I've been trying to catch up with my reading - nearly a year's worth of home theater magazines have piled up. One thing I've noticed is an increased emphasis on flat panel TVs - no surprise there, as that category accounts for an enormous amount of sales activity. What I found odd was the sheer amount of coverage mobile devices now get in these publications. Sure, I expect convergence in Sound & Vision, which has steadily moved in that direction for years. But Home Theater Magazine? Aside from the odd TV with an SD card slot, what do digital cameras have to do with home theater? Someone has to explain to me why the iPhone gets flagged on the cover of The Perfect Vision, which used to be a magazine targeting videophiles.
I know the writers of many of the articles - I see them at all the same trade shows and press conferences, and their content isn't bad, it just seems badly out of place. Perhaps I'm a strange person to raise the question; after all, I left a thriving home theater research service at JupiterResearch several years ago to start up a Mobile Devices practice at Current Analysis. I know that the iPod has been a major challenge for traditional A/V vendors (you could probably make a strong case that Apple and iPod dock vendors have stolen sales that once went to receivers, minisystems, and boom boxes) but when did the iPhone kill interest in speaker systems?
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