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Many years ago, back when lamp-style iMacs were cool and iPods came in only one color (how passé, right?), Apple promoted a vision of the Mac as the hub of the then-emerging “digital lifestyle.”  Since that time, many players have joined the game, and Apple’s vision has become slightly more complicated than the iTunes, iPhoto, iMac trifecta that Steve Jobs used as a visual aid. Not that enhancements to the iLife suite are off topic, but some bits such as Garageband and iDVD have limited appeal. And with so much of the spotlight on iPhone OS products, there has not been a clear central pillar of this digital hub strategy. The recent release of Snow Leopard for Mac users, coupled with the just-announced iTunes 9, has refocused the digital hub strategy squarely on the Mac, and brought a wide audience some extremely cool features.

Snow Leopard’s half of the equation:

Out-of-the-box Exchange integration is one of the major whizbang features being touted for Snow Leopard (there really aren’t that many of them).  This is crucial, because far too many people live dual lives between their work computers and their home computers, upsetting the whole concept of a central digital hub.  Office for Mac has always lagged behind the Windows versions, but PowerPoint, Excel, and Word are fairly worthy competitors for 90% of us.  Entourage has never quite reached the same level of functionality as its Windows counterpart in Exchange environments (though it can be a worthy competitor for PIM tasks, it quickly gets embarrassing to compare to Outlook).  Mac OS X has fairly robust applications that serve the same purposes in Mail, iCal, and Address Book—and for many tasks, the seamless way in which these applications can share data makes them feel more like a single integrated suite than the monolithic Entourage!  Barrier 1 to your MacBook Pro as a digital hub: gone!

The other big news from Snow Leopard are the subtle interface cues in the GUI borrowed from the iPhone OS; everything from the Stacks navigation arrows to the disappearing interface of Quicktime X looks like the iPhone’s GUI team provided the design.  In the original digital hub strategy, the iPod was considered a minor, supporting player: the iMac was clearly the central point for music management, purchases, and organization.  But as has been pointed out, iPhones and iPod Touches are really more pocket computers than they are iPods.  Ergo, the digital hub strategy is now software based, with hardware duties shared amongst the computer and the iPod.  If you are performing the same task in different places, it is much easier to do if the interfaces are similar; media tasks on your desktop now look an awful lot like they do in the palm of your hand on your iPhone!  And the number of gadgets required to lead this digital lifestyle is shrinking, as more of them are combined; think cameras in iPhones (and now iPod Nanos, too!).  That’s another supporting player gone from the landscape, and one less media interface to learn.  Barrier 2 to learning the digital lifestyle: gone!

iTunes 9 to balance the math:

In addition to the shared GUIs across the iPhone and Snow Leopard, this latest update to iTunes brings many of the desktop interfaces in line with their mobile counterparts.  The new way of previewing albums looks exactly like the iTunes store interface on the iPhone.  Again, trimming multiple interfaces makes it easier for the user, but this is also a subtle strategy statement.  iTunes 9 brings the digital lifestyle hub forward a decade, reflecting the new dual-pillar Mac OS/iPhone OS landscape.  Some of the enhancements in iTunes 9—including the ability to better manage syncing music and organize applications—help to reinstate iTunes as a worthy contender for the title of hub manager.  It seemed in the past that the iPhone and iPod Touch were a little more than iTunes could really handle, with all their spiffy new features and untethered abilities.  Barrier 3 to centrally managing your digital lifestyle: gone!

iTunes 9 also has a shadier underside, if you will, that makes it easier to get into this whole digital lifestyle thing.  With all the stuff that iTunes can do (music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, ringtones, visualizers, synching, rentals, genius, and other stuff, oh my), it can be somewhat daunting to learn what’s what and how to do it.  Never fear; fire up iTunes 9 for the first time, and you will be greeted by a warm, friendly “Welcome to iTunes” panel, which directs you to helpful video tutorials on the key features of the program.  Much like the iPhone intro videos that popped up when the iPhone first came out, these quick tutorials cover just the basics and make it easier to get underway.  Think of it as a sort of iTunes gateway drug, and you’ll begin to see the appeal.  Barrier 3 3/4 to learning to use your digital hub: gone!

Last, but probably most important, iTunes 9’s new sharing features are a clear response to the challenge of Microsoft’s HomeGroup feature in Windows 7.  In a nutshell, HomeGroups can be used to make content available to all computers on your network, to include media files and documents.  The resources need not be duplicated across multiple hard drives, which is a plus, but it is entirely possible to lose access to vital files if you take your laptop out the door with you!  iTunes now brings a feature called Home Sharing, whereby you can maintain purchased content on all computers on your network, either automatically or manually.  This way, you and your iTunes library walk out the door in the morning, rather than realizing after you have boarded your plane that the nostalgic copy of The Little Mermaid you planned to watch actually resides on your sister/daughter/whoever else’s hard drive.  Tough beans if you’re in a HomeGroup.  Oh, and the iTunes Home Sharing is free for all, while HomeGroups require all your computers be running Windows 7 (meaning new computers or painful and expensive upgrades).  If Microsoft could undercut the world with free IE, why can’t Apple do it with iTunes?  Barrier 4 to personalizing your digital lifestyle hub: gone!

While today’s special Apple event, “It’s Only Rock and Roll,” did not bring any earth shattering announcements or unexpected product launches, there were some solid improvements to the existing suite.  Maybe that is what makes Apple so unstoppable: we get a few mind bending announcements per decade (the iMac, the Intel transition, the iPhone), but Apple is not happy to rest on its laurels during in-between times.  iTunes once again reigns supreme as the linchpin of the digital lifestyle hub, and it has a great counterpart in the desktop and mobile OSes that support the hub.  Snow Leopard’s advanced technology sets a clear path for future growth of the Mac OS on the desktop and mobile, and the upgraded iTunes screams management potential for wrangling the digital media that makes up our digital lifestyles.  The digital hub strategy may be an old one, but it is certainly not past its prime.  In fact, it looks like we may finally be able to take delivery of our digital hubs, with spiffy new interfaces and gadgets to boot!

P.S. Shout out in the comments if you thought it was awesome to not only see Steve Jobs back on stage, but to hear him utter the words, “One More Thing…”!