[newishuser]

All Apple hardware is lavished with extreme attention. People still gravitate to pretty physical things and users mostly want the software to just get out of their way.

Hardware is certainly not dead, especially if there is a box consumers will be going to best buy to pick up. Also, parent's will have no ability to remember whether they need a Playstation, Playstation 2, Playstation 360, Playstation wii, Playstation Nintendo, or Playstation 4. The hardware, at least it's appearance, will be heavily marketed.

[astrodust]

One of the few devices Apple makes that is intended to be stuck on a shelf somewhere and ignored, the AppleTV, is a rather humble looking device. It looks nice, but not amazing.

It's things like the iPhone that you grip and handle to the point of becoming a fashion accessory that are fussed over the most.

With digital delivery, the requirement for touching the hardware becomes even less of an issue. For most people, apart from changing discs, the hardware itself is just a bother. The thing they interact with the most is the controller and the television it's connected with.