Macworld San Francisco '08 has come and gone, and like Christmas, people were hoping against all hope that they would see some great things under their Christmas tree. I had similar hopes and predictions, and some of them came true, while others did not. Here are my MWSF '08 hits and misses, and wrap-up.
Hits (Or: Arggghh! You sunk my battleship!)
Yeah, look, I realize Macworld was, like, a long time ago, and stuff. But give me a break, I have been out of the country, and so I am trying to catch up.
The Subnotebook - Macbook Air
Okay, I had some hits and misses on this one, I admit it. The first big hit is that it finally came in all its glory, But that wasn't too hard to predict. The second hit is that it is thin -- I estimated it would be .8-.9 inches thick, and at its widest point, the Macbook Air is .76 inches, so close enough for me.
My big miss on this one was the hard drive. I predicted that Apple would have negotiated flash prices low enough to at least use an HHD, but instead, Apple went with a 1.8" hard drive and an exorbitantly-priced, 64GB-flash memory option.
iTunes Rentals and HD Content
iTunes rentals was an easy enough prediction, but HD movies was a surprise, and I'm glad to say I predicted it, even if I was unsure about it.
Apple's rentals scheme is quite fair; $2.99 for older movies, new releases are $3.99, and HD content is $4.99. Even more important, though, Apple has every major movie studio on board, and a thousand films are now available. That sounds like the shot in the arm iTunes movies, and AppleTV, needed.
iPhone Update
No 3G iPhone here, just the predicted iPhone 1.1.3 update. Google Maps is nice.
Misses
iPhone SDK
Yeah, I went out on a limb with this one, and Jobs shot it down pretty quick. The SDK is coming in February. Too bad; I want my 3rd party apps right now!
Macbook Pro Re-Design
I was really, really hoping for this one, but I guess it just wasn't in the cards. Oh well, there's always WWDC.
.Mac Update with OTA iPhone Syncing
I get my panties in a bunch before every Apple special event hoping for this, and they have consistently disappointed me. I figure, though, that if I keep predicting it, eventually it is going to be true.
Wrap-Up
All in all, I am rather happy with my predictions, and how Macworld ended up. The Macbook Air, despite being predicted, was still a surprise, and so was Time Capsule, something I'd like to get in the future (if its price drops ~$50).
More than anything, though, MSWF '08 is important more for what we didn't see than what we did. The iPhone update was only a 1.1.3 update, meaning that for Apple at least, it is insignificant. I am expecting a 1.2 update to coincide with the SDK release in late February, so us iPhone owners have something to keep excited for.
More interestingly, the Macbook Air shows some pretty incredible new design on Apple's part to make it so damned small. Word is that the Air's inner design is downright beautiful. Hopefully this means Apple has some new tricks to apply to its Macbook Pro line, slimming it down some and maybe even a new design. That's what I'm hoping for.
