Email from Steve Jobs reveals Apple TV 'magic wand,' other future product ideas
An email Apple cofounder Steve Jobs sent to his top executives outlines the vision he had for the company in 2010, including future iPhone iterations, "Apple TV 2" and changes to MobileMe that hoped would leapfrog Google's cloud services.
The correspondence, submitted as evidence in the second California Apple v. Samsung patent trial, is bullet list of topics for Apple's Top 100, an annual meeting at which high-ranking employees gather to steer the company for the coming year. While just ideas and short notes, the email offers a rare glimpse into how Apple operates and, more importantly for Samsung, how it viewed competition.
As noted by The Verge, the Jobs email includes mention of a "Holy War" with Google. According to Jobs, this topic was the primary reason for the 2010 Top 100 meeting.
Even in 2010, Jobs was taking about the "Post PC era" and Apple being the first to get there with the iPad. He recognized the power of a tablet and a decentralized cloud-based ecosystem. Taking this idea a step further, Jobs noted that the "PC [was] now just another client alongside iPhone, iPad, iPod touch."
Everything was moving to the cloud, but Apple was behind after being caught in an "innovator's dilemma" regarding the Digital Hub concept, which put the PC at the center of a user's device universe. Microsoft and Google had a leg up in cloud technology, something that needed to be remedied.
Alongside the cloud initiatives, Jobs took special note of Apple TV, saying it needed to be a "must have" accessory for iOS devices. Once again, Apple sought to incorporate the set-top box into its iOS ecosystem, including expanded content, TV subscriptions and more. Mention was made of apps, a browser (presumably a Web browser) and a "magic wand," the latter of which may refer to this device, first uncovered by AppleInsider in 2009.
The full email is embedded below.
The correspondence, submitted as evidence in the second California Apple v. Samsung patent trial, is bullet list of topics for Apple's Top 100, an annual meeting at which high-ranking employees gather to steer the company for the coming year. While just ideas and short notes, the email offers a rare glimpse into how Apple operates and, more importantly for Samsung, how it viewed competition.
As noted by The Verge, the Jobs email includes mention of a "Holy War" with Google. According to Jobs, this topic was the primary reason for the 2010 Top 100 meeting.
Even in 2010, Jobs was taking about the "Post PC era" and Apple being the first to get there with the iPad. He recognized the power of a tablet and a decentralized cloud-based ecosystem. Taking this idea a step further, Jobs noted that the "PC [was] now just another client alongside iPhone, iPad, iPod touch."
Everything was moving to the cloud, but Apple was behind after being caught in an "innovator's dilemma" regarding the Digital Hub concept, which put the PC at the center of a user's device universe. Microsoft and Google had a leg up in cloud technology, something that needed to be remedied.
Alongside the cloud initiatives, Jobs took special note of Apple TV, saying it needed to be a "must have" accessory for iOS devices. Once again, Apple sought to incorporate the set-top box into its iOS ecosystem, including expanded content, TV subscriptions and more. Mention was made of apps, a browser (presumably a Web browser) and a "magic wand," the latter of which may refer to this device, first uncovered by AppleInsider in 2009.
The full email is embedded below.
Comments
SJ: Apple TV is a "must have" accessory for iOS devices
Guess the Roku CEO wasn't wrong all along. Time for some crow eating.
Liked "add content: NBC, Viacom, HBO. Subscriptions". They were thinking it then, likely just couldn't get it done. Doh.
Great, Apple, just great. Now this email is going to be plastered all over the internet. I'm really beginning to think this lawsuit will end up hurting and embarrassing Apple more than any of their competitors.
What's in the memo to be embarrassed about? What I'm impressed about is how much of Apple's 2010 strategy contained in the email grew to fruition in the years following. It's the mark of the industry leader. Plans of the industry also-rans aren't so durable. They are often upset by the actions of the leader.
Plus to the sarcasm on this.
But not to this. Because their competitors will literally be creating IR sensor wands for their TVs, shoehorning Wii camera sensors into them to capture the input, and making abject fools of themselves. It’s going to be great.
It already exists.
But is it losing money? Doubtful.
You have sources at Sammy?
5. iOS - Scott, Joz
Strategy: catch up to Android where we are behind (notifications, tethering, speech, ...) and
leapfrog them (Siri, ...)
I'm sure Google is getting a good chuckle over that one. And what exactly has Siri leapfrogged? Certainly not Google Now.
I never believed that for a second.
Edit: What's with my posts showing up twice?
Wow, he was really across the details. And to those who think Apple doesn't care about specs, well they might not market that way, but he was interested in keeping up at least.
You still don't get it! Since Steve came back It never has been and hopefully never will be about the specs. It has been all about improving the performance and the end user experience which are not necessarily tied to hardware specs.
- create low cost iPhone based on iPod Touch to replace 3GS
They mentioned this in 2010 but perhaps they felt it was best to wait until a more appropriate time. Now that the iPod Touch sales have dropped so much, maybe that photo shown recently of the silver shell with the splits in it and marked as iPhone but shaped like the iPod Touch is finally it. $399 off-contract.
- tie products together to further lock customers into our ecosystem
This has been evident but now it's clearer that it's one of Apple's motivations.
- catch up to Android (notifications, tethering, speech ... )
There's confirmation about Apple copying Android notifications. It was pretty obvious at the time but also minor relative to the copying that went the other way.
- TV subscription, app, browser, magic wand?
After 4 years, they still haven't done any of this. I guess this is one of those areas where they won't do it until they can do it right. Getting the controls right from the sofa is key to most of this. Subscriptions and other content is down to the providers.
Roku CEO: Apple TV is essentially an accessory for the iPad.
SJ: Apple TV is a "must have" accessory for iOS devices
Guess the Roku CEO wasn't wrong all along. Time for some crow eating.
I love the way people take things out of context. Lets look at the entire quote:
"- Strategy: stay in the living room game and make a great "must have" accessory for iOS devices"
honestly, you are trying too hard.
I really don't think it's embarrassing. This type of correspondence is happening at all companies in every industry. I enjoyed reading it and id love to see googles and microsofts just for fun. Anyone with half a brain will realize that. The other half uses android, so who really cares what they think anyway.
Given that Google Now didn’t exist when they launched Siri, yeah, it did.
You realize this e-mail is from 2010, right? You have to look at the timeframe.
this case is about patents, right? I see nothing in this email of any help to Samsung. Why was this document even placed into Exhibit? Just to be a menance?