Steve Jobs: I Finally Cracked It

Ken — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 23:45:23 +0000

Much is being made of a cryptic quote from Steve Jobs in the biography written by Walter Isaacson being released tomorrow:

"I'd like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use," [Steve Jobs] told me. "It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud." No longer would users have to fiddle with complex remotes for DVD players and cable channels. "It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it."

Taking on the cable and satellite companies would be Apple's biggest undertaking since taking on the music industry with iTunes. (Look how that turned out, eh?) The three major hurdles for Apple:

The cable companies are entrenched, with long-term deals with content providers and a presence in almost every living room in the country.
Cable companies also provide broadband internet access for a lot of their subscribers, and they could make it tough for customers to unbundle the two services.
Content providers will be leery of handing control over to Apple after seeing how much control Apple gained over the music industry.

But then, look at what Apple has going for it:

Both content providers and customers, by and large, hate cable and satellite companies. With the never-ending rate hikes, shoddy hardware products, abysmal software interfaces, and poor customer service, customers are fed-up. Meanwhile content providers are sick of being held hostage whenever contracts are up for re-negotiation, and might prefer selling content directly to the customers.
Apple has a track record of making complex and poorly-designed products simpler and more appealing to consumers, and customers generally trust and like Apple products.
There is already a trend towards cord-cutting and Internet-available content, and it just needs a spark and a cohesive strategy to pull it together. Apple is exactly the kind of company that can provide those things.

The fact that cable companies control Internet access... that's a tough one; unless, Apple has an answer for that too, in the form of ubiquitous WiFi, a nationwide LTE network, or a partnership with a company who can provide that. Here's a super-crazy theory... what if Apple partnered with their biggest current rival to make that happen? A rival whose interests in this area perfectly align with Apple's? A rival who has been active in blanketing cities with Internet access?

What if Apple teamed up with Google to take down the cable industry?

Maybe that's a stretch. But it would be utterly breathtaking. I would love to see the look on the faces of Time Warner executives on the day something like that was announced.