Apple's Couch-Potato Conundrum

Apple (AAPL Quote) is taking a tentative step into customers' living rooms. But will customers follow?

The company's unveiling on Wednesday of a collection of products and services seems more geared to the consumer lying on a couch than the one sitting at a desk. The new offerings include a video-playing iPod, a remote control, a software program that allows users to flip easily at a distance between movies and music stored on their computer -- and the ultimate couch-potato pleaser, episodes of popular TV shows.

But this isn't yet a full digital-age entertainment system. And for all the excitement about being able to watch Desperate Housewives on a computer or an iPod, some analysts wonder how many users really want to do that.

"This is a step in the right direction, but it seems like a very restrained step, a cautious step, and Apple could certainly have done more sooner in terms of creating a home convergence product," says Tim Deal, an analyst with Technology Business Research.

In his presentation Wednesday, Apple CEO Steve Jobs acknowledged that this is only the beginning. Commenting on a deal with Disney(DIS Quote) to offer episodes of five Disney television shows for sale on its iTunes music service, Jobs called the deal a "first step."

Still, investors seem bullish on the potential. The announcement stopped Apple's post-earnings slide on Wednesday. And on Thursday, the company's stock traded up some 9%.

With the PC industry maturing, a chief ambition of the technology industry in recent years has been to broaden the demand for computer chips, hard drives and software beyond ordinary computers. A large part of that effort has been to incorporate PC technology into entertainment devices.

"That's a big market, because everyone has a living room," says IDC analyst Richard Shim.