As Steve Jobs takes a few steps back from Apple, I'm hoping upon hope that by this Christmas, or even next, Apple decides once and for all to show the world the great potential of Apple TV. I'm talking an embedded Apple TV device inside a large format LED/LCD TV emblazoned with the Apple logo and worthy of the Apple premium. A real TV set, if you will.
I have raised this idea many times over the past couple of years. Every time I mention it to anyone, especially to younger people who seemed to have traded TV for Hulu altogether, they all say the same thing: "If Apple built a TV, I'd buy it."
With the market the way it is, I think people would go nuts over a branded Apple television. It would inch Apple over Exxon as the largest company in the world, a position it held briefly a week or two ago. Apple would sweat to meet demand for these TVs.
And you can be certain that there would be some sort of internet/Macintosh/iPad/iPhone integration. Perhaps an extreme integration with the iPhone, so you could transfer calls to the TV, or whatever.
For years, people have been trying to integrate TVs and phones. I first saw a system in the 1980s that would ring the phone on the TV. It stirred little interest back then, but imagine what it could do today with the changed attitudes. Anything goes.
How about a video conference via FaceTime on the iPhone, utilizing a stream to the 50-inch Apple TV? There are some serious uses that can result from a lash-up like that. As for all the internet and IPTV shows out there, if anyone can make these streams work in a sensible way, it's Apple.
Apple should branch out into areas of consumer electronics where it can leverage its brand name, image, and logo. While it should steer clear of electric toothbrushes and light fixtures, there are a few arenas that need a leader. Curiously, the TV business is one of them.
The last dominant player in TV was during the CRT era when the Sony Trinitron owned the color TV business. I see nothing like that today. There's Panasonic, Sony, Samsung, Vizio and a slew of also-rans. There are not lust-worthy TVs. Most people look for a decent brand at the best price.
Ideally, Apple stores could sell them as TVs or as large screens for corporate presentations. The computers could be hooked to the TVs to show off the high resolution and compatibility.
Apple's next move after the Apple TV? I'm not sure. The company must avoid areas of consumer electronics where it cannot gain the Apple edge, like digital cameras, for example. It's hard to imagine Apple outdoing the likes of the major Japanese camera makers.
But, rather than make a new product, Apple could possibly use the brand power to authorize a premium version of a product. Say Apple wants to sell a line of digital cameras in its stores. It could make a deal to sell an "Apple Edition" of, say, a Nikon camera. It would be optimized (supposedly) to use in conjunction with Apple products. It could sport a special Apple color. Apple mavens would welcome such an alliance.
The company toyed with these sorts of joint marketing ideas with its special edition iPods, just not with third party products.
The possibilities are endless for a company whose logo is priceless.
You can Follow John C. Dvorak on Twitter @therealdvorak.
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