Want to change computing? Want to lock in subscribers to a broadband network plan that tethers them to you and delivers unprecedented shareholder value. Well the fact is that Steve was on the right track. I’m no Apple Insider, so I can’t say this without a doubt, but let’s look at two plus two and see what we get.

Steve tells his team to create a highly portable Internet-centric notebook. I want it unfettered – minima to no cables, light weight and transportable. I want it small enough to fit nicely on an airplane’s fold-down tray and I want it to be wirelessly connected all the time. That’s right, wirelessly connected all the time. Read the rest of this entry »

The tech world is abuzz with the lack-luster launch of the MacBook Air. The Apple fans were left open mouthed with an under whelming “huh?” that permeated the crowd. But wait, some missed the boat on this one – most did.

I postulate here, but I’ll ask that you consider these elements in the grander scheme that is Apple – a sustainable Apple.

On Approach

One can see that if Steve had continued to approach Microsoft head-on with applications and OS share they would be battling from a virtually unwinnable position. The great strategist that is Steve, saw the writing on the wall and built a framework of stellar devices around his company.

Legs To Stand On

Apple has four legs to their strategy: Mac OS, Mac Computers, iPhone / iPod and AppleTV. These four product categories cover the desktop, the living room and the personal entertainment category – Mac OS is pervasive throughout. Consumers have rewarded Apple for their investment in these categories and the market-share of each has shown strong growth numbers and potential.

Mac OS, The Unspoken Pervasion

Mac OS is a solid computing platform and as you can tell it is quite extensible. The extensibility is the key to the Job’s strategy. When Steve stood on stage and announced the $20 upgrade to the iPod Touch he tested the water. This small test in the mobile community gauged the willingness of the Apple consumer to pay for upgrades to the software without buying a new device.

One might argue that software purchase behavior need not be tested, but look at the portfolio of software Apple has been successful at selling – it isn’t vast. Inf act, the portfolio is quite niche’ and mostly aligned with the creative market the platform was initially marketed towards.

As a matter of fact, productivity tools like Office have always been left to Microsoft who continues to hold a massive leadership position in this category. I do not speculate that Apple will present an application suite as advanced as MS Office, but I do believe they will offer services similar to Yahoo’s weather and stock application. They will actively engage consumers in service type applications and partner with best-in-class providers like Google and Yahoo! when they have specific strengths. I say all this, but don’t expect free.

On the 8th Day He Gave Them Apps

As we approach the February launch of the iPhone SDK we can expect apps to come out of the woodwork. This will not be a shocker to anyone familiar with the space. But let’s talk a little about poaching. Apple will building slicker, smarter, more integrated applications that bear the Apple name and garner a higher price.

Apps like the Apple remote, installed on your iPhone or iPod Touch for a nominal $99. It’s a universal remote that controls your entertainment experience and of course your AppleTV. Buy a song, movie or rent a movie on your iPhone, wirelessly send it to your computer or AppleTV for the whole family to enjoy. Or buy it on your AppleTV and share alike. Either way the experience is simple and refreshing – no thinking!

When was the last time you bought a universal remote for $99? Would you? Most wouldn’t, but a iPhone or iPod Touch loyalist would – I would even after I forked out $200 for my Harmony Remote. It’s the Apple experience that lures me in.

Razor Reconciliation

As I reconcile the keynote the strategy to me is clear. Steve has more tricks up his sleeve this year. The hardware released may not have been earth-shattering, but think about it this way.

Steve Jobs invented the razor, now he’ll sell you the razor blades too.

There are few companies that can scare Apple. And while they might not admit it, Netflix is one player that matters. Netflix has announced a partnership with LG to make a set-top box for streaming movies to your TV, competing directly with Apple.

Downloading movies over the Internet is still considered to be the Holy Grail of technology by many media and industry experts. The market is young, it’s worth billions and nobody has quite figured out how to convince people to drop Blockbuster in exchange for downloading and watching movies on TV. But many are trying.

The newest in the video download market is the "world’s largest online movie rental service," Netflix. Teaming up with LG Electronics, the two are developing a set-top box so consumers can stream movies and other programs from the Internet to an HDTV. No computer needed.

Netflix is a movie rental company from which consumers in the U.S. can rent and return movies by mail, or download video to a computer.
"Internet to the TV is a huge opportunity," said Netflix Founder, Chairman and CEO Reed Hastings in a statement. "Netflix explored also offering its own Netflix-branded set-top boxes but we concluded that familiar consumer electronics devices from industry leaders like LG Electronics are a better consumer solution for getting the Internet to the TV."

Netflix is not the first company to get in this ring, as Apple currently sells Apple TV which connects its iTunes library directly to your TV. And this is where the industry will likely find its key to success.

The big problem with video downloading is it’s niche appeal — few people want to watch a full-length movie on a computer screen, and your average mom or pop has no desire to hook up a computer to a TV screen. The key to success is making the technology mainstream and easy enough to use that it’s just pushing a button. A video download box that connects right to your TV is nothing short of the revolution that will eventually change video rentals forever.

Netflix announced it will deliver a home entertainment service through technology embedded in an LG network player scheduled for release in the second half of 2008. With the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) just around the corner, Netflix’s pre-announcement is a brilliant way to steal the show and get the lion’s share of publicity, as journalists from all over the world will come to an LG-Netflix booth simply to see the unit that could make Apple CEO Steve Jobs shake in his boots.

Apple’s iTunes has had an edge over competition for a long time because of control; the company was smart and developed a market where it owned the technology to deliver content, and control of content itself, so that every movie and iPod fanatic would be hooked to iTunes as though it were an umbilical cord. There is not shortage of competition, but Apple has branded itself well in this arena. The only problem is: Netflix has as well. The company has control of content and an upcoming piece of hardware could be the sleeper in the woods.
"Consumers crave compelling and immediate content, and the Netflix online streaming movie feature can provide instant gratification," said KI Kwon, President of the Consumer Electronics Division of LG Electronics USA, Inc. in a statement. "This alliance underscores LG’s goal of developing smart technologies that deliver flexibility, convenience and control to consumers."

What is key now is the pricing scheme, how well it will be promoted and what kind of exposure the technology will get in retail stores.
As for pricing: Netflix says it will offer a "hybrid" service that gives Netflix subscribers — more than seven million of them — access to movies and TV series for a single, low monthly fee. Subscribers can watch movies streamed directly from the Netflix website on their HDTVs at home, as well as watch them on PC.

The company says it boasts a catalog of more than 90,000 DVD titles it currently delivers by mail, and a growing section of 6,000 movies and TV shows it can deliver over the Internet to PCs and now TVs.

The deal also brings the LG name into the consumer TV ring, which in the long-run could do wonders for the company’s sales. Partnering with Netflix, LG will get a chance to get in consumers’ faces and it could see a nice bump to its bottom line for sales of its other products. It also makes Netflix seem less niche, as co-developing with a company as large as LG will give consumers who have never heard of Netflix a bit more confidence in the brand.

In the future, if Netflix or competitors could build this technology right into a TV (no set-top box required), the download market could move forward at breakneck-speed.

The whole announcement carries with it quite a bit of potential, and in the end, giving consumer choice could lead to competition driving prices down even further.

Netflix certainly could steal the show at CES and emerge a big player in 2008, but I would like to end this by offering Netflix one bit of advice: Don’t let your legal team get involved in writing a press release. The release, which was issued to media worldwide, comes with a disclaimer that completely pulls the carpet out from underneath an otherwise exciting announcement. Someone in legal decided to add the following statement to the media release:

"This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding the development of a set-top box for delivery of content over the Internet to television sets, the delivery of a compelling online home entertainment service, Netflix’s strategy and positioning in online delivery of content, and the future of Internet to the television. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ, including, without limitation; the risk that the development of the set-top box or its associated online delivery service may not meet technical requirements, consumer expectations, or otherwise be implemented by the parties; that certain studios will not grant either of the parties necessary rights or otherwise impose limitations on such rights that might impede implementation or hamper consumer adoption, Netflix’s ability to create other partnership opportunities for the delivery of digital content to the television, and possible technological or content licensing impediments. Other risks and uncertainties that could impact Netflix performance are included in Netflix’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 28, 2007. Netflix undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this press release."

How is that for a buzz killer? Netflix is either afraid of over-promising, or worried it cannot deliver and such a huge disclaimer makes an eager consumer base unsure. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such a curious legal disclaimer as part of a product announcement, and not something I would repeat. Save the fine print for somewhere else.

When a customer buys a product they own the product. When they lease it they must give it back and care for it as if they are borrowing it.

I learned this logic somewhere between diapers and kindergarten. Steve Jobs, whether forced by AT&T or due to simply a bad idea, has become confused on this point.

The iPhone is owned by a million people and counting. It is theirs to break if they wish, but Apple does not reserve the right to break it for them. The firmware release that riled so many and spawned lawsuits  was an attack on those who chose to modify their device. If the product were upgraded and unintentionally harmed their iPhone that would have been one thing, but this decision was deliberate and planned.

Do No Harm

Steve, one should not expect to retain customers and encourage future purchases when your intent was to brick these devices. A notice on the screen that reported the device had been modified and continuing would reset the device would have been appropriate, but simply doing so was harmful.

Set – Match

The Jailbreak announcement today illustrates that customers will not sit idly by and will trump any effort a company makes to curtail their efforts to make a product better – or at least personally their. Have the decades of virus taught companies nothing? Your customer holds your license to operate within their hands, beware as the wolves are indeed nipping at your heals Steve.

~ an Apple fan – for now.