New iPhone at the WWDC today. Not difficult to guess that this one will replace my 2G version as soon as it becomes available in Norway. Hopefully within a few weeks now. Lovely!
Especially looking forward to the enhanced camera and video function - and of course the faster processor. Why, I hate waiting.
MacWorld is coming up at January 14. and what fun would it be without the rumors beforehand? Yep, my own take at what will take place:
The bragging
As always, there will be the usual bragging about how well Apple is doing. We will see sales figures for Leopard, Mac’s, iPod’s and probably the insanely 5 million mark of iPhones already passed. And of course the usual state of the iTunes Store.
iPhone
No new iPhone, but more features. The 1.1.3 update will be released with much fanfare, making ‘your iPhone a completely new phone’ (not so fun for us with hacks). Probably we’ll also see a memory increase. 16GB anyone? Maybe new countries announced?
iPod
No new iPods now, but most certainly memory increases to Nano and Touch (Creative increased their Zen in december remember). Also same update for Touch owners as for iPhones.
iTunes
This would be interesting. The rumors of movie rentals are quite beliveable, and I think they will happen at MacWorld. It is a funny thing that whenever the movie/music guys have trouble they seem to turn to Apple to fix their world, and when they see how successful Apple is, they turn their back on them afterwards. Apple will fix the movie world. And movie/music guys; there is no way you can take Apple’s power away. Just give it up already, and play as they say.
This might be the ‘one more thing’ of the year. Because the main event would be:
MacBook
Yes. And finally! The all new MacBook that will amaze the world. No, it won’t be a MacBook Pro, and it won’t be a new category. The new MacBook, sporting new (colored?) aluminum casing, touch functionality, lightweight, lots of batterypower, small, delicious. There’s no doubt that this will be the main release at MacWorld, the only question is if it will be a regular MacBook replacement with hard drive, fairly large screen, optical media - or if there will be a true sub-notebook as well. A MacBook nano.
Desktops Macs
Not a chance.
Software
I can’t see why. No reason to do anything now about neither OS, iLife or iWork - and everything else is Pro-software that don’t get headliners at this show.
AppleTV<
If the rumored iTunes update will happen, it will make sense to do a rerelease of this. It is a product just waiting for it's right time. Movie rentals through iTunes is very much that time.
Displays
This is most intriguing. A large Apple display - or even TV - has been rumored a long time. What could Apple do to your TV set? Quite a bit they should. They could include the whole mediacenter (AppleTV) functionality in it. For starters. I believe Apple is thinking about this, but am more doubtful if they have reached ready state. At least it would give a whole new meaning to AppleTV. Other than this, I don’t see any display updates now.
So, now we just wait in excitement to see how his Steveness will surprise us again.
This nutcase blogging on c-net is blessing the world with his competence on why Apple should NOT in fact release a sub-notebook kind of computer. He first goes on to rant about all the usual drawbacks of such devices currently in the market, and then he manages to end up with the presumption that Apple will make something like what’s already there - or as he himself puts it:
Now, after reading over the general design of a subnotebook, does that design sound anything like a product Apple would sell? Not a chance.
Not a chance indeed. He apparently fails to see exactly how Apple works. The one thing that is certain, is that if Apple will do a sub-notebook, it will NOT look like anything that is out there. Whenever Apple designs a new product, they start with what is today, then they look thoroughly into all areas where they can improve on the thing. If they can’t, they won’t release it till they can.
One of the most interesting things to observe when Apple enter a new category or release a new/redesigned product is how it is so far ahead of and/or differentiated from other products catering to the same market. In fact, so different that they at the very minimum expand the market category, and sometimes even creates completely new markets (even unintentionally).Look no further than the iPod and iPhone, but also iTunes, iLife software and so on. This is the Apple DNA, no less.
Not all products Apple releases are instant successes of course, but the past 5-7 years I would be hard pressed to find any product that has really flopped (last one I can think of was the Cube). Apple has grown a sense for not releasing a product until both they themselves and the world is ready for it. Which means it can be designed with excellence in mind, be very useful for the consumers and be manufactured for a reasonable price. When all these three aspects are met, the product will be successful (the Cube failed miserably, as we know, on the last one).
I think the consumers are more than ready for a sub-notebook that changes the ballgame, I also think it is now possible to manufacture. It remains to be seen if Apple is ready. I am rather convinced they are.
[EDIT] I have been pointed also to the iPod HiFi thingie as a sort of lately flop. Could agree to that, and it also falls into same category as the Cube. However the HiFi was hardly a high profiled product.
At ZDnet there’s this David Berlind guy - apparantly he’s been around since 1998 or so - claiming that Apple should license OS X. Well, not only should they, in fact, they might not even have choice but to. Not only that - he goes on bragging his business insight as well:
And, compared to selling hardware, selling bits is like printing money.
Right. That may be the reason why there is an abundance of companies currently selling operating systems around the globe. Newsflash: it´s like printing money IF you have a working monopoly of selling those bits. Otherwise it’s called competition - which means margins go down.
It would of course be stupid of Apple to do something like this. OS X is the core differentiator of their whole business, and the very reason why they - in fact - are “printing” money right at this moment.
Seems like he gets scolded east and west now though. Poor fellow.
Perhaps it’s time for Berlind to reconsider himself?
There has been some waryness in the Mac community now for a while, about certain decisions from Apple. Rumble about Apple taking a less customer friendly approach to things. Specifically the ringtone spectacle, the lack of 3. party support in iPhone and other gadgets, the new iPod connector and then some.
One should of course always be skeptical to what a corporation is up to, and it is just sound to question their actions – companies do make mistakes also. Apple is of course no exception. However, to call out for a complete change in attitude is quite a long shot.
Remember that Apple is in fact the only large company that actively is pursuing a DRM free musicworld, putting every bit of weight they have on the issue. They are certainly on the customers side if it is true they denied NBC and the music companies wishes for higher prices for downloads, and even trying to reduce the prices. They sure are pushing prices on mobile devices. They are reimbursing early adopters of the iPhone. Remember also that Apple is a corporation – they are obliged to serve their shareholders both short-term, but even more so long-term. Screwing their customerbase totally is not a good way of doing the last.
Apple has always been doing debatable things. One I remember particularly well is when they decided to close all free benefits of .Mac. I still believe that was a huge mistake on Apple’s part, and .Mac never really recovered from it. But complaining about Apple changing interfaces from time to time, keeping their own sofware strictly proprietary and so on is just whining. It just happened that a lot of these things now appeared really concentrated. This summer/fall/winter is probably going to be one of the hottest release periods in Apples history. If the rumored MacBook refresh and the iPhone 3G happens within MacWorld we have seen an unprecedented product refresh in these 6 months; iPhone with a new OS X mobile platform, major iPod refresh also with new OS, Leopard release, major rollout and expansion of iPhone, completely redesigned laptops, redesigned iMac, revamped iLife and iWork… it is really insane when you think of it.
It is quite hilarious how people actually complain about a product getting a reduced pricepoint. If in doubt; this IS a good thing and nothing to complain about.
The interesting part in all this debacle though, is how Apple actually planned this all along. At least I believe they did. The initial pricepoint (in January) was set to gauge the market and give a bit of headroom just in case. Just high enough that it was plausible and low enough that it was still attractive.
There were rumors long before the June 29. launch of a reduced price. In addition, the Q3 conference call revealed an expectation for lower margins in the upcoming quarter. We know that this was not about the new iPods – or iMac.
Apple knew there would be a certain outcry about this and was well prepared. You can look at this either way you want, but it is very clever product management. IF they had sold the device for 100 or 200 dollars less from the start, the lines outside the shops would most certainly have been a lot longer – given the limited quantity available initally. Consequently the prices on e-bay would skyrocket. Individuals would specualate themselves to huge upsides, there would be a lot of press and noise about this, and of people getting screwed and all. Instead Apple themselves reduce the initial pressure on the product with the higher pricepoint. They reap the upside of initial demand themselves, and most importantly; when finally the first flurry about the iPhone introduction in the press is fading out, Apple slashes the price, and suddenly they are on everybodys lips again. Just to top it all off, they get an equal amount of free advertising for doing the honorable and highly unusual thing of reimbursing the early adopters with a 100 dollar store credit.
The real home-run though, is how they lure the competition into believing this would stay a rather exclusive product. I would really liked to see the faces of all the engineers and marketeers at Nokia and Samsung planning their iPhone response products with this in mind – ”hey, we make it almost as good, but 200 dollars less” – when Apple took away their only winning point, just like that. And mind you, just as they are about to release it to the rest of the world and having ample stock of the product.
When you think of this clever scheme in retrospect I can’t help but hand it to the marketing guys at Apple.
Paul Boutin of Slate has some tight deadlines and lots to do - or at least so he says:
But in my career as a writer, I need my phone to do work. I have tight deadlines, and I need to communicate with lots of people in a hurry. When I’m in a tight spot, my BlackBerry always helps me out. It also sends a subtle signal to my correspondents that I’m getting a lot done. An e-mail that says “Sent from my BlackBerry” gives the impression that you’re on the move but still chained to work, e-mailing from the elevator. An e-mail that says “Sent from my iPhone” conjures an image of a doofus who wants you to know he has an iPhone.
Good for him though, but in my humble opinion feeling the need to communicate that you are chained to work and getting things done (or giving the impression thereof) is sending the opposite message. Wouldn’t it be more impressive to let people know you have gotten things done, and even have some time for fun as well? Maybe even reassuring.
Some people still tend to believe that working all the time (or appearing to do so) is good for their career or something. Productivity does not come from working all the time. Productivity in our fast-paced world comes from the right balance between doing work and doing completely different things. Things you enjoy to the point that you forget work. That way I think iPhone is actually doing more to productivity than Boutin would think - maybe even more than his beloved BlackBerry, that it appears he is enjoying quite a bit.
Just got my new Nano (product)red today, and I must say, it is simply one amazingly exquisite little piece of technology. I mean, I was quite happy when I got my iPod mini in those days, but opening the package of the Nano was just pure delight.
Now, those who know me will say I would always fare well with Apple products, but this is beyond that. I have no idea how they managed to cram all the things inside that tiny thing - still with that batterylife, such a wonderful screen and a completely solid full metal jacket. What I know is that I am in love with the thing. Actually I must admit I just can’t keep myself from playing with it. And it’s just an mp3 player! But there’s something with the feeling of it, the color, the screen. Can’t put it down for more than some minutes. Yes, I know the back gets all soddy and scratchy from that. And that cover flow sort of lags. But I don’t care. I think she’s coming to bed with me tonight.
What I do not understand is why Apple are using those boring - no, hideous - images on their webpages to sell this little jewel. On the web, the poor thing looks like some plastic crap (I’m looking at you, Creative). In RL it looks nothing short of stunning. Surely Apple could do better.
Apple special event on wednesday September 5! Obviously new iPod lineup - also interesting what will happen with iTunes and related stuff. TV shows supposedly now appears in the UK, and what about that beat… would it finally be time for the Beatles? As Appleinsider indicates, the reference is quite intriguing.
Close enough for me to await this years birthday present to self just a tad.
David Pogue is not very amused by Apples move on iMovie. I can agree on the point that the app might be misnamed, but from there to utter bafflement and going on rambling about all that’s missing seems a tad over the top to me. Steve Jobs made pretty clear that this was a complete new way of editing video. Actually a whole new concept of editing video; simpler, faster, easier. All of which iMovie 08 appears to be (I have yet to test it properly). Most of Pogues rant does not hold water - and when he goes on to mention that Apple “rather sheepishly” provided an iMovie 6 download afterwards, he forgets that the installer apparently leaves your old copy of iMovie HD untouched. That’s an iLife first, and should prove that there has been considerations on this.
The whole article ends up as just a big disappointment for no new themes in iMovie HD - because Pogue can still use that version to make his musicvideos. It’s not like it has been eraded from the earths surface. Actually now you just got two nice programs; one for your precious editing, and one for those quick and dirty jobs. My bet is that the vast majority ends up with the latter.
Macworld has a bit more balanced look at the new iMovie 08.