Apple AirPlay will change the world and Apple’s competitors will have no excuse

from JoeUser Forums

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Right now, AirPlay is not well known or understood by most people. I think Apple likes it that way because it will take time for them to truly perfect it.  But early adopters know that AirPlay, as much as the iPhone and the iPod, threatens to change the way we think of computing.

AirPlay lets you stream the output of one device to another. It’s kind of the reverse of a remote control setup because you’re pushing rather than pulling. It’s also a lot harder to do. When you’re “pulling” (i.e. remote desktop for instance) you just have a machine that you’re trying to get stuff from.  When you’re pushing, all the devices you’re pushing to have to be set up to receive.

So what is going to happen? Well, if left uncontested, AirPlay is going to wipe out a lot of current ecosystems and platforms. 

AirPlay today:

With my Windows PC (or Mac) running iTunes I can take a video and stream it to any Airplay enabled device (speakers or monitors or televisions that have an AirPlay receiver on them).  Right now, the $99 AppleTV is the go-to device to handle this.   I’ve got 3 of these in my house that, using Control4, are then piped to my various televisions, monitors, speakers, etc. 

My setup is atypical today. My home office has set of speakers for “gaming” (can’t play L4D2 without the full effect after all <g>) and another set of speakers for listening to music from the Airplay devices (so if I want to have a party where my music is playing throughout the house, I can do that or if I just want to listen to the radio or whatever while my computer is doing something else).

AirPlay tomorrow:

iOS 5 will let users stream their iPad video/audio live to any Airplay device via mirroring. Not a big deal? No, not on the surface. But in 5 years…

AirPlay in 5 years:

Nintendo is a shadow of its former self. Microsoft and Sony are struggling with their console sales because the iPhone X is powerful enough to execute some pretty impressive games and have their output stream to their AirPlay enabled Samsung (or in a nightmare scenario, an actual television made by Apple with AirPlay built in).  The iPhone isn’t mirroring the game. The iPhone itself is an extended controller for the game. The player plays the game with their Bluetooth game controller.

Meanwhile, Windows X is struggling in the enterprise because all those Apple displays now have Airplay built in and companies now just issue iPads or iPhones out to employees with a set of apps that are displayed on the monitor with the user controlling them via a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse.  Even today’s iPhone could easily run a Microsoft Office suite (and you wonder why Apple is bothering making an Office suite for iOS in 2011).

By that point, desktop PCs are going to look a little silly. Big boxes under the desk with fans whirring and a bunch of wires sticking out that are dedicated to a single output? Primitive and ridiculous.

Decoupled computing

I don’t know what term will eventually be coined for this new era. But Decoupled computing makes as sense as anything else. Your processing device, input devices, and output devices will be decoupled from one another.

What about Intel, AMD, Microsoft, etc.?

Let me say this: I’m not an Apple fan.  This is a future I don’t want to see happen. But technology tends to follow the path of least resistance and the cost-reduction, user experience, and just plain obviousness of this direction makes me unsympathetic to the current stake holders who are doing little to nothing to answer this challenge.  So bookmark this post and refer to it when the inevitable anti-trust whining starts showing up in a few years.  Apple’s competitors could have done something about this now. It’s far from too late to cooperate and put together a meaningful alternative.  Decoupled computing is the future. They need to get with the program now.

81,831 views 35 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top

History has a tendency to repeat itself. Vista repeated ME right? Microstuff hasn't been to up on things prior to Win 7. Who knows...maybe Microstuff will get on the bandwagon and maybe they won't. Time will tell.

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

AirPlay has been around... forever (granted my first expierence with it was with an Apple Programmer so maybe that expierence was while it was in alpha). I think 4-5 years? 

 

Has it made any advancement at all in those 4-5 years? I don't think so. Just more devices to connect it to (like the AppleTV). Plus, this isn't the first thing to do this. Sony had a similar idea hmmm... 6 years ago? My uncle had it all setup so that he could control his music/TV and even talk to people with little house-speakers with these little tablet things that he had around the house. I'm sure that was prohibitively expensive though (he could afford it). 

ObjectDock - Access shortcuts and frequently used applications from an animated dock.
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I am going to have to disagree and why, becaues it has the name Apple associated with it. 

You really think that a household that has several kids in the house wants to listen to Dad's or Mom's music or anything Dad or Mom watches?  Not in the real world.  :-"

Limited applications for this kind of stuff that would cause it to not be very mainstream, unless you are talking about folks with mansions, just my opinion.

 

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Sony had a similar idea hmmm... 6 years ago?

And there were cell phones before the iPhone and music players before the iPod.

It's about implementation.

Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting awuffleablehedgie, reply 2
My uncle had it all setup so that he could control his music/TV and even talk to people with little house-speakers with these little tablet things that he had around the house. I'm sure that was prohibitively expensive though (he could afford it).

Various European HiFi manufacturers have been into it for eons, too, but as Frogboy said...it's all about implimentation....;)

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top

It is the future because for years I've customized and tweaked our home PC network and streams to to attempt to record/watch tv between pc and tv, broadcast PC wirelessly to the television, etc.  I've waited years for reliable wireless speakers with universal compatibility and being able to operate my desktop "mainframe" from my little tablet is already something I regularly do--as in a few weeks ago when I was running my home PC desktop from my iPad in the car from another country.

Apple's obsession with trying to maintain absolute control of the experience (at the expense of my controlling my experience) and monetizing every aspect of it means I'll be happy to see non-Apple products come out that do all this.

Agreed though--it is the future and they are ahead in the game.

Reply #7 from Demigod Forums Top

Brad - can you maybe go into a little more detail?  Here's what I don't get:  I currently have a setup at home where I have multiple tivos throughout the house.  I can get pandora on all the sets.  I can stream shows that i recorded on any tivo to another tivo (eg I push shows).  What is the adv of your setup?  I'm just trying to get the superiority concept of this. 

I own a device that I must use throughout my house.  Using said device gives me access to everything I recorded on my cable plan anywhere.  And I have pandora, hulu, amazon on demand on any of those sets.  What's the big deal?

I read what you said - I just don't get the big deal.  And honestly, I'm probably missing the big deal as I'm sure mac has a higher adoption rate than tivo (or will in a several years if they don't baulk on airplay.

Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 4
It's about implementation.

Perhaps, but in how many households?

Apple products are expensive, so many will seek cheaper ways to do quite similar.  Then there's the general dislike of Apple and its attitude to think of.  While Apple may have done well with its iPhones, Pads, Pods [and I know many, many more people who don't have them than do], it hasn't made much of an inroad in the OS/computer arena, and this will be its weak link.. not to mention Apple's wresting control of digital content from the user with its own version of DRM on everything.  So unless Apple seriously loosens its vice-like grip on content, free-minded, free-thinking people will give this a miss

I have several network enabled devices and I can stream wirelessly to the TV's and PC's in my house already.  Sure, I have a hub with stacks of wires and cables hanging out of it, but I'm not going to replace that with some pricey new fangled gadget from Apple that places DRM on my digital content any time soon, if ever.   Yuppies and the now generation may adopt this, I can well imagine millions of old school types thinking the exact same thing as me... "the asking price and Apple restrictions are way too much when I already have something which serves my needs more than adequately."

 

Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Very good starkers.  :thumbsup:

You put more thought into your reply than I did with mine.  :sun:

Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top

Meanwhile, Windows X is struggling in the enterprise because all those Apple displays now have Airplay built in and companies now just issue iPads or iPhones out to employees with a set of apps that are displayed on the monitor with the user controlling them via a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse.  Even today’s iPhone could easily run a Microsoft Office suite (and you wonder why Apple is bothering making an Office suite for iOS in 2011).
By that point, desktop PCs are going to look a little silly. Big boxes under the desk with fans whirring and a bunch of wires sticking out that are dedicated to a single output? Primitive and ridiculous.
Decoupled computing
I don’t know what term will eventually be coined for this new era. But Decoupled computing makes as sense as anything else. Your processing device, input devices, and output devices will be decoupled from one another.

Well, in some way, these Airplay can fail in the industry world... first, everything coming from Apple is somehow 2 time more expensive that when it come from somewhere else...

In the industry, you have a mainframe computer where application are running and multiple terminal ( only keyboard/mouse and screen ) for the numerous user...

Only difference between the mainframe/terminal and the Airplay is that the last is wireless but work only for audio/video ( no remote heavy application )...

By the way, Airplay will not remain a Apple thing only for long : http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/04/shairport-emulates-airport-express-to-receive-airplay-streams.ars ...

Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I don't think this will catch on. If it does it will be from some other manufacturer as Apple tends to charge too much for their products. Not only does new technology follow the path of least resistance, it also follows the path of affordability.

Reply #12 from Elemental Forums Top

I disagree with that analysis, kona0197. There is a barrier to using technology, which is how easy it is to use. Apple is the market leader in making stuff that "just works" with each other. Windows 7 was also a huge step forward for MS. This is an evolution that is taking place that is only for the better. For the consumer, the path of least resistance is picking products that just work. It is not only a question of development and how much it costs to produce, there is also the demand from the consumer side - and in particular in technology, ease-of-use is critical for the consumer mass market.

 

Reply #13 from Elemental Forums Top

Heavenfall is right. I can take my family as an example, they just want things that work. I like to explain in detail about how good a GTX 570 is to an GTX 560Ti and how the models (like MSI TwinFrozr III vs ASUS Direct CU II) compare to eachother but my brother and nephew would just ask me to recommend something and install it for them. They would not (as I always do) ask lots of questions to understand how one model is different to the other, they just want to be spoonfed everything!   Why think and make decisions when someone else can do it for you??? :|

Reply #14 from Sins Forums Top

This is an interesting concept but I think you are overlooking one thing, especially in the gaming market.  Onlive service and services like them will be more likely scenario for gaming and streaming, removing game consoles from the equation and only requiring an app to run.  this scenario ignores the unwired world but it certainly a good idea for publishers.  You cannot steal a game that you don't have a copy of.

I doubt they will allow your account to you more than one device at  a time and I doubt you will be able to stream it over Airplay

Reply #15 from Elemental Forums Top

I think it's more about marketing than implementation. Do you need it? Probably not. Are we going to make you want it? Absolutely.

In 5 years, the big box desktop will probably look silly to consumers who don't actually use it for anything that it actually excels at, something that honestly is happening already, having been asked by people I used to babysit to find someone to buy their desktop, so they can get laptops and tablets, to Skype and IM.

But for someone who uses a desktop, for stuff such as video editing, and, well... work, having something that won't run out of batteries, that won't melt, that can multitask, and that in 5 years will probably have the power to render near photo-realistic detail, will be a lot more useful than pushing an iPhone onto a television. The only way this technology would actually be useful would be if I could push the great big box of Mordor onto other devices, making everything a terminal for it.

And in regards to gaming. I can't say I'm that much of a fan of cloud gaming/streaming services either, because it removes the aspect that I love most about games, the ability to make your character look like a giant chicken, by modifying a few files. If they do get in that "let us think for you" phase, you can expect another '83 to occur, because at one point, even sheep will think twice about eating rocks instead of grass.

Reply #16 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Think about it. If this technology comes to pass and Apple charges $500 for the setup while some other company licenses the technology from Apple and charges $200 who do you think will win? especially in this economy? Apple has always overcharged for it's products IMO.

Reply #17 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting kona0197, reply 16
If this technology comes to pass and Apple charges $500 for the setup while some other company licenses the technology from Apple and charges $200

What planet are you on?

Not even Apple is stupid enough to allow a licensee to steal their custom.

Good grief, man....sometimes you really need to engage the brain....first.....;)

Reply #18 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Well Jafo it could happen.

Reply #19 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting kona0197, reply 18
Well Jafo it could happen.

What...you engaging your brain? ....;)

Reply #20 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I'am to old to switch, I'll stay with what I'am comfortable with.  Don't need high priced Apple toys.

Reply #21 from Elemental Forums Top

So the 1st class citizens will use it in a few years. Upper middle class in 5 years. Then it will trend. in 10 years the lower class will have some access, but they will have to take that margarita maker off of layaway at Walmart. So I have probably 15 years before I am totally out of the loop with computers. I can live with that. Guess I had better make today count. 

Reply #22 from Elemental Forums Top

Apple - making the masses feel like an elite subculture :hugme:

Reply #23 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Not for the first time Frogboy is right on the money.

I'm actually drawing up a business plan to harness the power of airplay in a new venture right now.

Yes, this type of technology has been around a while but two factors are in place :

  1. Apple has made it reliable to the point of utility for the average consumer.
  2. The hardware acceleration within micro-devices can handle the video encoding required.

That apple TV is a mere $100, expect those prices to fall and licensees to proliferate.

Reply #24 from Elemental Forums Top

I have to disagree on the Intel part.  Intel is hardly a competitor to Apple.  There was a day they were, but...not now, and not just because of iMacs switching to x86.   Intel has their own fabs, and Apple is looking to Intel to help fab their iPad chips, if they are not already.   Intel is innovating in their own right, though not in the same spaces as Apple and not in ways the average consumer understands.  Intel's pioneering the FINFET technology, which stands to innovate mobile computing.  Basically, if you're willing to sacrifice a little speed--and lots of applications out there you can--you can run your semiconductor chips at subthreshold voltages, meaning they burn a REALLY small amount of power.  We are embedding chips in humans now with batteries in them which we expect to last until they die.  That's how low.  Maybe not so much for anything with a screen, like your cell phone--that won't change much, because the screen burns so much power it dwarfs the CPU.  But for a variety of other applications such as spy cameras, we can solar power them and place them anywhere we want, no recharging needed.  That's what Intel's fabs are doing.   When you couple that with Apples consumer-level innovations, well...it's not a competition at all.  More like a good marriage.

Reply #25 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting unacomn, reply 15
But for someone who uses a desktop, for stuff such as video editing, and, well... work, having something that won't run out of batteries, that won't melt, that can multitask, and that in 5 years will probably have the power to render near photo-realistic detail,

Well, i can already make hyper-realistic render now... software that i use can activate 6 x64 render engine on my two xeon quad core... in case of animation with a lot of dynamic, i have a subscription to a render farm... data are send via the internet and result render frame return via the same way...

Airplay is limited to video and audio but i am pretty sure that with time, it will evolve to allow more heavy usage... once done, the battle against the huge amount of cable at the back of your desktop computer will be win...

As Apple product, at first, they are somehow overpriced but it is the cost of the innovation... yes, cheaper is possible... by example, my desktop is based on the spec of a 15000$ MAC Pro but have cost me only 5000$... of course, i have choice the part and assemble them myself... the main difference is that my work station is a ugly huge heavy black box... Apple product have a very good design... Comparating Apple to other usual computer is like compare a "Channel 5" to a cheap pressurized parfum spray from the supermarket... both are parfum but the first is a luxe high quality product and the second is a cheap generic one...

I have not enough money for luxe product but i will not deny the quality of the Apple product because i cannot pay them ( 15000$ for a workstation was too much for me )...