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Jun 1 2007, 12:08 PM EDT (current) jonb 300 words added
Jun 1 2007, 11:58 AM EDT jonb

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"A lot of people have tried and failed"


At the All Things Digital conference, Steve Jobs raised eyebrows by calling the Apple TV a hobby market. This is Engadget's paraphrasing:

We're in two busineses today, we'll be very shortly in three business and a hobby. One is our Mac business, second is our music business, third business is the phone business, handsets. And the hobby is Apple TV. The reason I call it a hobby is a lot of people have tried and failed to make it a business. It's a business that's hundreds of thousands of units per year but it hasn't crested to be millions of units per year, but I think if we improve things we can crack that.

Later he tipped his hand by states that the iPod also started as a hobby market. When pressed further, he claimed he was very committed to the Apple TV.

I think he's being coy. With the news that Apple is adding YouTube support and the rumors that games are being developed for the Apple TV, it is clear that there is a lot of activity going on around the Apple TV. But Steve doesn't want to make it too obvious what a big opportunity he sees in the device.

Wait for Apple's upcoming subscription service and the combined Apple TV/HDTV set and I think his feelings will come into focus more. Steve Jobs doesn't see the living room as a hobby market. He sees it as a do-or-die battleground for the future of the computer.

If Apple is to succeed in the, as he says, "Post-PC" world, they will need to address the living room. The Apple TV is Apple's only bet in the space, and you can expect them to leverage it for all it's worth.