Mollerade

I’ve been listening to what a few of you have been saying about the Mini and Apple TV, as i’ve had similar thoughts, seeing little reason why the two devices shouldn’t be combined, after all the Mini does everything the Apple TV can?

In fact there exists only one strong reason not to combine these two products. The cost of the Mini (£399) is two hundred pounds more expensive that the Apple TV in its current form. The question is, is the added functionality a fully fledged computer offers you worth it? In my opinion yes, absolutely.

I’ve been using a PC attached to my 37″ JVC LCD television for over a year now, and i can tell you, i will never go back to having the main TV separated from a computer, i would like all TV’s to have the functionality of a computer, and would be willing to bet that the first manufacturer to integrate computers and televisions on a mass scale at a competitive price will be a monumental success. The TV is generally the technical hub of any house, and a natural place to go for information. Todays LCD Televisions produce great resolutions, so your computer will look great on the TV. Add a wireless keyboard and mouse, and instead of just Movies and TV shows, you can surf the web, chat to your friends via Skype, read your emails and write that essay, all from the comfort of your lounge.

So the idea of the Apple TV or Pinnacle’s Showcenter is a great one, they just didn’t go far enough with the added functionality. Why do i want to spend £200 to stream movings from the computer to my TV, when a 20M VGA cable costs £15 add to that a 20M audio cable (£3.99) and you’ve done the same thing for £181 less.

The Apple TV + could limit functionality, adding only an internet browser, and an email Application. This would keep the costs down, but as a user, it greatly limits what i can do, should i need to quickly edit an email attachment in word, or touch up a photo before printing it, and considering we know the market is heading in the direction of combining the TV and computer, we really only have three options left;

1) Do we build a box to go under your TV
2) Do we combine the TV and computer ourselves (AKA iMac)
3) Do we do both?

I choose No.3.

So we now have two requirements

1) we need a combined Apple TV and Mac Mini product, that we are going to call (for the sake of discussion Apple TV +), and

2) we need to enlarge the screen size of the iMac from its current 24″ limit to beyond 40″ to compete with the TV manufacturers (whilst sliming its profile down).

This leaves us with a gap in our product line where previously the Mac Mini filled. What about a Smaller version of the Mac Pro. Call it the Mac Plus, and make it 2/3 size of the Mac Pro.

So our new Mac line up looks something like this;

1) Apple TV +

2) iMac

3) Mac Plus

4) Mac Pro

And for my next write up we will be investigating the possible specifications of these 4 products. Happy Holidays!

Update - JAN 2008 (POST MACWORLD 2008) -As i previously stated i believe the Mac Mini and Apple TV could be merged sucessfully. However based on Apple’s announcement of the software enhancements to the Apple TV, which allow content to be added directly rather than going through iTunes installed on a seperate computer, i would like to make a change to my original thoughts of the Apple TV+. I would keep the Apple TV, for those only interested in watching Movies and TV, listening to music or viewing their photos on their Television, the Apple TV makes perfect sense, and is priced accordingly. The Apple TV+ would in addition to everything the Apple TV does, be a fully fledged computer, running OSX, and include similar specs to the Mac Mini.