Apple Computer's debut last week of an iPod capable of playing video and even TV shows attracted a lot of attention. But many analysts missed the real importance of the event, says long-time Apple watcher Tim Bajarin. At the same time that the video iPod was introduced, Apple also upgraded its iMac computer line with built-in video and teleconferencing capabilities, and introduced an Apple brand remote control and home entertainment management software called Front Row. It adds up to an all-out assault on Microsoft's hopes of controlling the digital living room, says Bajarin.
“Front Row’s UI (user interface) is so stunning in the way it works with the remote and the way it looks on the screen that the two together will force the Media Center folks up at Redmond to completely re-think their architecture,” the analyst wrote in his blog last week.
Maybe. But Microsoft's Media Center strategy is to use the PC to electronically stitch together our various devices: TV, DVD player, music player, digital camera. Apple's Front Row can only be used to control the new iMac, and not many folks we know sit in front of their computer to watch a movie or TV show, or listen to the latest Coldplay CD. But as computers and television sets continue to morph together in a digital, wireless world, Front Row may well evolve as an elegant interface for digital entertainment devices. As Bajarin concludes, “These new products make it even harder for any of the PC or CE (consumer electronics) players to catch up with Apple if they continue to innovate and develop great products that really make it easy for any consumer to create, manage, distribute, and consume any digital media that becomes important within their digital lifestyles.”