Apple’s living-room Strategy
The strategy I would have followed if I was CEO
of Apple Inc.
Jochem Donkers

Apple’s technology portfolio
iPod - music player with state-of-the-art user interface
iTunes - music player platform
Mac mini a simpel yet powerful computer
Leading wireless network product line
State-of-the-Art Cinema displays line-up
Mac OS X - an operation system with excellent remote
controle capabilities

How would I have entered the living-room
with this technology portfolio?

My starting point:
A TV screen or computer should not be necessary to
control play-back music or radio.
It should be possible to manage digital music and radio
in a user-friendly way.

How I would have done it
iPod inspired remote control
Music
Radio
TV screen Internet radio
PodCasts
Television
Internet video
Communication over WLAN
between remote control
and living-room box
Living-room base
HiFi equipment

The redesigned remote control
iPod inspired remote control
How does the remote work?
Music >
On the remote control users can select the content they
Radio >
would like to enjoy via an interface similar to iPod
Internet radio >
interface. This can be music, podcasts and internet
PodCasts >
radio. This can be extended with content that requires a Menu with all
screen, such as: television, video content bought in the Television >
available content.
iTunes Store or internet video content such as YouTube Internet video >
and Brightcove.
The remote communicates over a Wireless network with
the Living-room base.
Navigation like the
iPod
What is in the remote?
The components of the remote control are very similar
to those of the iPod. The main difference is that the
hard-drive is not necessary, since all the content is
stored at the Living-room base.

The Living-room base
What is the Living-room base?
The Living-room base is a storage and playback device
for music and video content.
What is in the Living-room base?
The Living-room base contains a hard-drive for storage
of content (music and video), a tuner for traditional
radio and television, and network functionality to
retrieve internet content.
How does it work?
The Living-room base is controlled from the remote
control. Software for playing back audio-video content
is installed on the Living-room base; also, software that
controls the tuner and network functionality.
How is Apple’s technology portfolio used?
The Living-room base can be based on a low-end Mac
mini. The main objective is to optimize the hardware
and software (slim version of Mac OS X) for the few
purposes of the

Questions?
Please contact me at jdonkers@gmail.com