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Apple Blinks

My brief thoughts on Apple's announcement...

The new "hockey puck" AppleTV has an A4 processor but the same old interface. With the "Magic Trackpad" (I refuse to not put quotes around that) and this hardware, having iOS with apps on a TV was perfectly possible. That fact that they didn't pull the trigger means Apple probably blinked when challenged by companies like Comcast or Verizon, with whom they will supposedly soon sell iPhones.

So the war I foresaw is postponed... for now. And AppleTV is still just a hobby. Or, as I call it, a stinker. A tough sell against something with more and better content like the Roku HD Player.

UPDATE: The folks on MacBreak Weekly speculate that Apple may be taking a wait-and-see approach, letting Google make the first move on TV apps. This would be very uncharacteristic of Apple, who tends to go for first-mover advantage, or at least like to be brag they were the first to get it right. Whatever the case, the point is well-taken that Apple can, at any moment, flip a switch and allow iOS apps.

ALSO NOTE: I updated the "How I Would Remake Variety" post after having lunch with Variety.com editor Chris Krewson.

About J. Ott

John Ott is a writer, filmmaker and futurist. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.