I’m vexed. I’m consternated. I’m flummoxed.
I was hugely disappointed by Apple’s failure to announce anything substantial about the iPhone at MacWorld 2008. (OK, some of the new software was kind of cool.) But now, Apple is announcing more memory for the high-end model. Another 8GB of memory; nothing else. And, you must shell out $500 for this puppy.
It’s really too much money for too little. But, I’ve been waiting for some small sign from the powers-that-be that it’s time to go ahead and buy one. I’m willing to believe that this is that sign.
Hmmm… what can I sell on Craigslist to rustle up the $500?
MicroSoft is taking a beating on this dog they call an operating system. With so much widespread disappointment, it’s not clear that Vista will gain much traction in the future.
Apparently, Balmer wants to blame piracy for poor sales of Vista. This news story has some other suggestions:
On a related note, perhaps the Vista packaging is to blame. It appears that so many folks were having difficulty in even opening the packaging for the Vista disks that MicroSoft had to create a tutorial for their users: Opening the Windows Vista Box
Perhaps this should have been a sign of things to come for these unsuspecting Vista users.
I will be providing my observations and picks from this year’s MacWorld Expo. But I will not be providing live coverage of the Keynote by Jobs. For that, try the following sites:
Check back here later for my periodic reports of MacWorld.
I am loving Leopard and have found very few snafus since installing it almost 2 months ago. One of the great features in Leopard is the automated backup software called TimeMachine.
Like many busy computer users, I am quite lax about doing backups on a regular basis. It usually takes a catastrophic loss of data to remind me that I should’ve been doing backups. A lesson learned the hard way.
But TimeMachine handles this for me now. I connect an external USB drive to my machine and, once every hour, TimeMachine does an incremental backup of my hard drive
There are a fair number of predictions this year for MacWorld Expo 2008. They begin each year in December, then reach a fever pitch in the weeks before the expo. I won’t go over all of the predictions and rumors I’ve come across, but I will offer here a few of the more interesting ones I’ve seen.
MacBook Tablet
This rumor has been made on several sites, each with an interesting take on what form this tablet will take. Common to all the predictions is that is will be small (13″), thin, and a tablet. Here is an interesting video of what form it might take:
Next Gen iPhone
The other rumor I am particularly fond of is the unveiling of the next generation iPhone. Among the most important features of this new iPhone will be 3G wireless technology and the unshackling of its service to the AT&T network. Also, look for some interesting new apps to be introduced for the iPhone.
Mid-Range Mac Desktop
This last rumor is also one I’ve been wishing for: a mid-range, easily upgradeable desktop Mac position between the iMac line and the Mac Pro line. This should be at a price point that makes it attractive for the PC switchers.
See you at MacWorld!
