I'm wary of companies going in directions that just don't fit. Hardware and software (music)? I'll admit Sony and Microsoft (X-Box) seem to be doing it, but they might just allow enough autonomy for it to work. Or is this a signal that Apple is moving away from the personal computer and more into a consumer products space?

From what I've heard, this is already being talked down, and probably isn't going to happen. Something about the current most-interested buyer for Vivendi as a whole backing out if this part of the company doesn't come with it.

But anyway, your point is still interesting. I'm wary of "convergence" myself. Quite a skeptic, even. Yet Apple has long been relatively consumer-product oriented, at least in relation to most other computer companies. And what is the iPod but a consumer product, and a musical one at that?

Apple running a record company seems extremely bizarre, though, so your point is a good one. Maybe Steve Jobs is interested for himself? How much cash on hand does Pixar have these days? 8^)