Should Apple Be Making Televisions?

Just mentioning Dell or and Gateway to an Apple user conjures up the work imitator. This goes for PC�s but in the area of flat screen TV�s it ain�t so. In fact, maybe, in this case, Apple should be the one doing the imitating.

Typically, looking at companies like from an Apple user perspective makes one think of the word �imitator�. But in the case of flat-screen televisions should Apple being doing the imitating here? Flat screen televisions are a huge market. These are big-ticket items costing thousands of dollars that take a prominent place in people�s homes.

I am not suggesting that Apple just design a flat-screen TV of their own (although it would most likely be gorgeous) and thrust it on the marketplace. Apple should do what it does best�add value through good design that helps reinvent the way people use their televisions. The digital hub now has all of our photos, camcorder movies, calendars, address books and music. What it is missing is integration with our televisions.

TiVo is the pioneer in this market, allowing us to record television shows on a hard drive for viewing later. There are hybrid products out there for the Mac that let users perform some Tivo-like functions with their Macintosh. Apple needs to use (perhaps even acquire) this technology as a springboard, integrating it into, for lack of a better phrase, a smart television. This television would be able to access your iTunes library (just like Tivo can now). It would let you record shows, integrating with iCal for scheduling. USB and firewire ports could be built in to provide synching for digital devices (including downloading shows to a possible video-pod).

The options are pretty endless, and I�ve only provided a few ideas here. Apple is well positioned to take over yet another part of our digital lifestyle. The television has always been the center of home entertainment, and now that digital TV is here Apple should integrate television with the rest of their product line.