If you de-focus your eyes from the TV part of AppleTV, Apple is developing an interesting competency in making "pucks" to bring devices around your house into the fold of computer management/interaction:
With AppleTV they've done TVs. With AirPort they've done printers and speakers. With TimeMachine they've done remote storage devices.. As the size of the devices shrink, I imagine there will eventually just be a small Apple hockey puck that will endow any device it's connected to with the ability to be managed by your computer.
I wonder if Nest does well, if Apple would ever acquire them and/or consider branching out into general appliance design. I wouldn't mind a washing machine I could program with my phone and monitor progress of a laundry load remotely. ;)
Rumor seems to imply that some type of watch-replacement is next up though.
With AppleTV they've done TVs. With AirPort they've done printers and speakers. With TimeMachine they've done remote storage devices.. As the size of the devices shrink, I imagine there will eventually just be a small Apple hockey puck that will endow any device it's connected to with the ability to be managed by your computer.