Macworld Expo Prelude
Daring Fireball: Macworld Expo Prelude
One thing that makes being an Apple pundit fun is that it’s akin to Cold-War era Kremlinology — to predict or analyze an opaque, secretive organization, you’ve got to read between the lines of the few things they do say, and you’ve got to know how to interpret silence.
If it’s even possible, Apple has gotten even better at keeping keynote announcements under wraps in recent years. One reason for this is simple: Apple engineers don’t leak. And I think the reason for that is pretty simple, too: Apple engineers really like their jobs. If you want to work for a company like Apple, on products like those that Apple makes, you’ve pretty much got to work for Apple, because there are no similar companies.
MacWorld is happening tomorrow, which means everyone on the internet is making predictions. Here are mine:
0) No iPod news.
1) MacBook Pros get a speed bump and they will no longer use hard drives, opting instead for flash memory. They will be really thin and super quiet.
2) Apparently some banners around the event indicate some kind of “Air” themed product. I think this will be the “MacBook Air”: an ultra-light ultra-portable laptop with a subscription internet service that works everywhere (subscription will be with at&t). This product may have a touch screen, but it seems unlikely to me.
3) One more thing: MacTV. Three models: 36″, 46″, 60″. These TVs will be masterpieces of design and they will include what amounts to a Mac Mini built in for operating Front Row, iTunes integration, etc. They will have WiFi support for downloading purchased and rented movies and TV shows from iTunes.
January 15th, 2008 at 2:50 am
I love Daring Fireball.
I’m very excited to see what they announce tomorrow (er, later today I guess technically)! I hope you’re right about the “MacTV.” when they first announced the AppleTV Gavin thought/hoped that was what it was. It’d be nice to be able to buy an HDTV that didn’t have a UI designed by a mentally challenged monkey.
I don’t understand why TV manufactureres make it so difficult for the average consumer to set up their TV so it’ll display everything at the right aspect ratio. It took me like an hour and a half of messing with my Moms HDTV and her upscaling DVD player to get them so they’d both display everything at the right resolution and aspect ratio. It should just do that out of the box. The extra iTunes features and such would just be icing on the cake.
January 15th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Looks like you were right about the “MacBook Air!”
January 15th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Wow, and it’s REALLY thin!
January 15th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Yes. Awesome. I was wrong on the TV, but close.