My thoughts on the keynote (How’d they do?)
I can’t think of a better posting on today’s keynote than this posting from Webomatica.’
<p><a href=”http://www.webomatica.com/wordpress/2009/01/06/2009-macworld-keynote-fails-to-meet-reduced-expectations/”>2009 MacWorld Keynote Fails To Meet Reduced Expectations » Webomatica – Technology and Entertainment Digest</a>: </p>
<p><i><blockquote>In the history of MacWorld keynotes, I’ve tried to be conservative when it came to expectations, dialing them back several levels to avoid disappointment.
Well, that strategy didn’t work this time.
I felt my list of predictions set the bar so low even a Dell executive could have walked over them. Still, Apple struggled to clear it:
1. New Mac Mini: Better processors, graphics card, new form factor. (no)
2. New iMacs: Better processors, graphics card, yada yada. (no)
3. 17 inch MacBook Pro: The non-removeable battery rumor makes sense based on other products, most obviously the MacBook Air. Expect a slide with some stats about how little users actually remove their laptop batteries. That said, I still think it’s a bad idea. (yes)
4. iLife 09: Addition of some online features. (yes)
5. New Apple TV: Apple’s overdue to do something with this product, with added pressure from Netflix and Boxee. There may be some tweaks to the rental window and the addition of new services – Hulu would be a no-brainer. At most ambitious, I could see combining the Mac Mini and Apple TV into one product, but I’ll put that prediction as unlikely. (no)
6. Snow Leopard: More details and demos of this OS with a big emphasis on speed. (no)
Items 3 and 4 were fulfilled. I thought 1, 2, and 6 were no brainers, and 5 really should have happened if only to keep ahead of the competition.
</blockquote></i></p>
Now, I’m not picking on him — that’s a common expectation set for Apple. This is a perfect example, though, of why Apple has moved away from the Macworld Keynote as a marketing vehicle.
Think about that laundry list: and Jason notes he considers it a low bar to jump over! Stop and think for a second about the keynote if they’d actually announced all of that. Four hours? Five? Would anyone have been able to pay attention at the end?
Now, Apple has, in fact, pulled this kind of rabbit out of its hat in the past; it’s created this kind of expectation. On the other hand, we’re in a maturing technology reality — home runs are increasingly difficult to pull off. Mac OS X is mature; iLife is mature, iWork is maturing. The hardware continues to innovate, but Apple’s real innovation is in new product lines, not in new Macs. So the keynote of old is really almost impossible to pull off — and that’s assuming Apple could pull all of those products together at the same time.
What did Apple do?
Significantly upgraded iPhoto, to the degree that multiple pundits are saying that Google’s Picasa for the Mac had one day, and then was shot dead. That’s a rather strong statement to make, and if any other company had made such significant changes, people would probably be drooling — but for Apple, it’s “ho, hum, new iPhoto. next?”
Significantly upgraded iMovie that has movie geeks drooling a bit. Yet again, in the context of the keynote, it’s considered rather minor. Microsoft would kill to have ONE of these two products to push at CES. at Macworld, they’re almost afterthoughts.
Apple’s first serious foray into cloud interactions with iWork.com; and in case anyone hadn’t noticed, it’s really the first quiet step targeting iWork at the office environment, especially the SOHO and distributed team (web workers, anyone?) groups. Now, it’s just the first toe, but it’s a big toe, and it’s making a huge statement where Apple sees future growth and innovation. And it was almost an afterthought for Apple — and pretty much ignored by the crowd.
The new Macbook — bringing not just the unibody technology, but significantly upgraded video, display and processing. Oh, and oh, yeah — a complete re-invention of battery technology.
And this is considered a weak Macworld. In many ways — it is. And that’s the problem. And it’s the problem Apple is handling by ending the keynote; expectations run unrealistically high, and there’s no practical way to either meet those expectations, or ratchet them back to some rational level. Apple can’t win.
And that’s really my bottom line — if this set of announcements were done by any company BUT Apple, people would be ecstatic. But because this is Apple, and god help us, Apple at Macworld Expo in January, people are disappointed.
One final thought: when Schiller started the keynote, he made a comment that this was all about Macs; which is what it should be, given this is Macworld. That’s why talks about iPhones were silly, they don’t fit the event. Yes, Apple has ignored that and promoted non-Mac things at Macworld, but it’s tried to keep the focus over the years.
And I’m wondering if that explains why the Mac Mini and Apple TV weren’t here. Besides time — we really can’t do five hour keynotes, folks — what if those products aren’t Macs any more, but whatever is moving into this space is some new product line, the same way that the iPhone and iPods are? Chances are, whatever “living room server appliance thingie” Apple come sout with WON’T be a mac, even if a Mac is embedded inside. So I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see these things come out down the road, but marketed as consumer devices and not Macs. And in that case, I can see why Apple wouldn’t talk about them here.
We have to remember: when Apple started the Macworld keynotes, Apple WAS THE MAC. That was their product. Today, Apple has a number of product lines that aren’t Macs, and increasingly is about things other than computers (even if everything it does is tethered to one or has one embedded in it). Man fans have translated Macworld into “whatever Apple does”, but in reality, it should be, and needs to be, about the Mac. And so it shouldn’t be a surprise that Apple is moving away from an event that less and less matches what the company is and will be moving forward.
I thought Schiller did a decent job. Laurie’s remark was he needed the writers to script it for him and not for Steve, and I think she’s right. Perhaps the shift was a rather late decision. But overall, I have no complaints.
The worst complaint I can really come up with is that it wasn’t revolutionary (although the iPhoto and iMovie changes, and the battery technology, really are revolutionary improvements in those areas) — it’s just that when you’re Apple, merely being evolutionary is considered failure.
Be glad people don’t hold you up to the standard they hold Apple up to, folks.
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