Apple’s missteps and future

I’ll admit to feeling a certain sense of vindication when I read this recent column on Bloomberg Businessweek about the sorry state of Apple’s TV initiatives (or lack thereof):

“After 10 years, Apple TV is pretty much the same. Meanwhile Amazon, Google and others are leading the way in revamping how people interact with TV sets by speaking to them or mixing live television programs with libraries of older shows and movies.”

Ever since it became apparent to me that digital delivery of TV programming was the inevitable future of distribution, I have thought it was a nearly-perfect fit for Apple to purchase Sony. It would deliver them a source of IP that spanned from videogames and music to television and film content, as well as the know-how to produce new material.

In the mid-2000s (like now), Apple was flush with cash and should have spent a chunk of it to acquire Sony, which to this day, still struggles with its own line of businesses, from the Vaio to the Walkman to the Betamax. Even their vaunted televisions are now second-banana to upstarts like Vizio.

Granted, I may be overstating the predicament that Apple finds itself, but it seems to be strategically challenged in the arena of digital content delivery, especially with regard to streaming video. A purchase like Sony would be a bold statement from this parent of the smartphone to enter the next phase of innovation.

In fact, I suspect (hope?) they’re working on the next entrant to the home digital assistant market. Will Siri’s home-based device – whatever that may be – serve as a viable and successful challenge to the likes of Alexis, OK Google, Cortana and Bixby? I won’t hold my breath, but hope springs eternal, right?

 

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