Apple's Summer Surprise and comments from IBM

With Apple effectively announcing the end of all Power-based products, it is really hard to see how Apple hardware can survive until the Intel-based offerings show up. Given that Apple normally isn't this stupid, it has led many of us to speculate that there is a summer announcement that will provide the market with its next iPod-like offering.

What makes the most sense to me, and a number of the folks who have written to me, is a Media Center done right. Microsoft's Media Center remains, much like the pre-iPod music players, too complex and difficult to use for the broad market. By focusing on a great music experience first and the creation of a perfect general-use host for the iPod, Apple could probably light a fire under this segment and dominate it, much like they did the MP3 space. More at DesignTechnica