Will Apple Boldly Go...?

This is a momentous year for anniversaries for geeks like me. In less than a month, on April 1, Apple Computer will turn 30. Like many thousands of other Mac geeks worldwide, I'm expecting something big to be announced by Apple...maybe something having to do with the mysterious touch screen iPod-like device that was conspicuously missing from the "Fun New Products" event last week (if it does indeed exist). That would be enough in and of itself -- I believe that such a device would be the next step in the evolution of consumer media technology, and could revolutionize the way we interact with our digital content (purchased or otherwise).

But, as fate would have it, 2006 marks another anniversary: it's the 40th year of Star Trek. Although there are no current Star Trek series in production, there is an archive of over 700 television episodes syndicated in some form or another in seeming perpetuity. But aside from some conventions and some standard self-promotional (low key) campaigns, the Star Trek people seem to be keeping below the radar. Unusually so, considering the occasion.

Why would this be? 40 years of any TV brand is a big deal. And given the fact that Star Trek's new owner is one of the oldest TV broadcast networks, this seems just a bit odd. CBS, you ask? Why, yes...Star Trek was under the Paramount Television banner for its entire modern existence until early 2006, when Paramount Television was folded into CBS (out from under the Viacom family of brands).

Now, these two anniversaries, separately, are cause enough for the geek in all of us to celebrate. But what if something -- somehow -- tied these two cultural icons together?

Something like, say, the iTunes Music Store.

This seems a natural fit: if the full-screen iPod is indeed a reality, it would very much resemble Star Trek-like technology. CBS is rumored to be in negotiations with Apple for an iTunes Music Store distribution deal. With one of the largest episodic television libraries ever, and a cultural fan base of millions, Star Trek on iTunes would be the ultimate foray into portable content distribution. At a few episodes a time, purchasing the entire Trek library would ensure a steady stream of revenue to the iTMS (and CBS) at a higher return than the DVD box sets (note: this is purely a guess on my part).

A combined launch of a full-screen iPod and a CBS content distribution deal (featuring the Star Trek license, initially) would virtually guarantee the top position for Apple, at least in the short term, in the digital video content distribution wars that are just ramping up.


[note: edited to correct the typo in the title, as pointed out by the first commentator below...(thanks!)]