Ken C. Pohlmann

I've said it before and I'll say it again. The most innovative developments in home theater won't happen in the home. They'll be in the car. Now, Tesla has announced another incremental step in that evolution: YouTube streaming to your dashboard.

All good things must come to an end. Once the coolest thing ever, once the “must have” feature of 1989, once the proof that you too were hip, car CD players are now driving down a particularly lonely highway. Much like 8-tracks and car cassette players before them, car CD players are heading for oblivion.

Apple has a long history of creating compelling advertising like the legendary “1984” commercial that contrasted its maverick standing with the conformity of its competitors. In January Apple rented a billboard to deliver a message to attendees of the annual CES trade show: “What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone.”

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a potentially serious blow to Apple. The justices decided that a consumer group could move forward with its class-action antitrust suit against Apple. An unfavorable decision in that case could cost Apple hundreds of millions of dollars, upend the apps marketplace, and even rewrite the economics of streaming music.