I read Brian Oberkirch’s blog LikeItMatters. Yesterday he brought up a point that I have been pondering for quite a while, and it has stuck with me to the point that I felt I should continue the conversation.

Where is Apple in the social web game, and why isn’t .Mac the hub of all things Apple? As Brian points out, to the Mac faithful they have everything already: my phone, my music players, my calendar, my music, my email, my photos, my TV habits…hell, with a little attention recording they have all my browsing habits as well. And yet none of this is tied up in a neat package supporting or enabling my social web.

Of course I have many accounts at many places for many services, and some have even become my best of breed service or social aggregators, but so far I am still required to cast a wide net to establish my ID, my services and my social web. And yet Apple is the big missing piece in the “Hub of my digital life.”

The saddest part of all of this is that I would happily provide my digital life to Apple as a key demographic influencer and help them create that “Hub” for their entry into the social web in a fashion that could be disruptive and, as is typical of Apple, fairly successful. But without a social media presence I don’t even know who to talk to about this. Could you imagine the increase in loyalty and product penetration Apple could gain if they had a social media following the likes of Zappos? I am not suggesting that Steve take time to send Twitter invites to cocktails with Apple fans, similar to the invite I received yesterday from Zappos, but I do know that if I have an idea or a comment I can get to someone at Zappos through their giant footprint of Zappos employees on Twitter - including Tony, the Zappos CEO.

As an aside, I own the domain whatsonyouriPod (dot) com. I purchased it before iTunes had the ability to create shared playlists or iMixes. I spent months trying to speak with someone at Apple about buying the domain from me. All I wanted was some new equipment and the ability to go “yeah, I gave that to Apple.” After months of emails, phone calls and the like, I gave up. I still own the domain btw if anyone wants to contact me about it.

Anyway, back to the point I was trying to make. Apple, where are you? When are you coming to the party? Fashionably late is one thing, but it feels like a party that was tailor-made for you. And if you are throwing your own party, send my invite to csmith at mediatrust dot com. I would love to bend your ear a tick.