It has taken me a while to realise exactly what it is that Apple have accomplished. Setting aside the qualities of their traditional computers, the combination of iTunes, their portable media devices (iPod, iPad and iPhone) and Apple TV has delivered a complete system for the consumption (and, to a lesser extent, creation) of entertainment products (movies, music, books, photos and magazines). To the fan of minimalist living, for whom books are the bleached flesh of dead trees, DVDs are bits of elegantly processed plastic and magazines are a sort of high-res advert, the ability to handle these datasets in the digital domain is liberating.
Where once we collected objects as status symbols or testaments to our wealth or societal position, now we recognise that instead these items tie us to a single location, restricting our freedom and constraining us to act in manners prescribed by the vendors of these products. Apple, whether deliberately or as a by-product of their focus on design and ease-of-use, have created a product set that enable us to consume on demand without devoting resources to the storage and maintenance of the media.
If the rumours are to be believed, and Apple are planning to move the storage of digital media online (which might explain the construction of their mammoth new data centre), then maybe even the backup of our media is to be handled automatically by offsite agents, severing the last tie between the user and physical media. If even the backup is remote, untouchable and transparent, physical media are truly obsolete. Sounds good to me; now all I have to do is work out how to upload my books.
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