Steve "finally cracked" the TV puzzle, says bio
We're seeing an unending stream of tidbits from the new biography of Steve Jobs to be released tomorrow.
Author Walter Isaacson, who interviewed Jobs extensively has this interesting passage as quoted by Razorianfly:
"He very much wanted to do for television sets what he had done for computers, music players, and phones: make them simple and elegant."
"'I'd like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use,' he told me. 'It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud.' No longer would users have to fiddle with complex remotes for DVD players and cable channels. 'It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it.'"
This will add to rampant speculation about Apple pursuing something beyond the Apple TV, which Jobs always referred to as a 'hobby'.
I hope Apple moves ahead with it. I can't think of another consumer electronics device that would benefit more from an Apple upgrade.
As it is today, handling a DVR, searching for shows and dealing with a TV program guide in any way is a method that could have been designed by the architects of the Spanish Inquisition.
I've had both Comcast and DirecTV, and it's no fun interacting with either. There have been some iPad and iPhone apps that ease the pain a little, largely because you get a keyboard instead of 'cursor hell' when trying to enter text, but so much more could be done. Think about what Apple brought to the whole experience of using a cellphone.
Come on Apple, we've suffered enough.
