Apple's next move: it isn't just music any more

Robert X. Cringley, someone I always find worth reading, has an interesting column on where Apple Computer is headed this year. Despite the seemingly meteroic success of the iPod Shuffle (there are now rumors afoot that they will be offered by Walmart), Steve Jobs declared this year to be the year of high-def TV, not music, at his MacWorld keynote. One of the unexplained mysteries of that keynote is why the president of Sony -- an Apple competitor -- appeared to promote its new HD camcorder; clearly that could have been done by a product manager or lower level executive. But his appearance clearly said, "Apple's HD video work is important to Sony."

Well, it appears that Cringley has a theory. His view is that the next shoe to drop will be the use of Mac Minis as high-def video servers for TVs, fed by an iTunes-like clone that allows you to rent movies a la NetFlix or buy them digitally like iTunes.

Oh, and by the way, don't forget the Steve Jobs is also CEO of Pixar, a company that makes hit movies and is looking for a new distributor after Disney. So Jobs has some clout with the movie makers for licensing, something he didn't have in the music business.

Interestingly, Jobs is one of the few people with both the marketing skill and technology credibility that could pull off this type of deal. The board is set, and the pieces are moving. It may be a very interesting year.