I'm not a "tech blogger", but as with any time Apple does much of anything now, their keynote yesterday has some direct implications on the world of content consumption and discovery.
"Flat" design expectations are now out the window. The look of the new iOS UI is all about not just depth, but layers of focus. With this fundamentally shifted visual paradigm, we're seeing the next big step in how Apple handles UI on product categories, both current and those they've yet to introduce: some theoretical (a watch, a larger iPhone), and evolving hobbies (TV).
The most famous cinematic example of deep focus is Citizen Kane , a movie that was not shot in 3D, but which achieves a perception of multi-layered depth. Cinematographer Greg Toland achieved simultaneous focus across the fore-, mid-, and background through very precise placement of objects in the frame, staging, and lighting.
The same principles apply to iOS 7 and, to a lesser extent, what I've seen of OS X Mavericks. Like the most basic tenets of stage magic, the new "look" is just as much about the window dressing as it is the structure of where the audience's eyes are being directed.
My kneejerk feeling about the Human Interface overhaul is that it's an exciting and interesting change that opens up a lot of possibilities. There are features and design cues in Apple's HI that are found in both Android and Windows Phone, but they're among the best parts of both. Things like awful icons and visual details that need smoothing out will eventually get fixed.
Most importantly, a shift this big makes me confident that when Apple overhauls the AppleTV interface, it will change things as fundamentally as their mobile and desktop UI experiences have.
Let's not forget that the current AppleTV runs on a custom version of iOS.
Gone from iOS are faux-3D design choices that look as fake as styrofoam boulders on Star Trek sets. The new iOS and OS X feel and look as different from their predecessors as the newer JJ Abrams Trek looks as compared to the most refined version of the original canon. In general terms, the new stuff is the epitome of modern design: big (but simple), bold (but subtle), and sleek.
Replacing the old are thin layers stacked in precise levels of depth. On Apple TV, I'm only starting to think about how this might specifically be employed, but overlaid layers of live content are interesting, including configurable, cross-platform notifications. Think of weather, stocks, and other apps as widgets that are as configurable in layers as you choose. The same actionable push notifications in Mavericks could be linked to your TV.
iCloud Keychain exists not just to solve having to enter the same fleet of passwords on your computer and phone, but certainly to also cover AppleTV at some point. Entering TV channel app passwords is one of the biggest problems for set-top boxes. Instead of re-entering them all, your AppleID will become your single sign-on for all of your content subscriptions.
I'm excited about modern, fresh, and near-futuristic design flourishes in TV apps, but I'm more interested in voice search tied to content. Think of what Siri already does on top of what was announced yesterday (improved function and quantity of indexed databases). Siri already knows who I mean when I ask about "John Malkovich" or "Jean-Pierre Jeunet". Wikipedia, Bing, and some version of IMDb that isn't owned by Amazon (which they're already using) are the tip of that iceberg.
I'm most enthused by the idea of Apple forcing a unified interface that pushes content vendors to index their content in a way that is user-friendly and leans toward driving discoverability.
As a Roku user, I'm never shy when complaining about how clunky and slow all of their apps are. The recently-introduced cross-"app", system-wide search is a fantastic improvement, but it does not go far enough. Individual app experiences are still awful. If Apple moves in the direction it looks like they're telegraphing, Roku is on the verge of being blown completely out of the water.
Note that they did not show iOS 7 for the iPad, nor is an iPad beta available yet. That may be indicative of the larger-screen interface working differently, due to the alternate usage pattern of a larger device as it relates to the expanding types of baked-in service logins (Facebook, LinkedIn, others). The larger-screen iPhone that many assume is in the works would be a part of this "bigger-screen" implementation of Apple's new Human Interface philosophy.
The TV is a hell of a larger screen.
More on all of this soon, after I play with both iOS 7 and Mavericks. I have more reading to do on all the game system stuff from yesterday too.