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I don't think that Browsers or Social Networking are commercial enough for them. Yes, maybe they'll start a social networking site (iNetwork no doubt), but they won't be able to charge for it, nor will they be able to have features that just Mac users can use, as they know that even the most ardent mac users have friends that aren't.
However, I do think that the mobile web would have the potential to exploit the iPhone - in much the same way as iTunes/ QuickTime, are geared towards Apple's hardware, though work on other platforms.
]]>I've pondered about Games before on my own blog, I wonder if it's something Apple would go for? I certainly think they'd be more like Nintendo than Sony or MS simply due to wanting hardware sales to be profitable rather than lossleading.
]]>Mobile web -- I think Apple's competitors will catch up a lot quicker and faster than they think/hope, and Apple won't want to slash prices as deeply and quickly as everyone else in this industry for their handset. They'll be come a player, but not a conquerer.
Browsers -- Not unless Safari gets a lot better, oh, and Microsoft decides to bundle it with Windows. ;)
Social networking -- Only if they buy one of the existing networks. I don't see Apple as a web company anyway.
Search -- Uh, I don't think Google, about their closest partner, would be very happy with that. Now, if Google buys Apple... but I don't think that's what you meant.
@Robert #1 -- We already have an Apple-like company in gaming: Nintendo. :)
]]>Which I would pick up in a heartbeat.
]]>Jobs is brilliant (I don't say that much) and is inserting Apple in between MS and Google. All these products and services from Apple are closely interdependent and designed to create the ultimate brand in my opinion. Alex did a superb job on that post and I am sure we can look for much more from Apple. I voted Wuuuuhahahahah!
]]>My guess is that Apple's next big push will be into your living room. Jobs calls the Apple TV a hobby project, but I don't buy that at all. Apple knows Microsoft wants in on this space as well (they're using the Xbox), and Apple knows that as TV and the Internet converge, controlling people's living rooms will be huge. The whole "hobby project" thing is just to deflect from early hiccups with the Apple TV.
The iPhone does play into this, as it theoretically can be the device that ties all the Apple home products together (computer + Apple TV + iPhone = total control of all aspects of your digital life from one tiny device).
It'll be interesting to see the renewed MS vs. Apple battle over this. Apple has elegant design and easier to use products, but Microsoft has a huge installed user base in this area due to the Xbox ... plus, the Xbox plays games and supposedly will have a head start on IPTV by the end of the year.
Of course, we shouldn't count out other players like Tivo and Amazon, Joost, and Slingbox (or, hey, Sony), from making a big push into this area as well. It might end up as competitive as the mobile phone market. ;)
]]>But the next mass market solution will most likely be an in-home touch-screen flat panel device that would connect wirelessly to either a Mac/PC for internet access or the AppleTV to watch TV and play music remotely. I'm thinking that it will most likely be a tablet that you can carry, sit on an easel or hang on a wall. It could be used to read books, used in the kitchen to watch TV while cooking or access the Internet.
Imagine accessing your Google calendar through an interface that's on your wall and the google calendar is always highlighting today's date or displaying your upcoming appointments.
]]>Don makes a good point as well in that an Apple on a portable tabletop in an effort the beat MS to the "consumer" version would be a very smart move. Sony could do this as well in a race. Who would you pick in such a race to create and affordable device like this?
I also agree with Eddie to the extent that the next game console will be the PC with a "hot" drive containing the next generation of MMOG or such (boy I should get something for that one).
]]>Apple is a hardware company that makes great hardware by making great software and wrapping them in beautiful hardware. But they're a hardware company--which means that Apple's main competition is not Google or Flickr or MySpace or Microsoft. Their main competitor is Sony.
]]>I wrote a more extensive argumentation at YashLabs in March:
]]>Google needs to salvage their YouTube purchase by somehow wringing money from it. The thinking is what Jobs/Apple did for the music industry, they could do for video as well.
For Jobs it works because a deal with YouTube/Google first gives Apple a cudgel for better deals with traditional content.
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