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Apple TV Falls Flat

  • Fortune, Wednesday, May 30, 2007 11 AM
Apple TV, barely 2-months-old, is already a dud, according to the biz mag. That's all right; investors will allow Steve Jobs and co. a few mistakes. Google doesn't hit home runs all the time, either. Nevertheless, Schlender points to Apple's--and Jobs'--considerable dud past, which includes the Apple III computer, the Lisa (thousands of which eventually filled a landfill in exchange for a tax credit) and "the gorgeous" Power Mac.

Why bring up the past? Because like a batter in baseball, Jobs' hitting streak has been so hot recently--iMac computers, networking tools and just about every iteration of the iPod-=that he's bound to hit a cold patch. And it seems that with Apple TV, the company gave up early; while iPod and iMac ads pervade the various mediums, there's nary a mention of the $300 Apple TV.

"I think I see why," writes Fortune. "It's just not very good. It's about as uninspired as another prominent dud, the Zune, the MP3 player Microsoft (Charts, Fortune 500) launched last year. In fact, the Apple TV is so Zune-like, you'd think Jobs was so busy with the iPhone that he outsourced the Apple TV project to the folks up in Redmond." Next up is the iPhone. Let's hope the consumer electronics giant is paying closer attention.

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