Meditations on the Death of the Mouse

This summer Piper Jaffray (NYSE: PJC – News) analyst Gene Munster dug through component suppliers and found evidence that Apple is gearing up to produce a real TV set by late 2012. Venture capitalist Stewart Alsop, a former board member at TiVo (Nasdaq: TIVO – News), has published rumors that Apple has a television coming. And Steve Jobs himself hinted last year that Apple might build a real television unit.

“The television industry … pretty much undermines innovation in the sector,” Jobs said at the All Things Digital Conference in July 2010. “The only way this is going to change is if you start from scratch, tear up the box, redesign, and get it to the consumer in a way that they want to buy it.”

It’s been over a year since my last post. And not much has changed. RIMM is dying a slow death. Google still can’t build a product that can compete with Apple for consumer mind share. The iPad is still a deeply flawed, beloved device. And the next big thing is still the TV. If the rumors prove to be true and Apple executes with TV no better than it did with the iPad,  this company will dominate the entertainment and consumer electronics industry much like Standard Oil and General Motors did in their industries.

The potential  impact of  a  ”real” TV from Apple cannot be overestimated. The iPhone, iPod, iPad were momentous, like hurricane Irene. Real Apple TV will be much more like the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.