Online Content the Apple of Jobs' Eye

By David Farquhar

European Editor

Say what you will about Apple co-founder, company ex-patriate, returning corporate hero and present CEO Steve Jobs. The guy is no slouch when it comes to recognizing a marketing trend, even if it is an 800-pound gorilla staring everyone in the face.

He was among the first to understand that when it comes to music most people want something that is simple and slick (which accounts for the incredible success of the iPod and its successors)and is gradually pulling the company's computer business up by the suspenders by doing some really cool stuff with the MacBook and desktop systems - again by making things really simple and developing software that appeals to a generation that is absolutely saturated and jaded by all things digital and drenched in special effects. Who cares what the critics say about the new Leopard OS, isn't it neat the way those windows flip around just like what you see on the network news?

Steve's latest epiphany is to offer movie rentals through iTunes to compete with the likes of Amazon and NetFlix, which follows his previous epiphany of selling movies and television drivel via iTunes. Critics may scoff that this is simply a tactic by Jobs to shore up its creaking AppleTV effort, but we know deep in our hearts that master marketeer (note the Disney reference?) Steve Jobs has yet again parlayed the obvious into something that is sure to pump up Apple's stock to even greater heights.

Is there anything in this world that can stop Apple in its conquest to be the worldwide entertainment endpoint? Maybe not immediately, since the legions of dedicated Apple followers will predictably plunk down their digital dollars and use their Christmas iTune gift cards to rent movies and other media for the next few months. Then there is the coming Macworld gathering in January that always rallies the faithful and the salivating headline-starved press - although the rumored introduction of a Mac sub-notebook may throw a blanket on that furor since we all know how much of an impact limited-capacity PCs have had on the industry (I think I still have my Toshiba Libretto banging around someplace).

Apple's foray into sub-notebook computing, iTune movie rentals and even the also-rumored resurrection of it's early and fondly remembered Messagepad may actually provide a small window of opportunity for competitors looking to get a piece of the mobile media action. In act, the companies best positioned to chip away at the Apple kingdom may be the cellular handset makers - especially Nokia with its really cool mobile Internet device.

Recent studies show that demand for mobile services and mobile devices is at an all-time high - especially among people in the U.S., which has been a bit delayed in jumping on this tsunami. Roughly 38 percent of U.S. consumers are now watching television shows online, while 36 percent are using their cell phones as entertainment devices, according to a survey conducted in late October by Deloitte & Touche. This compares with 24 percent of consumers entertaining themselves with their cell phones, as reported in a prior Deloitte study.

Not surprisingly, more than 60 percent of the these cell phone users are young people (13-24 year olds). But surprisingly, an increasing number of 'experienced' consumers (25-41 year olds) are also using cell phones to tune into mobile media broadcasts and downloads.

We're sure that a portion of Steve Jobs new strategy is focused on these slightly older individuals, who may take him up on his offer to buy and channel movies to mobile devices.

However, there are opportunities for others out who recognize the potential to package content for specific age and interest groups as more and more people rely on mobile devices to take their entertainment and information with them. There are also opportunities for smaller companies to develop broadcast channels that combine entertainment with useful and location-specific advertising and personal info blasts.

Steve, if you are reading this why don't you kick back, take a little breather and play around with that new sub-notebook a while to give someone else a chance to ride the wave.