Apple Inc. to Benefit Greatly in Long Run
iPhone Will Spell 'Armageddon' Industry-Wide if Apple Inc.'s Team-Up
with AT&T is a Trojan Horse, Leading to Something on a Larger Scale
| by Joe Leo, Columnist |
continued... from: previous page
I already mentioned in past articles about how I always wondered why Apple made the move to let Mac things be available to PC users as well. In recent days and weeks, I've written about different topics in regard to that. But now--especially being a Journalism and Computer teacher (in a darn Windows-based PC lab, I might add!!) as my primary occupation, discussing media influence and trends in the role of the former--I see where this is all heading.
Especially with PriceWaterhouseCooper's analysis and data research from their press release.
I mean, we saw more of that last week during WWDC 07. Steve Jobs's big "and one more thing" announcement was telling the whole world that Safari would now be available for PC users on Windows machines. Many people (or just a few, and the wrong bunch) lamented this as "What's so big about that? Poo poo to you Stevie. You could have done better."
But if you connect that, with what the iPhone has, as far as it being an internet-enabled device, and roll it on to the whole Mac OS X user experience (since OS X is at the heart of the iPhone's workings)--not to mention the fact that I talked about this idea, about why does Leopard have features that are iTunes-like and seems geared to attract those Windows/PC users with iPods--then add the formula to the equation about the global entertainment and media industry...
Apple's role in that being, music with iTunes, videos (TV & movies) on iTunes that can be accessed and distributed through your [Apple]TV, and let's just throw in here, for the sake of argument, Steve Jobs's big movie-making machine, PIXAR (heck, his role at Disney)...
Do I need to say more? That little iPhone device coming your way next week is a trojan horse! And Steve Jobs knows about this but isn't telling anyone right off the bat.
The entertainment/media industry has always been a huge cash horse, um, I mean, a cash cow. Consumer spending, company advertising, etc. It brings in the big bucks, makes the big bucks, influences our lives--I feel like I'm conducting one of my after school Journalism classes right now--can influence corporations, the government, and even the entire world! Remember, it is a global industry. And like PriceWaterhouseCooper says, it's growing fast!
Oh, and then there's three other factors I left out. One, YouTube, (which Apple just announced this week as being available immediately for the [Apple]TV and as a special application on the iPhone), then a rumored partnership with Google (do I need to elaborate on that one?), and finally, their partner in crime who also stands to gain a lot from all of this--who is a leader in their industry themselves--the folks in San Antonio, Texas called AT&T.
Who said there's no honor among thieves? (Just kidding... Apple and AT&T aren't bad guys).
But look at it this way. In that press release, Jim O'Shaughnessy, Global Chairman of Entertainment & Media Practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers, is quoted as saying, "Content, distribution and technology companies need to aggressively seek out new relationships to accommodate the shift towards convergence."
Content, distribution, and tech companies. Hmm, Apple Inc. and its partners already do this. Then, as if an ode to Apple's controversial (depending on who's looking at it) decision to drop the word "computer" from its name, signaling armageddon--because they no longer are focusing on the computer aspect of the company--O'Shaughnessy had this to say.
"Furthermore, companies will need to test new business models to address increased fragmentation and intellectual property in a digital era. Deal activity across the entertainment and media sector is accelerating, driven by the migration to digital formats."