What's Apple up to?

OK. By now, we all recognize the tremendous marketing clout of Apple. Through the IPOD, they've turned a small hard disk into the Sony-Walkman reincarnate of this century. But now, we also see that they're going after the PC space as well. Steve Jobs recently joked that he wished he'd had a nickel every time someone asked him why he didn't pursue a 'downmarket, outsourcing' strategy similar to Mr. Gates' "let everyone use DOS, then Windows" strategy. Well, he says, now he does. Enjoy the Mac Mini.
But, those of us in the telecom space need to take note of what's really going on here. What he's distributing is actually a mini-Unix server (take note Software Providers touting state-of-the-art ASPs: How does this revelation change things? Well, it could mean that distributed computing will get in vogue real fast; faster than you can say "My customers want my app more than they want to shuttle date to and from me." More on that in another post.)
It also means that Apple's little-talked about communication device and software, ICHAT is going to start taking aim at Cisco's expensive VOIP phones and, maybe, even a slice of ol' Ma Bell. With the FCC set to rule on VOIP's implication rulings (likely to remain unregulated, except for when it terminates on the POTS network), there's going to be increasing reasons for VOIP players to find a way to avoid the POTS network. Getting business consumers hooked on ICHAT & MAC makes Apple a telecom player, not just a computer manufacturer. Watch out, Ma Bell ... Ma Steve has plans.