Doc mentions a rather large problem in the home A/V space while discussing the Apple Hi-Fi stuff for the iPod:

In fact, home stereo choices are getting thinner all the time. There are few "stereo" receivers left, since all the mainstream manufacturers have gone to Surround Sound. Sure, you can run your iPod through one of those, but how many of us know how to do that? See, you plug this little thing into your iPod, and press the AUX button on your receiver. No, sorry. The CD player is plugged into the AUX. The iPod line goes to ... oh, right, VCR/DVD2. Or is it VCR/DVD1? Or is it Tape Monitor? Hang on. Lemme check. You got a flashlight?

Add to this the sad fact that audio/video sales showrooms are a confusing mess. One guy who works for one of the big-box retailers recently told me the return/swap rate on flat screens exceeded 50%, because too many people are baffled beyond endurance by the complications of hooking them up, and the results afterwards.

It is that big a mess. We took snapshots of the back of our TV and taped them to the back, so that we would know what to do if we had to rewire anything. Hooking a new piece of equipment in is always an adventure - heck, I still don't know why my DVD/VCR combo will give me only video on one of the TV outputs - it looks like all the audio cables are going the right way.

This whole space is crying for simplicity, and I think it's the space Apple is gunning for.