At Macworld in early 2001, Apple chief executive, Steve Jobs, used his keynote address to introduce what has become a most important concept in the world of personal computers. He unveiled a diverse set of multimedia applications such as Itunes, Imovie, Idvd and Iphoto and told thousands of the Apple faithful that the Mac would become the digital server of their homes - their creative nerve centre.

People with digital tools such as cameras, MP3 players, digital movie cameras and PDAs would use the new software to manage their digital photos, music, movies and data. Later that year, Apple even launched its Ipod MP3 player and later tied it to the Itunes online music store. This made Apple a leader in innovative use of 'digital lifestyle' technology.

This vision of the Mac as a digital hub has become the model for the entire PC industry as it begins a major battle with the consumer electronics, cable and telecom industries, all of which are keen to have a similar role for their technologies.

Each industry has its own idea of what this means. Cable companies see the set-top box, rather than the home computer, as the digital hub, and would like to create a service layer in which their head-end servers act as a home server on which (for a fee) they store and manage a family's digital images, video and data.

The consumer electronics people would just as soon create a smart DVD system that in many ways replicates the role of a PC, but sits next to a television. The telecom industry, on the other hand, would like to create a 'communications' centre next to the TV that manages images, audio, video and video conferencing via DSL.

Mainstream consumers are generally unaware of this battle behind the scenes for their digital heart and soul. But, as one who has spent a great deal of time with people from each of these industries, looking at their battle plans, it has become clear to me that all these industries want to own the digital consumer in one way or another.

However, I believe that Jobs, and the PC industry in general, has the upper hand. One of the reasons, at least to date, is that people would rather keep their images, video and information on their PC than trust a cable or telecoms company with their digital files. At the same time Jobs, Bill Gates and even Michael Dell are pushing the message that the personal computer is the best device not only for managing and storing family files, but also for helping people be creative with the material.

They say that what people really want to do is to take digital pictures and video movies and inter-mix them with other content, and eventually send them to others via email or by DVD rewritable disks - as well as view them on television screens, PDAs and any other device that might have a screen on it in the future. They see the PC as becoming a central repository for all types of video content tied to entertainment, and they argue that it has the potential to become what these people call a digital entertainment server in its own right.

They are also enlisting the help of companies such as Prismiq (www.prismiq.com) to help them tie these PCs directly to a TV through either a hard-wired Ethernet or 802.11g wireless. People will be able to view and even manage any PC content on their TV using a special interface and a remote control while sitting on a couch just six to eight feet from the TV itself.

A new platform emerging from mainstream consumer electronic vendors could be more appealing to mainstream users. A chip vendor called Zoran has created what it calls a Smart DVD reference platform that manufacturers can use as the basis for products. At its heart is a DVD record and playback system, which can be connected to both a PC and a TV. Its main goal is to be a great DVD player and recorder, but it, too, can make PC content part of the television viewing experience.

Of course, this device is not used for picture and video editing or content management, but it does offer an alternative approach that allows traditional consumer electronic vendors to be a part of this new digital home environment.

This fight for control of the digital home is still in its early stages, but the battle lines have clearly been drawn. It is still too early to tell who the big winners will be in the end, but the PC industry, and especially players like Apple, HP and Dell, have the clout that could give them the upper hand early on and ride that position into a place in which the other industries will have to play catch-up.