minimalmac:

The iPhone, iCloud, iPad, iTunes, OS X Lion, iOS, Apple TV, the MacBook Air, and the iMac are all Apple products. But they are more than that. In aggregate they are one single product. Apple’s product lineup is, in and of itself, a single product.

Shawn nails it with this one.

Personally, I’m sorry to see this program go…

Click the headline above for Cult of Mac’s take on how and why Apple should use it’s billions to crush Hollywood, then come back for my take.

Ready? My take is “Yes, but…”…

I agree that Apple should use some ofnthe money they have tucked away to stomp on the dimwits who have held back the video entertainment industry for better than a generation. But build a TV set? Buy or start local cable companies? Give an all-or-nothing ultimatum to the industry? Wrong to the 3rd power.

I do agree with the first step here — buy Netflix. Boom. Giving Netflix the advantage of Apple’s advanced tech and human I terrace expertise and Apple an instant streaming service already adopted so widely would terrify the morons who control Hollywood policy-making.

But Apple doesn’t need a better DVR or a 50” plasma attached to an Apple TV box. Instead, spend money on compelling content. Go directly to the best and brightest in movies & TV and make deals to finance the creation of top-drawer exclusive content. Start with a number of Apple-only TV series by known hitmakers, with weekly episodes to which you can subscribe or buy/rent individually. Create a couple of killer movies that the Hollywood middlemen never get their hands on.

What could be created if Apple handed a group of creators around one billion dollars and said “make something insanely great”? What would a Ron Howard or a Tom Hanks or a Joss Whedon be able to do with cash in hand and the knowledge that they didn’t have to sell their souls or deal with one more Hollyweird dolt who couldn’t make a movie or TV series if his life depended on it, but who has the power to cripple one on a whim?

How many people would fork over $99 for an Apple TV just to watch even 2 or 3 killer series a year from such creators — especially if they knew the purchase would help drive a stake through the heart of the vampires at the MPAA?

Apple-created content alone will not bury Hollywood’s idiot elite, but it could force them to compete by trying to reach the same audience instead of thumbing their noses at it. And it may teach more creators that the “system” is not protecting them but rather just holding them back. And that could be, dare I say it?, revolutionary.

The CouchGuy has been doing a lot of thinking about the September 1 Apple Event. As has become traditional, the invitation for the event seems to indicate a focus on music, and it is certainly time for the annual iPod/iTunes refresh. That may indeed be most of what will happen on September 1, but I suspect that there is a broader media strategy that is going to come out of this. Some may be drizzled out over the next few weeks and only hinted at in the festivities coming a week from Wednesday as I write this. Here is my predictions, however, for the scope of what the early Fall rollouts will bring from Apple.

HARDWARE

iPod Nano

The evidence seems to be irrefutable that we are going to see a major change (again) in the form factor of the iPod Nano. The new Nano will ditch the venerable click wheel for a square-shaped mini-touch screen, not a lot bigger than the current Nano screen is now.

The new Nano will keep the video camera (with perhaps some enhancements) and a standard dock connector, but all navigation will be done on the touch screen. This thing is small enough that it might even make a groovy-looking watch, though I suspect that it would be left to the third-party licensees to make a watchband case unit for it.

It is not inconceivable that we could see some limited rollout of apps for such a device, were it to have wi-fi — but I think that’s a stretch. Maybe next iteration…

iPod Touch

It is definitely time to bring the iPod Touch up to snuff with the iPhone 4, and again the evidence seems pretty clear that a new retina display, A4 processor, and front and rear cameras will be part of the iPod Touch’s new design. With cameras in place, FaceTime is a virtual certainly on the device, running iOS4.

It may or may not be a bit early for Apple to take this unit to a maximum capacity of 128GB, but I predict they will either roll it out that way or release an upgraded version as soon as they can secure the flash memory to handle it. Less likely (but possible) is a 3G data option similar to that for the iPad. After all, why should Apple (and AT&T) leave all that iPod Touch owner money on the table that is now going to devices like the Mi-Fi portable wireless hotspot.

Devices You Will Not See

Say goodbye to the iPod Classic, right away if the iPod Touch upgrades to 128GB capacity at the top end, or right after Christmas if it does not. I’ve loved the various classic iPods I’ve owned, but that design’s days are really over.

There will be no new iPod Shuffle, but I expect to see the current model (in my mind, still inferior to the clip-style unit that Mrs. CouchGuy clings to) stay in the line, perhaps for as much as another year. It is still useful for Apple to have a true low-end iPod.

If you are hoping for a 7” iPad, I think you are likely to be disappointed at this time. There is no incentive at all for Apple to introduce a smaller iPad right now when they are still selling the big one as fast as they can make it — especially with a heavy-duty refresh of the iPod Touch. I think it would really upset iPad buyers if Apple released a smaller iPad with features (like a camera) that the full size iPad lacked — and you are not going to see any more iOS4 devices released without a camera from here on in. Next year, they will certainly refresh the iPad with a camera-equipped model and maybe introduce a baby brother for it, but not until late 2011 at least.

Apple TV

It is quite possible that Steve Jobs will not unveil a new Apple TV at the September 1 event, but if not it will certainly not be more than a few weeks behind. It might be best to do it now, as it certainly would nail down the whole iOS4/iTunes ecosystem I suspect is behind the Apple media strategy at this time.

The rumored specs for the new Apple TV are probably pretty close to correct, but I just can’t quite bring myself to embrace the name iTV yet. No matter what it is called, however, expect an iOS4-powered device with a better processor (Apple A4?), improved graphics (though perhaps not 1080p yet), and relying on wi-fi streaming instead of internal storage. (Enabling external storage via USB is a possibility.) Apple will want to keep this unit lean and mean to keep the price down, so it will probably not support anything but HDMI video output, though they will keep both optical and RCA audio output from the original model.

The new Apple TV will provide all the same big-screen access to iTunes-based media files as the original, and be even easier to navigate and use.The big draw for the new model, however will be — of course — apps, enabled by the switch to the iOS4 operating system. Apple TV apps will be added to the App Store, and there There are hints around that some providers have already prepared apps, and there will probably be a way to run at least some iPad apps on the device from Day 1.

Wireless control of the device will be (preferably) through iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch apps, or through the new Magic Touchpad. App focus will include games (perhaps using the accelerometers and gyroscopes of the various iOS4 touchscreen devices for Wii-like action), infolinks for news/weather and entertainment, and — of course — access to internet-based entertainment media content via Pandora, Netflix, Hulu Plus, and many other vendors. This will simply blow the wheels out from under Google TV before it even gets started.

I can’t understand why, if Apple goes this far, they wouldn’t go all the way and enable FaceTime for this device as well, probably by way of a camera/microphone accessory device rather than building it in to the main unit. The base unit will sell for about $99, making it an easy must-buy purchase for almost anyone who already has other Apple media devices and iTunes-based content.

iOS 4.1

The new devices here are likely to run iOS4.1, and rollout of a software update for some (but not all) older devices is likely at the same time. I think it likely that the iPad version of iOS4 is still a few weeks away at this time, but it will be coming very soon and a firm date will probably be announced September 1.

I believe that one of the big additions to iOS4.1 will be wireless sync and updating across the whole iOS family — iPhone 4, new iPod Touch and new Apple TV are likely to have it at rollout, and iPad will get it as soon as iOS4 for iPad ships. It is possible (but I don;t consider it real likely) that the new Nano will have wi-fi and get this as well.) The capability will make devices a lot more independent (but not totally so) of desktop systems.

iTunes ecosystem

Wireless sync and update make it possible to change the focus of iTunes a bit, and it is about time. First of all, that name has to go, as familiar as it is. Something like iMedia is far more appropriate.

The iTunes software is far overdue for some real revision, and what Apple may do here is anyone’s guess. If it we my call, I’d move toward a new and much leaner iTunes (pardon… “iMedia”) client to ship with the new devices and be immediately available for download for all existing devices. This would handle a more basic level of media management and device support for all iOS4 devices, and be the minimum default hub for them. The current iTunes client is pretty bloated and getting prety slow and clunky because of it.

I would like to see the iTunes store functions spun off entirely into a web-based format for when you are not buying direct from a device. Apple has been beefing up the web presence of the iTunes store already, so it is reasonable to think they might go this route. More social media functionality could and should be added to the base iMedia experience through the basic Mac/Windows clients and the device-based clients.

What the iTunes (iMedia? Please?) ecosystem really needs is a hardcore and versatile Server version. The few problems I personally had with Apple TV streaming were mostly attributable to an overburdened iTunes install. A robust server would make an all-streaming new Apple TV design much more useful.

An iMedia server edition would be a chance to really provide enhanced file handling, sorting and streaming capability for those of us who make heavy use of iTunes-based media. the software should support remote administration via web or an iOS4 app, making it perfect for running on a headless Mac Mini dedicated to the purpose.

When iTunes was first designed, it was intended for a “rip and play” paradigm where a relatively modest number of music tracks were taken from CDs and moved to a single iPod device. These days, most families and a lot of individuals have multiple devices to be supported. The current iTunes client is essentially the same as the original client in many respects. It runs on an iMac that is my primary desktop installation. Getting it to support files stored on multiple drives requires a lot of workarounds and is not really supported well. Keeping up with multiple devices (my iPad and iPod Touch, Mrs. CouchGuy’s iPod Shuffle, our Apple TV, a Windows XP desktop computer running Media Server, and two iBook laptops) is a balancing act that works poorly.

A new iMedia server edition would be designed from the ground up to support both audio and video of all kinds with robust multidrive, network & cloud storage and backup options. Enhanced media sharing options should allow you to buy or rip media once, and use it across all devices. Individual accounts for family members should be easier to manage, and so should adding additional storage for more media files.

If Apple were to offer this kind of an iTunes upgrade, it should ship with all new Macs, but I would expect Apple to charge a modest amount for it ($49 to $99, tops) for Windows & existing Macs. Apple might even forgo a Windows version entirely. I don’t really expect to see all this rolled out September 1, but if Apple is serious about retaining iTunes (iMedia!) as the hub of your digital media world, it needs to make this sort of change, and soon.

Oh, yes… If Apple TV gets a refresh and we get a more robust version of iTunes/iMedia, expect DVR-type software like elgato’s EyeTV to get upgraded to take advantage of it VERY quickly.

“One more thing…”

The event wrap-up is where I’d expect a wild card, and what better wild card than the TV show rental program that’s been talked about for so very long. the CouchGuy is not convinced that a 99 cent per episode TV show rental program is enough to make the kind of game-changing move that Apple needs.

As much as it surprises me, I’d be more likely to buy into the sort of 99 cent monthly “subscription” program predicted by Leander Kahney recently in Cult of Mac. (See http://bit.ly/cj3A56 for more details.) If 99 cents bought a month’s access to a whole TV series, that might be both attractive to the viewer and acceptable to enough content providers to work out. Would this happen at the September 1 event? Maybe, or maybe soon thereafter. But it would be a great note for Steve Jobs to go out on if Kahney turns out to be right.

We’ll know soon, but it is fun to speculate. I expect the September 1 event is going to be the most interesting in quite awhile.

Lala.com, the music site that allowed users to scan their own digital audio connections, then access those same recordings from anywhere via lala’s web interface, is shutting down at the end of May. Lala was recently purchased by Apple Inc., with most pundits presuming that Apple wanted Lala’s programmers and intellectual property to enhance future versions of iTunes.

Emails today to Lala users discuss the shutdown and the future of customers’ Lala-purchased music:

The Lala service will be shut down on May 31st.

In appreciation of your support over the last five years, you will receive a credit in the amount of your Lala web song purchases for use on Apple’s iTunes Store. If you purchased and downloaded mp3 songs from Lala, those songs will continue to play as part of your local music library.

Remaining wallet balances and unredeemed gift cards will be converted to iTunes Store credit (or can be refunded upon request). Gift cards can be redeemed on Lala until May 31st.

Dennis Sellers of Macsimum News has several suggestions for acquisitions for Apple, now that they have hired an experienced pro to head up efforts in this direction. One of his suggestions is one I’ve discussed in the past — elGato, makers of the EyeTV line of products. I certainly agree with him.

The company has shown a real talent for integrating their TV capture technology with Apple’s iTunes-based entertainment flow. If brought under the Apple umbrella, that tech could have rock-solid integration and ease-of-use.

An Apple media tablet creates an even larger demand for content. Apple wants to sell as much content as they can, but they also want to tie as much of your digital world to their devices as possible. Every cable company and satellite TV provider will set you up with a DVR these days. If the tablet is going to be the Anything device, it needs to be able to make the content normally trapped in your TV into something you can carry along — something your cable/satellite vendor can’t do. Making a tablet able to receive live digital TV on the go is also very desirable. elGato is very good at both of those things.

As the LaLa acquisition gave Apple exactly what they need to put your iTunes content in the cloud for streaming to your tablet, iPod or iPhone, an elGato acquisition would give Apple what they need to pull recorded TV to your tablet as well. Apple should go for it.