The new release of Mac Mini HTPC, got me wondering if there is something new coming to the living rooms from apple. The HDMI connection in the new Mac Mini allows the less tech savvy users easily to connect the Mac Mini into their TV.
Update: we have been discussing about the small text size issue with iTunes. Now, Apple has released a new 2.0 version of the Apple Remote app for iPhone and iPad that enables you to control iTunes from your sofa. I was really happy how the new Apple Remote 2.0 app worked with my iPad and I can see this as a potential way to prevent the need to have an additional version of the iTunes for HTPC computers.
If the Mac Mini gets to the mass market, the next big thing could well be an iTunes Media Center, given the way how iTunes have developed over the years.
Nowadays iTunes manages so much more than just your music (movies, games, ebooks, podcasts, tv shows, iPhone, etc.).
Although the term Media Center is already reserved by Microsoft, I think iTunes program has evolved as a full-blown media center.
Companies developing and providing computers and media center softwares undermines how the media center PCs are being used. I will give you an example to illustrate my point. Let’s look at listening music as an activity. When you are playing your music using the shiny Plex media center software, it assumes that while listening all you want to do is to sit back and stare the album art or visualizer playing on TV. What if you want to browse Internet sites or check your emails while listening to music. For most media centers this is not possible. Most media center softwares assume that you do not want to do anything else with your computer while listening to music.
This is where I believe the desktop has a bigger potential to become the media center platform for the living room. As I buy most of my music from iTunes, it is an obvious choice to be used as a media player. Apple has been focusing a lot into the iTunes as a media player and online media store. The key issue I have with iTunes is that it has not been designed to be viewed from a TV. It is not optimized to be viewed from any distance over a meter or so. Text size even on large size is simply too small. The iTunes store font size is ridiculously small to be used with TV.
I guess Apple’ strategy has been focusing on bringing Apple TV as an media extender. However, because of the reasons mentioned earlier in this post I do not think it is wise to assume people only listen to music and watch movies, online video and photos. Maybe this problem can be solved by developing an addon plugin for iTunes that could act as an interface for the couch potatoes.
As an examble have a look at what Youtube is doing. In addition to their normal web user interface they have introduced the Youtube XL which is designed to be used on a big TV. This is what I think Apple should do as well. They already have a large enough user base, so all they need is to design an XL version of the iTunes, that is iTunes Media Center as an companion e.g. to their Mac Mini computer. Or to take things even further why not to develop a completely new user interface on top of Mac OS specifically targetted for home theater computers.
So as a summary, I envision the future media center to act as a launchpad on the desktop for different applications that are optimized to a big TV. Like with any converged devices (e.g. mobile phones), they cannot excel in all the areas but the they are set of compromised functionalities. If you want to have a good camera, buy a camera. If you want to buy a good portable music player buy an iPod. Mobile phones can do all these activities, but camera would not be the best nor would be the music playing functionalities. This same applies to media center softwares, they can do all the tasks but do not excel in any particular area.
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