How would Steve Jobs react if he saw today’s Apple? It’s one of the things I’m hoping to see, because the company has changed a lot since October 2011. All of the co-funder’s ideas are coming true, and most of them have new devices like the Vision Pro that only one can keep in mind. the head.
But There is a product that Steve Jobs was working on that couldn’t happen.. And it was not for lack of effort, because he was very determined to achieve this. And for the moment, time means that there is no hope of ever seeing him again.
“I think we found a way to do it, and it’s going to be fantastic.”
The person who has proof of this product is Walt Mossberg, a technology journalist who has long interviewed Steve Jobs. The man who had just resigned as CEO of Apple called Mossberg on the night of August 24, 2011, very excited and telling him that he had found a way to turn the tide on the television market. Jobs considered this market a “ruin”.
Right now, if we want to get the Apple experience on a TV, the solution is to buy an Apple TV 4K. This works on any TV with a compatible HDMI port, nothing else is needed. This is how those from Cupertino must be able to easily enter the living room of all consumers.
But this was not the main idea of Steve Jobs, who I wanted to sell an Apple TV myself. Mossberg then commented how Jobs was very excited, telling him that he had “finally figured out” how to turn televisions into a profit-margin business. He even invited Mossberg to his home to explain what was on his mind.
Steve Jobs wanted to revolutionize television as he had already succeeded in doing with computers and cell phones.
Mossberg commented that evening to media outlets such as Business Insider: “he wanted to bring to television what he managed to do with the Mac and the iPhone.” Jobs wanted to somehow revolutionize the largest screen in our homes, integrating what we now call Apple TVs into the television itself.
Unfortunately, Jobs’ health did not allow him to continue for too long. Five weeks after this call, the Apple co-founder died, succumbing to pancreatic cancer. And the plan for a supposed integrated Apple TV has been left in a drawer, with Tim Cook prioritizing the Apple TV we all know.
Don’t expect an Apple TV in 2024
Maybe Steve Jobs’ idea at the time was a good one, but Too many years have passed and there have been too many new things. on the market for an Apple brand television to make sense:
- First of all, the television market is very competitive. Today you can buy a large screen with 4K resolution and dynamic color range for less than 1,000 dollars.
- Apple took care to distribute its services streaming to TVs and consoles from different brands, which currently makes an Apple TV much less significant. Apple TV and tvOS aren’t the only way to access Apple TV+ content, I access it myself via WebOS.
- The Apple TV hasn’t undergone any changes in its entire existence beyond external redesigns. Internally only its chip has been changed to be able to reproduce better quality content.
- By now, Apple has already offered a TV of the future, at least on an individual level: the Vision Pro. The company’s efforts are focused more on this.
For all these reasons, and even though Jobs had a great idea in the past, I don’t think we’re going to see a “literal Apple TV” in our living rooms. Maybe in a few years we’ll see it more clearly if smart glasses technology has improved enough to make it clearer.
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