Hi, I'm Michael Mistretta, a student passionate about technology, photography, and design. Welcome to my online home where I write about technology, reviews, and my thoughts and opinions on technology-related matters. 
Today, Steve Jobs took the stage at Macworld, and unveiled four new products. Some were disappointed. Others were in awe. But instead of going through each product individually, I want to look at the big picture - the overall theme of Macworld this year. Clearly, the theme this year was wireless. It was portability. It was moving away from the desktop computer as we know it.
At the beginning of this year, I predicted that we would see technology becoming more portable, as well as moving towards the living room. Desktops were to become machines only going to be used by content-creators and scientists doing high-end work. And indeed, in just the first two weeks of the year, we have seen the 8-core Mac Pros get brushed aside, for the announcement of the AppleTV 2.0 and the MacBook Air - the products that target portability and the home theater. What many considered a mediocre keynote, could possibly be the beginning of the next 5 years of technology. I want to talk about the three main themes that I observed from this keynote.
The Computer is NOT the digital hub
Remember 2007? Everyone was talking about how the computer was the center of the digital hub. You would take pictures and import them onto your computer. You would download music, and then sync them to your iPod from your computer. And if you wanted to watch content on your TV, you would have to get it from the computer. This year we saw a completely different focus. “The computer is no longer required”. AppleTV 2.0 isn’t a portal into your computer anymore. Now it is a portal into the Internet. You can buy music, download podcasts, rent movies, watch youtube videos, and look at your flickr photos all from your couch with the new AppleTV. This is really a revolution. Apple has made it so easy to browse through content from your TV and download it instantly. The computer no longer has to be a middle-man.
Wireless, Wireless, Wireless
The shining star of Macworld this year was the MacBook Air. It made me stop and think of just how much my life has gone wireless. Networking. Transferring files. Internet. Printing. Most of the things I do on my laptop today, I do wirelessly. And with the introduction of the Time Capsule, a companion to Time Machine, you can now backup wirelessly over the network with 802.11n networking speed. Also, Apple is innovating with technologies like Remote Disk, which allow you to access an optical disk wirelessly from over the network. We are beginning to see wireless in more and more things, and portability is becoming an even more important factor in consumer electronic devices.
Software, not Hardware
This Macworld, we saw three of Apple’s four product lines get software updates that expanded the functionality of the products. What is this showing us? No longer does there need to be a hardware change for new features to be added. Locations was added to the iPhone. Maps and Mail were added to the iPod Touch. And Movie Rentals, along with a new interface were added to the AppleTV. As software makes our devices more useful, people will start becoming more accustomed to paying for quality software that makes their lives better.
Macworld 2008 was a great look into the future of this year. The world is moving away from the desktop computer, to the living room. The world is becoming more and more wireless and portable. And finally, innovative software is being released that enhances the functionality of existing hardware. While we may not have seen anything mind-blowing, we definitely got a look at the future. And it looks like Apple is right on the forefront.
The one thing I really was exited about was movie rentals. Although it won’t replace Netflix for me, I can see this replacing some trips to the rental store when I don’t have time to wait for my netflixes to arrive.
Comment by Sheridan Haskell — January 15, 2008 @ 11:30 pm
I thought this year’s MacWorld sucked.
Like 90%.
The only good, sem-useful thing they announced was Time Capsule. Kudos for the pricing. However, wireless backup sucks, and I can only see, if ever using it, using it wired.
The MacBook Air is alright, but I have no use for it so for now, no comment.
$20 for an iPod software update? Piss off.
Renting movies sucks.
And sure, the new Apple TV is alright, but in the end it’s just some new software. Lack of hardware improvements is ridiculous.
Lame product announcements. Try again, Steve.
Comment by Alec Feld — January 15, 2008 @ 11:32 pm
I think the “air” wasnt just referring to the MBA
Everything he talked about was wireless right?
all data blah blah blah is now through “air” -wireless
thats been on my mind
Loved ur review.
Comment by christine — January 15, 2008 @ 11:33 pm
Nothing too huge, except the MBA. While it’s not something for everybody, I can definitely see a College Student getting one, as it’s light enough to take to class, and then having an external SuperDrive for installing stuff, burning movies, etc. Other than that, I would have to say that the Time Capsule is pretty cool, as I HATE having to be stuck in my room (where the WiFI doesn’t reach) to do a backup. Overall, a fair keynote, and I’m looking forward to the next keynote, as they’ll probably have a TON of new stuff by then, and it’ll most likely be useful to me.
Comment by Ryan — January 16, 2008 @ 1:07 am
I thought that Macworld was fantastic…not because of the keynote itself but the build up and excitement that surrounded it. Engadget went down, Macrumours has that great auto update site and Twitter went tits up for hours.
* NAS - Great idea…copying everyone else but its apple so will sell like hotcakes. The price isnt too bad either.
* iTunes - Again great movie rentals…great price and handy.
* iPod touch $20 upgrade WTF. Why should they have to pay…surely they already have paid. JAILBREAK!
* Mac Book Air - Great engineering acheivement! I think it should replace the macbook in the long run. I dont think its an everyday use laptop unless ultra portability is needed E.G. business traveller etc.
I feel that apple are still forcussing on money (which is what a business is for…but not what people expect from apple). Driving revenue through the movies, music and podcast as well as making a fantastic laptop which will sell a LOT. They are forgetting their bread and butter market…the market that stuck by during the tough times and buy Macs like crazy still. Multimedia, designers and artist! Sure they stuck rally fast CPUs in the Mac Pro’s but…
* Where are the new screens? The old ones are OLD and over priced. I know a load of people who will buy a mac compter and then a Dell Screen. Buy a gorgeous comp and a black crappy looking screen.
* Where is the 17″ MBP LED screen? I want a longer battery life and less colour bleed.
* Why no SSD on MBP? Why dont they get the speed bump?
I also think that they update software and devices with what they want to update them with. Who wants lyrics on the iPhone? I want Bluetooth to work with other phones to send receive files. I want to use it as a usb drive. Im not the only one. People have been crying out for these features for a while. They have addressed the issue with sending multiple people the same text which is great but if you own a jailbroken iPhone then you can have this anyway.
Why didnt he demonstrate more of the offerings on the SDK? What is it capable of?
I think that the stuff that Apple have done is great. All big improvements but the keynote left more questions than it did answers.
Comment by kilvano — January 16, 2008 @ 7:58 am
The desktop is dead. It has now been stated, so it must be true. So speaks the constant skeptic.
Comment by the constant skeptic — March 14, 2008 @ 10:43 pm