Hopeless Geek

Consider the following:

• The iPhone is said to run a reduced version of Mac OS X that is “well under” a gigabyte in size, perhaps even as small as 512MB, while keeping Core Animation.
• The tv has animations and transitions a la Core Animation as well as handling protected file formats, QuickTime-powered video, and talking to other Macs and PCs over the network to synchronize files and store them on a (probably HFS+) internal drive.
• The new AirPort Extreme not only handles printer sharing, but disk sharing over AFP and SMB with folder-level access controls for multiple disks. This effectively makes this little base station a network-attached storage device for the home. User-upgradable as well.

It sounds to me like Apple’s not just using this embedded Mac OS X in the iPhone, but in all the products released at MacWorld this year. You have devices that speak AFP and access HFS+ volumes, use Core Animation, talk to computers over the network and download and store files, and serve files out to other computers.

Couple this with the rumors of such a thing shortly before the conference and you might as well have a conclusion. Apple now has an embedded OS based on Mac OS X that allows them to do just about anything in small devices.

I would expect that kick-ass iPod implementation in the iPhone to be a standalone iPod within six months, complete with a full touch-screen. I would also expect a lot more consumer devices from Apple in the coming year, given that they have this embedded OS as well as the recent name change from Apple Computer, Inc. to just Apple, Inc.

What kind of devices? Who knows? Did you expect the iPod revolution to come? Well, it’ll be harder to see where Apple goes next. Now, there are some places I’d like them to go:

• A real portable media player. Widescreen and a little larger to more easily see the video. It should have WiFi to browse iTunes and iPhoto shares on the local network and play that content as well. Its dock should have an ethernet port and power so that it can be a source for the tv device and display its content on your television. It could do it wirelessly as well, but that would kill the battery.
• A PDA. I want the Newton back. I realize it’s not going to happen, but I have to say that if there was a way to make it happen, this touch-screen tech with a larger device would be killer.

Apple is fast becoming the American Sony, only far, far more in touch and relevant.