Apple has done a fine job of disrupting quite a few industries over the years. The PC, the tablet, music, and smartphones are just a few industries on the list. Tim Bajarin, writing for Time Techland, lists four more industries Apple could shake up in the near future.
Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies Inc., writes:
Over the last 10 years, Apple has done a rather amazing job of disrupting quite a few industries. By my account, it has dramatically impacted the PC, tablet, consumer electronics, telecom, music and TV industries in a big way. And I believe that Apple is on the cusp of disrupting at least four more major industries in the next three to five years.
First on the list is the television industry. Up to now, Google, Microsoft, Samsung, Sony, and yes, Apple have tried to create “the next big thing” in Interactive TV (ITV).
Bajarin says, “The most logical answer is that Apple will apply Siri voice comprehension technology to the TV user interface and then tie it to the iCloud service, marrying all of your digital content together for viewing on multiple screens–with the TV being the one focused on entertainment.”
He continues: “Imagine being able to just tell your TV, “Find Big Bang Theory,” and it goes right to all available versions on broadcast, cable, your digital video recorder or online. Or ask it about a football player you just saw make a touchdown, and on the bottom of the screen it shows you his stats. Or if you want to find out about Yosemite, just ask Siri and it will find all related video and web content available and give you exact answers to your query on the TV.”
This could be the biggest thing in TV since color. It would signal the death knell for the remote control. Bajarin believes Apple could be the company to take the television industry into a new age.
The second industry Bajarin says Apple is set to disrupt? The auto industry.
“… I was pleasantly surprised to see how far Microsoft’s Sync system has come. And Toyota’s Entune system already uses a Bluetooth connection to send audio content from a phone to the car’s speaker system,” Bajarin writes. “Now imagine if Apple began working with the auto companies directly and, in extreme circumstances, was perhaps able to get a 7-inch iPad into these cars. In this case, it could have a 3G chip inside for direct connection to the internet. And of course, it would have Siri’s smart voice comprehension technology. …it would be tied to Apple’s iTunes and iCloud services. That means you would always have access to your content no matter what it is and could call it up on your car’s display whenever you wanted it.”
Bajarin says Apple could be the impetus that will bring the auto industry into an age where information and personalized media are a part of the auto driving experience.
Industry number three? The watch industry. Bajarin thinks Apple could do some wonderful things with their iPod Nano.
He opines, “Apple could do some very interesting things to the Nano with a few simple tweaks. What if they put a Bluetooth radio inside and allowed it to become an extension of my iPhone? I normally carry my iPhone in my pocket, so when an alert comes up I have to pull it out to see it. But what if that alert showed up on my Nano watch? Or what if they added a Siri Interface and tied the Nano display to the iPhone? I could just ask my watch to show me the last message or e-mail I received through iMessage and it would pop up on the Nano’s screen. …If Apple used the Nano to mirror some of the functionality of my iPhone in a watch format, the company could potentially redefine the role of the watch.”
The fourth and final industry Bajarin lists is the appliance industry.
“I have no doubt that we will have many screens in our home and as part of our digital lifestyles, and if Apple can unify them behind iOS, its apps and its iCloud ecosystem, it could have quite an impact on the appliance industry of the future. And believe me, the appliance industry is interested. Besides embedding a screen on a refrigerator, they have also added internet connections to ovens, microwaves, lighting systems, air conditioning systems and heating systems to try and make them smart devices connected to an internet ecosystem. But today, most of them are acting as dumb terminals. For them to reach their potential, they need to have an operating system that is tied to a broader ecosystem that could deliver even greater functionality through connectivity; and Apple’s iOS, apps and iCloud could play an important role in helping this industry deliver smart homes and smart appliances.”
Bajarin definitely gives the reader something to think about with his article. Apple’s influence in various industries could have a huge impact on our lives in the future.
What other industries could be influenced or disrupted by Apple? Please share your thoughts in our comments area.
