My Thoughts On the Macworld Keynote

Date January 19, 2008

Now that everyone’s had a chance to digest the new announcements from Apple at Macworld 2008, I’ll go ahead and express my thoughts on each announcement:

Time Capsule [link]

  • From Apple’s perspective, this creates a great incentive for users to upgrade to Leopard. I believe users will see the benefit of Time Machine and also justify the purchase with a stable 802.11n router.
  • At $399/$499, I believe they are fairly priced considering the two main components cost about the same separately.
  • Will I get one? No. But I’ll definitely recommend it to new Leopard users who could use a 802.11n upgrade.

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iPhone/iPod Touch Update [link]

  • Well, we can’t say it was a total surprise since Gear Live reported a leaked firmware a few weeks ago. This turned out to be the exact same release as the official one from Apple.
  • Customized home screen is a plus considering the SDK release is right around the corner. We’re going to need this functionality for other things.
  • The Google maps “locate me” feature is easily the star of the show. It was genius of Apple to take a step further and include wi-fi location features. This makes it useful for the iPod Touch and increases accuracy.
  • $20 for iPod Touch applications is madness. There is no rhyme or reason to such a dumb act. It really makes no sense to me and I feel sorry for all existing iPod Touch owners. They’re the exact same applications that are on the iPhone. Apple really didn’t have to change a thing. This is some kind of dumb tax for something else that iPod Touch users should not have to pay. Ridiculous.

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iTunes Movie Rentals / Apple TV Take 2 [link]

  • This wasn’t a surprise either as it was confirmed by a snafu on Apple’s support website. It’s good to see Apple is doing this.
  • The real surprise was the support of every major movie studio. As far as I know, this is a first for digital downloads. Microsoft did well with their support but not nearly this much. Netflix as well. I think this will be a huge boost for digital downloads.
  • AppleTV’s software update and price drop were a pleasant surprise. Both were welcomed by tech enthusiasts because with the addition of purchase power on the unit and HD rentals, the AppleTV is now a true standalone TV appliance. Removing the virtual tether to a computer was a great idea and really should have been done from the start.
  • The price point which was chosen is kind of a bitter sweet deal. We all hate DRM and putting a 24 hour viewing restriction on a movie should reduce the prices in my mind, but compared to on demand and Xbox 360 prices, it’s a fair deal. We need another revolution to reduce these prices and restrictions and I’m hoping Apple can lead the way. (Like iTunes really did help remove DRM. I don’t care what anyone says)

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Macbook Air [link]

  • Thin is in? I hope so for Apple’s sake. Apple made a bold move in attempting to redefine the ultraportable laptop market. Apple says ultraportables shouldn’t sacrifice keyboard size and screen size, but they should sacrifice an optical drive and hard drive speed. I’m not in this market, so I can’t really speak for which is better, but I do think Apple is taking a chance here.
  • Again, the Macbook Air is not for everyone. With the limited battery replacement options, lack of optical drive, memory restrictions (2GB only), pricey SSD option (yes, I know it’s like that everywhere), this machine is clearly not marketed to your “typical” notebook user. The mistake a lot of bloggers and writers are making is that this machine was made for them, when it clearly wasn’t.
  • I suggest the following questions before considering a Macbook Air: When was the last time you used an optical drive for other than installation? Do you care about carrying extra batteries? Do you need a fast hard drive for video encoding and the like? Are you planning to play video games on a Macbook Air? Do you require a lot of hard drive storage while on the road? Do you need a lot of USB expansion? Do you drop your equipment a lot? Ask yourself these questions before even considering the Macbook Air. In fact, ask yourself these questions before commenting negatively on the machine. Realize, everything Apple or anyone makes was not meant for your exact needs.

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I recorded my reaction to each announcement during the keynote on Chris Pirillo’s live channel. The community responded along with me and you’ll probably notice that some of my opinions changed after thinking about them.

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