The Mac Mini: Media hub for iTunes Movie Store?

Robert Cringely is a true tech sleuth. This week he
puts together the puzzle pieces to surmise what the Mac Mini is truly about. Right now it is about design innovation and a strong pitch to disgruntled Windows users and potential switchers, but Cringely thinks Jobs has an ace up his sleeve, and the full potential of the Mac Mini has yet to be unveiled.

What do we know? We know that as much as Steve Jobs reputedly disparages video, he has clearly announced 2005 as
"The Year of HD." We also know that Apple is in bed with Sony, as evidenced by Sony President Kunitake Ando's appearance at the Macworld Keynote. As Cringely dryly points out: "you don't get the head of Sony at your event just to sell camcorders."

We also know that within two days of reporting the release of
iFlicks, which we dubbed "iTunes for video," the site was mysteriously taken down, and nobody can talk about why. Perhaps they've been purchased by a company who is extremely
adamant about locking down information about advance products?

What is Apple playing at? I think Cringely is onto something hot: Apple will jump-start the HD movie business,
bypassing cable monopolies and offering iTunes-type simplicity for delivering high-quality digital movie content to the Mac Mini home theater.