The BIG tech story this week is the expected introduction Wednesday of the Apple slate, essentially an iPod about the size of a piece of paper (and not much thicker) with internet connectivity. No one knows for sure. Word is that Apple’s Steve Jobs considers this the most important thing he’s ever done.
The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs (which, for the uninitiated, is a parody) tells us the backstory. Here’s an excerpt.
But I digress. Let’s talk about this new device.
Yes, it will transform the media business, and by “transform” I mean it will put me in charge of it, the way the iPod put me in charge of the music industry. Yes, it will destroy cable TV and utterly transform the 60-year-old television industry, and again, by “transform,” I mean I’ll be in charge, because I’ll be the guy from whom you buy your shows — I’ll be the guy with whom the consumer forms a relationship. I’ll be the guy who has your credit card on file. So the cable carriers are dead.
As for the broadcast networks? Well, um, for now we make deals with them to get their content into our store. But eventually we just hollow them out from the inside, until everyone figures out that there’s no reason for them to exist anymore. Because really, what purpose does NBC serve, except to be, in and of itself, a form of entertainment — a comedy of errors, like some movie where the Three Stooges get put in charge of a corporation.
Like all good satire, a lot of truth in the above. You should click the link above and go read the rest. Maybe the Apple slate will be an Edsel, but then it could be a transformational device; the iPod was, the iPhone is.
It’s sure to be an interesting Wednesday: between the Apple tablet and the State of the Union, I don’t know what will be bigger news.
;^)
Apropos the above: the iState of the Union.