline the parameters of his life from his early years as an adopted child to his last months, as he raced to finish the development of products when he knew his death was imminent.
The book revealed that one of Jobs' most cherished goals was to crack the television market in the same way that the iPod transformed the music sector and the iPhone revolutionized mobile phones.
While Apple, along with rival Google, has tried in the past to meld the interactivity of the web with traditional television viewing, the failure to create a web-integrated television that appeals to the mass market has been one of Jobs' most notable failures. But in his biography he indicated that he had finally come up with the solution.
'I'd like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use. It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud. ... It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine,' he is quoted as saying in the book. 'I finally cracked it.'
The passage prompted technology industry analysts to begin detective work among large component suppliers to see if Apple had been looking for television parts.
In a note to investors, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said that he had confirmed that Apple 'is investing in manufacturing facilities and securing supply for LCD displays' for televisions and already has prototypes in the works. He notes that his firm has 'long believed that Apple was planning to launch an all-in-one television in late 2012 or 2013.'
Munster's forecast was seconded by another analyst, Brian White of Ticonderoga Securities, who said that his firm had uncovered evidence that an 'Apple smart TV was already flowing through factories over in China and in early-stage pilot and prototype production.'
Tech Ping!..........
I don’t see some massive step forward on I-TV unless they connected you to some central TV warehouse, and allowed you to watch 10k channels (from Ireland, China, France, etc)....all for $10 a month.
Bandwith is the limiting factor in having high quality interactive television. The new bandwidth gold-standard is 1 gig up and down. Houston and Chattanooga have this kind of bandwidth, but not from the incumbents.
This yields HD quality interactive everything without the network breaking a sweat. What is needed are apps that make use of the bandwidth.
Apple continues to innovate; and I predict within minutes of seeing it we will all do a “Face palm” and say “Why didn’t I think of that”.
Personally, what I would LOVE to see is being able to buy subscriptions only to the TV channels I have an interest in watching. I’m not a sports fan - and I hate subsidizing the channels I have no intention of ever watching. Just give me Discovery, Scify, Comedy Central, AMC, Foxnews and the locals - cut my bill by 75% and I’ll be a happy camper.
a la carte programming will not happen as long as the MSM holds Congress in their grip...........
We had one of those when I was a kid.............
I got a basement full of them.
There is, out there - a replica of that - and it’s designed to hold an iPad where the screen is... add a wireless keyboard & trackpad...
I see them every now and then on old Sci-fi B-movies.............
ATTN: Chinese slave workers-Your annual trip to home forChinese New Year has been cancelled!
Now that is cool.
She asked Steve Jobs "Why do computers look like clunky TV sets? Why don't you make something thin? Why not a flat laptop?" Jobs replied that this was his goal, as soon as the technology was ready.
Imagine that, 28 years ago he was working towards this goal. The iMac, iPhone, iTouch, iPad and Apple TV are stepping stones that brought him closer to that goal. I have the latest Apple TV connected to my HD TV, works great but I am looking forward to an all-in-one solution.
That is cool! Hobbyists have also modified old 1984 Macintosh cases to accept iPads and speakers. I might do that myself as I have a couple old SE Macs, just for the heck of it.
icloud = monthly fee.
this is more jobs ego talk.
Essentially this is icloud instead of DVR and a flat screen with voice command.
(isn’t someone advertising this already)
obviously in 1983 somebody watch at least a few episodes of star trek and any number of other scifi movies.
This is getting to be a bit too algore.
It would be nice if I could watch TV shows when I want to watch them. TiVo is okay, I use it, but I have to remember to set it to record the shows I want......
obviously in 1983 somebody watch at least a few episodes of star trek and any number of other scifi movies.
This is getting to be a bit too algore.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
