Oh please, Steve Job showed very little -- if not zero -- passion about the US education system. He was an inventor and entrepreneur.
If these guys want to talk about someone who is passionate about the US education system, talk about Bill Gates. It's time to end the Steve Job's love fest.
There are anecdotes that he did care about education such as an Arrington article leading up to the iPad which said he wanted to use use the iPad to change education. He was also an active parent, though not as much as he may have liked.
It's not that much of a stretch to believe that someone like Jobs would think about ways to change education. There are excerpts from the book stating this.
He was the epitome of an exploitrepreneur.
We are happy with what he achieved - but lets have no delusions about how he operated and built his position and fame.
Take 5K for building something he paid Woz $375 for (breakout)...
Similarly, people criticize him for bad behavior to his employees, but I see all apple employees love him (and love him much more than employees in most other companies love their leader) -- since I am an apple employee myself, I know. So I am not sure other people should dislike him for that when the actual employees that he talked to liked him (obviously there would be exceptions, some people obviously did not like him, but most did)
1) iPhone as remote: First, they would probably allow iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches to be used as remotes. That would be the recommended use case, and in fact they've already got this with the new iOS5 Airplay:
http://www.apple.com/ipad/features/airplay.html
2) TVs are lean back: Next, the key question is: what is the difference between a TV and a computer monitor? They are converging in many ways, but probably the most important differences are that a TV is lower res, bigger, with less control over content, and situated at a distance. It's a lean back experience as opposed to a lean forward one. So whatever you do with TV has to focus on the lean back/remote control experience. The Airplay link above seems like a real key to this, to make the iPhone the ultimate remote.
3) Show-specific remote control apps: In fact, given that the iPhone's display is programmable, you could make it a responsive remote that changes its UI in response to what's on the screen. So for example, if you are watching the Office, your iPhone's remote app could show the top rated episodes of all time, with comments next to them. Tap that episode to watch it.
Going further with this, basically you could integrate the show website with the remote for a kind of "show specific app remote". You'd want to make this something that wasn't too much of a distraction while watching, but that you used to quickly get to the good stuff or learn more about a particular actor or fact -- or product -- in the show. For season long serial dramas, the remote might also show which previous episodes you should have watched to understand what's on the screen.
4) iTunes+iMovie for independent film monetization: TV content is programmable and you could supply that with iTunes. Hulu, Netflix, and Youtube are also potential content providers.
It might be more interesting if iTunes opened up "show development" in the same way that the iPhone opened up "app development". Make iMovie and iTunes really, really tightly integrated such that it's now incredibly easy for anyone to develop a TV show, push it out to everyone, and monetize it through iTunes.
While you're at it, integrate GarageBand and iTunes to do the same for music. Get all the bands which were internet savvy enough to set up on Myspace and attract visitors, and do the Amazon disintermediation strategy. Basically, allow bands and independent filmmakers to monetize without Hollywood and the record industry.
5) iTV Genius recommendations: one of the most interesting concepts with your super remote would be a smart clicker that would not just change the channel, but would be like a Zite for TV. With a deep knowledge of what you liked and what you didn't like, it'd almost certainly bring up something good.
6) Lean back applications: iTV could also be a deployment point for "lean back apps" beyond standard TV fare which are meant to be controlled with the remote. These could be Keynote presentations, educational presentations, or basically new kinds of apps that are meant to be interacted with at a distance through a smart remote. Again, iOS5's Airplay integration will be the first preview of these sorts of apps.
7) A true universal remote: If people get accustomized to this sort of thing, they'll expect a location-aware remote control interface to a lot of physical objects. This has a ton of potential. Not just for garage door openers and automobiles, but for restaurants, ticket vendors, home automation, and the like. Lockitron sees some of this potential already, I think.
This is just for starters. There's a lot they could do.
The interface will be something magical, like a Wiimote. In fact, it may be exactly like a Wiimote. Whatever it is, it will be great for using an on-screen interface, and also for games. Yep, I can't see them making a TV that isn't a gaming platform.
Whatever they have in mind for the television will similarly be not about adding things, but about taking things away. They will simplify it in a way that geeks will consider a downgrade while opening up a world of possibilities for mere mortals.
To try to give you some context, think back to 2005, and question 'how can you revolutionize a phone? It's just a speaker and a microphone'. Of course, there had already been inroads into making your phone much more than a phone, just as set-top boxes and other connected devices have added capabilities to your television.
I don't think we'll see a 'rebirth' of television so much as we'll see television joining mobile, tablets and computers in the middle.
Really, the revolution of the phone was making it more like a computer, but more portable. The revolution of the television I suspect will be the same, but less portable. Just like the portability of the phone expanded the things we used our phones for, a less portable large screen product could expose similar capabilities.
I use a projector tv at home now but it's a pain to configure because it's designed to work with too many kinds of input. Integrate a more compact and elegantly designed projector with iTV, make iPad and iPhone your control surfaces but download content from the cloud - it could work. And unlike the big flatscreen, it'd be easy to take to the Apple Store for service/diagnostic if need be.
There's nothing wrong with the remote, just that it is starting to get very confusing to use (too many buttons). If Apple can find a way to make the modern remote less complex that would be a step in the right direction.
(I also wonder if he was imagining removing the layer of "channels" and just have something like the iTunes Store where you search for shows?) Just pondering...
Yet getting excited for textbooks on ipad? Strange.
Typically there is one specific text approved for a course, so there is a serious lack of competition. And the publishers will release new editions every year, with trivial changes, to prevent reuse of old books. It's definitely a sketchy industry, in many ways, and there is plenty of opportunity for disruption.
Jobs was out-innovating everyone when he was sick.
Jobs is still out-innovating everyone even when he's already dead.
