Walter Isaacson, writer of the recently released biography of Steve Jobs, has revealed that the late Apple supremo was working on 'reinventing' three key areas of technology: television, photography and textbooks.
And despite the famed secrecy surrounding the development of Apple products, it seems Jobs may have been uncharacteristically candid with Isaacson -- although we shouldn't expect the writer to reveal any of the details he discovered.
Isaacson told the New York Times that Jobs identified television, photography and textbooks as three things he 'really wanted' to take on. On the subject of television, for instance, Jobs told his biographer that he'd 'licked it', going on to say that, 'There's no reason you should have all these complicated remote controls.'
Last month, when the biography was published, details within suggested that Apple was (or is) working on an integrated Apple TV: an actual television set with Apple TV software inside, a super-streamlined user interface and seamless syncing with iCloud and all the user's Apple devices. And Isaacson's comments to the NYT only go to reinforce this view that Apple is well on the way to reinventing the humble gogglebox, much in the same way that it 'reinvented' the music player with the iPod and the mobile phone with the iPhone.
Isaacson won't be revealing any specifics on the products Jobs told him about, however: 'I didn't go into details about these products in the book because it was implicitly Apple's creations and it's not fair on the company to reveal these details.' Ah, Walter, you big tease.
The writer also spoke about Jobs' well-documented 'petulance', saying that it was driven by his passion for perfectionism and a desire to create 'perfect products': 'He could be perceived as a jerk because he was brutally honest with people… It wasn't just churlishness.'
Isaacson revealed that Jobs wanted no control over the book, was remarkably honest and open and even encouraged him to seek out his adversaries for their opinions.
Would you like to see Apple launch an integrated TV? And what do you think about Jobs' dream to rework photography and textbooks: has Apple already achieved that with the iPhone's (pretty decent) camera and the iPad's ebook functionality, or do you want to see more? Let us know below.
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anonymous 19 November, 2011 17:01
Jobs did not "conquer" photography with the iphones supposedly decent camera, gimme a break, REAL photography involves the use of a real camera, not a half-baked attempt slapped into a phone. A real camera is JUST a camera, not a phone hybrid, tablet hybrid or anything else you wish to chuck in with it. Keep dreaming apple..... Stick with what your good at, lawsuits......
anonymous 22 November, 2011 23:32
oh come on, stop hating on apple. there is a reason they are the most valuable company in the world. they overtook exxonmobil. try to say that the ipod did not change the music industry. and try to say the the iphone didnt start the huge touchscreen smartphone industry. come on, they invented the portable touchscreen. apple also invented the tablet industry and every other company out there is just trying to incorporate apple's features into their own products and got into the game try to catch some of apple's profits. apple is also poised to become the biggest traditional computer retailer in the world. they invented facetime. of the photos posted on facebook, twitter, flickr, etc., most are from iphones. more than all other smartphones and regular cameras. an 8 megapixel camera is not an slr camera, put it takes the place of every point and shoot. with an iphone, people don't need a music player, a camera, a camcorder (iphone shoots in 1080p) now you can text over wifi not using 3g. you can talk to your phone. dont say that you can do that on android where you have to memorize phrases to get it to do something. if apple makes a tv it would be over. you sound like microsoft's ceo when he said the iphone would be a flop. you are so ignorant and just want to root for the opposite of mainstream. you are not being unique, you are being obnoxious and just are doing so because you are just a contentious person.