While The Development Platform Is The Real Star, The New Apple TV Remote Is The Key To Unlocking Apple’s Next Big Thing

Readers know I think Apple unleashing 11 million programmers onto TV is going to turn TV as we know it on its head… similar to what Apple did to the cell phone industry.

But I was stunned how surprised — excited — I was to see the new Apple TV Remote.

Why?

Because Apple just figured out how to unlock using the next generation of TV.

The last time they did that was with the gesture interface in the tablet category (iPad).

The time before they did that with the gesture interface in the cell category (iPhone).

And the time before that with the “thumb” interface in the digital “MP3” music player category (iPod).

So, the new Apple TV remote is a big deal.

While there is no doubt that Apple’s iOS development platform — and the legions of loyal Apple programmers creating zillions of phenomenal, mind-blowing, and ultimately incredibly useful apps — is the heart & soul behind Apple’s device success…

… in each case there had to be a simple, elegant interface to be able to use all of that goodness.

Today TV remotes absolutely suck.

Do I really need to prove that?  Just look at what’s sitting next to your TV.  Probably at least three remotes… all necessary at various points… and all with dozens of buttons that are impossible to use during nighttime viewing.

That is, unless you get one of the many universal remotes… which I swear are all harder to use than flying a small airplane.

It’s like using a PC… when all you really want is a Mac.

So from what I can tell from the announcement yesterday, Apple — once again — cracked the code on a huge new market.

They didn’t do it with some weird, “Minority Report” in-the-air, be-careful-if-you-sneeze-because-you’ll-change-channels interface.

They did it the Apple way:  Simple.  Elegant.  Useful.

As Tim Cook said, “The future of TV… is apps”… which is true…

… but what’s going to unlock that future is the new interface Apple just created, the new Apple TV Remote.

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No One Is Talking About What’s Really Important At Apple’s Big Event Tomorrow

No one is really talking about what could potentially be MIND BLOWING at tomorrow’s big Apple announcement.

Sure, lots of talk about the next rev of iPhones.  And bigger iPads.  But Apple TV is relegated to back-of-the-bus stuff.

Why?  Because everyone had been expecting either (1) an actual Apple TV set, or (2) that whole “skinny” bundle cord-cutting thing… so they’re all somewhat disappointed.

But I think — rather, I’m hoping — everyone has it wrong.

And that is that Apple has created a product that will let Apple do to the TV experience that they did to the cell phone experience… and that is completely redefine what we expect from TV.

How will they do this?  By announcing “iOS TV”… essentially unleashing their 11 million or so iOS programmers on TV.

That would change the face of TV as we know it.

It’s been a really long time coming (here and here).  But, in about 24 hours, we could be saying once again, “Do you want to do this with your TV set?  Yep, there’s an app for that!”