Reverse Distortion Field

Michael must be right and I must be wrong. It must have been the 24" iMac I mistook as a TV, which is still overpriced but not absurdly so-- just an uncomfortable 'I don't know...' so.

I guess that HP monitor really did turn my head and framed my view of the iMac. How important is framing? Even with Apple's famed 'distortion field', my immediate comparison was to an orange, er ..., wide-screen monitor. I wasn't interested at all in the guts of what was driving the display, the computer itself.

Apple, I'm sorry for comparing the 24" iMac to a 22" wide screen HP monitor. I think the best way for this not to happen in the future is to actually come out with your own TV. I'm ready.

ReadWriteWeb had a recent poll asking what segment of consumer electronics Apple will dominate next. I think it has to be TV, not just the big hunk of plastic you put in your living room (though I'm sure it will be there), but the way TV will be done. Think iTunes, and think YouTube.

Google may or may not be regretting their YouTube purchase, but I do think Google had to buy them because Google needs to stay on top of media-- and YouTube definitely demonstrated the popularity of its media, and medium. But that hasn't necessarily followed with money.

My hunch is it will be Apple that will break the licensing logjam currently affecting Google's monetization of YouTube, and hovering like a spectre (a la the recording industry) of video. The only reason video hasn't been turned on its head like music is the sheer number of bits involved. But once it becomes as quick and easy to copy and move 4GB as 4MB, you can be sure what's coming.

Movie studios are certainly aware. I'm noticing more 'copying movies is illegal' previews in front of the movies I am legally renting. The pressure to address it, and not make the same mistakes as the recording industry, is only mounting.

Actually, if I'm Microsoft, maybe this is the best way to get in front of Apple and get a real piece of the Google content pie. But I can't imagine Google would do a deal with MSFT before AAPL, and Cupertino is just down the road from Mountain View.

My money is on an Apple/Google video content deal of some kind before the end of the year.

And an honest to goodness Apple TV.