Today's Macworld keynote was nothing short of coma inducing, and here's why we think so. Apple had their yearly Macworld keynote presentation today – a keynote reserved specifically for the most innovative and promising products that we speculate, rumor-churn, and debate for the entire preceding year. We were hoping to hit it home today with some awesome announcements from our favorite tech-du-jour, but we are sorry to say we’ll have to disappoint today. The space normally reserved in this blog for milestone Apple announcements has now been reduced to a “Daily Distraction” bit.
As we already knew, Steve Jobs was not on the schedule as presenter at the keynote this year, so we were hoping that the products and introductions Apple would offer would more than fill the void of the missing Stevenote. While Ole’ Philly may be destined to take over the reigns of Apple sometime in the not-so-distant future, it’s safe to say that he doesn’t even have a smidgen of the likeability or charisma of Jobs…couple that with mediocre announcements and sweaty pits, and you have the perfect recipe for a Macworld slumber party. Did the Engadget guys bring their pillows?
Even though we are huge Mac enthusiasts, we aren’t even going to mention the products very extensively in this column…there simply isn’t enough meat to keep you from sleeping at your computer. The keynote began with the usual sales numbers and iTunes growth figures, but slowly tapered off into a lull as the Apple crew demonstrated the latest iLife, iWork, and iBoring; there was something in there about new features for each of the software suites and something about it being in the cloud. Please keep in mind that while we do feel that iLife and iWork are great products, they just don’t have any place at the top of a Macworld keynote. We want excitement, glamour, glitz, and anticipation…is that too much to ask?
ZZzzzZZ…..WHOA! Sorry, you caught us there. Eh, Ehm…further down the road in this sleeperfest, Phil delivers the one semi-tantalizing bit of info given throughout the entire presentation: iTunes music will all be DRM-free by the end of ’09. Whoopeee! This is actually some very big news that will set an unforgiving precedent on the music distribution industry. Up until now, the only good place to get DRM-free music was the Amazon.com mp3 Store. However, now that Apple has ripped it’s music store from the chains of DRM, we’re confident that you will soon be seeing the Amazon mp3 store dying….HARD. Apple also announced a new pricing structure for iTunes music; $.69, $.99, and $1.29 for high-end lossless files. The DRM exemption will also apply to video media purchases on the store, although we doubt the App Store will be DRM-free. We still feel that it is rather snobby of them to try to squeeze 30% of our existing music’s worth out of us to unDRM tracks that we downloaded prior to today – we know exactly where that money is going.
Finally (and we do mean FINALLY), Schiller announced a new 17-inch Macbook Pro. We feel that this type of announcement would have been better suited for an Apple town hall or “Special Event” meeting. The Macbook Pro upgrade isn’t much to talk about, as it is basically the same uprades that the standard Macbook received not too long ago. It is worth mentioning, however, that the battery life for a typical Macbook Pro session is quoted to last as long as 8 hours due to new battery improvements. Cosmetically, the Pro now looks identical to the standard Macbook, except in size.
And that’s it..not a single fluttering of excitement in our hearts the entire event. No new iMac model, no new tablet or “iPod Pro”. Just, well, minor updates to existing products. And, to top it all off, it appears that John Mayer was booked for today – Tony Bennett was the closing act. Bah-humbug!
What did you think of the keynote? Did you expect more or less from a Schillernote? Let us know in the comments below!
Read More:
Print
E-mail
Blake Schnitkey
As a graduate in Visual Communications Technology from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, Blake was drawn into a love for technology via the biggest passion in his lif More
Subscribe to our Feed
Comments
This years Macworld was a big letdown after the past few years. Of course the whole hub-bub about Jobs being ill was a little ridiculous. I honostly just thought he had a fitness trainer and was working out and that was why he lost weight.
It is a shame that this is how Macworld goes out (as I think this is the last one), not with an awesome release of a new product, but with a Jobless snoozefest.
Steve Jobs is great! Apple will not be the same without him and they weren't at that keynote. It will be interesting how the company handles adversity once Steve Jobs moves on.
Post new comment