What’s Next For Apple? Follow The Money Trail.

Where art thou going, oh Apple? That’s a great question for those of us who want to know what new products Apple is about to launch.

Can we discern Apple’s future product paths by recent trails? Yes, I’m convinced we can know Apple’s future.

Apple is leaving a trail of evidence which points to future products; Mac, iPod, software, hardware, and one more thing products.

All that’s required is to follow the money trail. After all, Apple is a company that believes in profit.

Wherever the profits go, Apple is sure to follow. Can we tell the future from the past? Yes (um, gulp… here goes).

If the past means anything about the future, prognostication of Apple Computer’s future is risky business.

Something struck me about Apple’s it’s-about-time venture into movies that leads me to believe we can see where Apple is going.

Putting movies into the iTunes Music Store (then changing the name to iTunes Store) was a no-brainer and the first clue to successful future divining of Apple’s secret product plans.

Money. It’s all about the money. Yes, cool products are important. Money is more important.

The iPod and iTunes were launched because the market was ripe for a quality player with Apple’s sense of style and elegance.

Apple’s move to make iTunes available on Windows PCs was all about expanding the money trail.

Placing TV shows on the iTunes Store for $1.99 each is about money, too.

Apple firmly believes that it isn’t just the Mac that’s at the center of the digital hub. It’s Apple itself.

The digital life and digital home is rapidly becoming a reality and there’s a trail of money ahead.

Watch Apple closely. The company will follow the money trail. To see where Apple will go, look at the trail so far.

The Mac: notebooks, desktops, towers. The iPod: video and photos and music.

At the heart of all these products are Apple’s characteristic elegant design, simple functionality, and software.

Yes, the money trail, past, present and future, is in hardware, and increasingly, in software. Why software, Kate?

Software is what brings it all together. Macs, iPods, accessories, online digital store, future products.

Knowing that Apple goes where the money is and will be, we can more effectively predict where Apple will be; hardware and software.

For example, by looking at the iPod and iTunes trail, the recent past, it was easy to determine the future—TV shows and movies.

By looking at Apple’s success with Airport Express and moving music from a Mac to external devices such as a TV or stereo system, it was easy to see that Tera’s vision of Airport Express Video would arrive.

Isn’t the “iTV” wireless product demonstrated at Apple’s recent Showtime event merely an extension of the popular Airport Express?

What does it do? It moves media from Macs to TV screens and home entertainment centers. It’s a logical extension of the past trail.

Why does Apple go there? It’s another product that’s actually different than Airport Express, so Apple can collect another $299 from the customer base.

It’s more money and another future path on the Apple money trail.

Movies could be predicted as a new path, a logical extension of the future trail because of Apple’s past actions, products, positioning.

Apple’s “iTV” wireless product was predicted, though with few of the details. Even now, little is known about iTV because the software component hasn’t been shown.

Or has it? Have we been privileged to see the future based on Apple’s past trail?

The answer is a resounding yes.

Front Row. If software pulls all the pieces of Apple’s digital life hub together, then future software functionality can be determined in advance.

The four areas most obvious, based on the product trail to date, are Front Row, the combination of iSight camera and iChat software, cell phones, and TV sets.

A future version of Front Row will empower the digital hub components and that line is growing rapidly. It’s not just Macs and iPods.

The iTunes Store is an important component because there’s money on the trail.

Future Front Row versions will control movement of media—music, photos, slideshows, TV shows, movies, home movies—from your Mac to your TV screen.

Isn’t it logical to follow the money trail and determine that Front Row will also allow access to iTunes Store?

Using your Apple Remote Control and a Mac mini or iTV (I’m betting both) in the living room lets you display your digital media on a TV—and lets you buy more media from the iTunes Store.

Humans have a natural predisposition to collecting. We collect things. In the Apple world, we collect music, TV shows, photos, movies, and the toys that pull all those together.

Wait. There’s more. What about iSight and iChat? What about cell phones? What about an Apple-branded wireless TV?

More, and a stunning conclusion on Page 2 »