Tera and I argue about this all the time. What’s next?
What’s the “next great thing” that Apple and Company (mostly Steve) are always talking about?
I think it will be a grown up, wireless, video enabled iPod that resembles more of a mini-tablet PC. Mac OS X, writable screen, touch screen, basic apps, and wireless output to a video version of Airport Express.
That idea just rocks and gives me quivers in sensitive places.
You get quivers from watching TV. On Saturday night. Meanwhile, I’m… well, never mind.
I think we’ll see some fireworks at Macworld next year. More than likely, Apple will lay low regarding publicity about the Intel machines until something is just about ready for the streets. I expect low end machines, then laptops, then the big iron, AND a surprise wireless device mixed in there somewhere.
I read today on AppleInsider that Mac OSX developers were surprised at the speed of OSX on the Intel-based developer Macs. That makes the future look good. Maybe we’ll see some REAL performance comparisons between Mac and Windows on comparable hardware. Yes, I like my G5 but I’ve seen some Intel and AMD machines that are faster on everything but video rendering. OSX is amazingly stable.
Back to topic—Steve Jobs has done a great job of keeping secrets so I don’t think you’ll get much of a heads up on that wireless thing you covet. Cut the iBook in half, give it a touch screen, wireless, OSX, and the ability to broadcast to a new video Airport and you’ve got something. Oh, sell it for $599.
In your dreams. The first iPod Photo with color and 60 gig HD was about that much. It’s much less now.
FWIW, I’m really interested in a small-than-iBook, larger-than-iPod wireless video device that runs OS X. Just think of the Sony Airboard, but I think it has a different name now. Add iChat for audio and video and you’ve got a killer box.
You get quivers from watching TV. On Saturday night. Meanwhile, I’m… well, never mind.
Oooooh. Hiss, hiss. Grrrrrl.
I’m expecting some big news then, too. But I think it’ll just be a first look at an entry-level Mac mini based on the Intel chips. What I keep hearing around is that Apple gets first dibs on the next gen of Intel’s chips for the PowerMacs but will settle for the M and D in the first versions.
Also, every developer I’ve talked to says OS X on Intel smokes Windows on the same box. That’s good news.
If they’d introduce a new Newton/Cell phone combo, I’d be in heaven. My current PDA is sitting in the closet because Markspace won’t get off their asses and update The Missing Sync for Tiger. I hate using a PocketPC device, but PalmOS simply won’t do what I want (eg. sync all of my data correctly).
I’d go along with that, for sure. Give me a video iPod about half the size of an iBook and thinner. Add OSX, wireless (like 802.11n), and have it sync up Home directory on your regular Mac.
You get quivers from watching TV. On Saturday night. Meanwhile, I’m… well, never mind.
I think we’ll see some fireworks at Macworld next year. More than likely, Apple will lay low regarding publicity about the Intel machines until something is just about ready for the streets. I expect low end machines, then laptops, then the big iron, AND a surprise wireless device mixed in there somewhere.
I nominate me to become the site’s first Hissing Moderator.
I talked to a friend today who as at WWDC and does some development. He says OS X is VERY fast on the 3.6ghz dev machine. Of course, that’s not OS X applications like GarageBand, iPhoto, etc.
I’m curious to know why rumors are so important on Mac web sites and forums. Almost no one talks about the latest and greatest when it comes to Windows. I work in an office of about 60 people, mostly Windows users, though we have some Macs in advertising. The Mac folks talk about cool things you can do with your Mac. The Windows folks mostly complain that something crashed, or doesn’t work. That’s why I like Macs. They work. But I don’t care much about whether the chips are from here or there, or what Apple has planned that’s a secret and no one knows what it is, but they make a sport out of guessing.
I’m hoping for a set top box. Apple previously designed and was about to manufacture a set top box (1995?,) but for some reason dropped it two or so weeks before its introduction (Applefritter.com has more about it.) I mean wouldn’t it be great to have all your music, videos and photos all accessible from your TV? Although thin-client macs would be great too…. that’s basically where you’d have one or two (or more) macs all hooked up together where everything is stored, so no matter where you logged in in your house you’d get the exact same account and could access your files from anywhere.
The iPhone will be next . . . but it won’t be as big as the Treo. And Steve will introduce iTalk as the service provider so he can control it all. Sure, my product names could be off . . . what else is new?
Tera and I argue about this all the time. What’s next?
What’s the “next great thing” that Apple and Company (mostly Steve) are always talking about?
I think it will be a grown up, wireless, video enabled iPod that resembles more of a mini-tablet PC. Mac OS X, writable screen, touch screen, basic apps, and wireless output to a video version of Airport Express.
That idea just rocks and gives me quivers in sensitive places.
Bambi,
I won’t comment about the quivers it gives you… I have promised myself I would be good.
As much as I think a device like that would be insanely cool, I don’t really see a market for it. I think the cost of downloads for movies (probably $7.99 or $9.99), and the length of time to download even a short movie at any decent resolution would be insane. And who would want to watch a streamed feature length movie? Even with a kick-ass broadband connection, there are surely going to be times when the connection just dies and leaves you with nothing to watch.
The only real use would be if you could rip your own DVD’s and store them on the device, and that would be just as time consuming and I have serious doubts if the motion picture industry would be very happy about that whole scenario.
...That idea just rocks and gives me quivers in sensitive places.
Bambi, I won’t comment about the quivers it gives you… I have promised myself I would be good.
As much as I think a device like that would be insanely cool, I don’t really see a market for it. I think the cost of downloads for movies (probably $7.99 or $9.99), and the length of time to download even a short movie at any decent resolution would be insane. And who would want to watch a streamed feature length movie? Even with a kick-ass broadband connection, there are surely going to be times when the connection just dies and leaves you with nothing to watch.
The only real use would be if you could rip your own DVD’s and store them on the device, and that would be just as time consuming and I have serious doubts if the motion picture industry would be very happy about that whole scenario.
Bradley
Brad, there’s room for the technology to catch up with our desires. At the right compression, today’s desktop hard drives can store a Bucket-O-MoviesŁ, so storage is no longer and issue. About half the US households are broadband now so bandwidth in the next few years should eliminate that problem. The next issue is compressed file size. Again, I see quality of video going up, file size coming down. All of which means the market will be getting ripe, ready for plucking. Soon.
BTW - I have RoadRunner which at times is fast. Over T-1. But because it’s cable it just dies from time to time. Dead. Nothing happens for an hour. Then, “bingo”! It’s baaaaaaaack.
The speed is nice because I use VPN to log into the company servers. You can never have too much security.
Still, I’m looking forward to my Apple wireless Newton-like personal pod. Hmmmm. Apple’s new “pPod.“ I like that.
Brad, there’s room for the technology to catch up with our desires. At the right compression, today’s desktop hard drives can store a Bucket-O-MoviesŁ, so storage is no longer and issue. About half the US households are broadband now so bandwidth in the next few years should eliminate that problem. The next issue is compressed file size. Again, I see quality of video going up, file size coming down. All of which means the market will be getting ripe, ready for plucking. Soon.
BTW - I have RoadRunner which at times is fast. Over T-1. But because it’s cable it just dies from time to time. Dead. Nothing happens for an hour. Then, “bingo”! It’s baaaaaaaack.
The speed is nice because I use VPN to log into the company servers. You can never have too much security.
Still, I’m looking forward to my Apple wireless Newton-like personal pod. Hmmmm. Apple’s new “pPod.“ I like that.
Tera,
I had that problem with my broadband connection too…. it ended up being an small fleck of insulation was occasionally making contact with the coax lead that came through the wall. It would cause a short in the signal, and I would lose my signal for a while and then it would suddenly come back. It took about a year or so of constant calls to my cable provider, but we finally figured it out.
And trust me, I would love to see something like a video based newton-like pod that I could let my 6 year old daughter use to watch videos on during the trips to visit my parents who live 4 hours away. I just don’t see them as being commercially viable right now…. I think that we still have about 5 years before an option like that becomes viable. Isn’t that approximately howlong MP3 encoding was around before the first commercially succesful MP3 players/iPods introduced? But then again, I am finding that I am sometimes a bit to conservative in my estimates of markets at times.
I had that problem with my broadband connection too…. it ended up being an small fleck of insulation was occasionally making contact with the coax lead that came through the wall. It would cause a short in the signal, and I would lose my signal for a while and then it would suddenly come back. It took about a year or so of constant calls to my cable provider, but we finally figured it out.
And trust me, I would love to see something like a video based newton-like pod that I could let my 6 year old daughter use to watch videos on during the trips to visit my parents who live 4 hours away. I just don’t see them as being commercially viable right now…. I think that we still have about 5 years before an option like that becomes viable. Isn’t that approximately howlong MP3 encoding was around before the first commercially succesful MP3 players/iPods introduced? But then again, I am finding that I am sometimes a bit to conservative in my estimates of markets at times.
Bradley
We only have to go back not even four years. Who of us saw the iPod/iTunes/iTMS market become what it is today? Not me. Yes, I paid a small fortune for that first 5-gig iPod and I loved how it synced up with iTunes, but I’m an early adopter (bleeding edge). That’s barely four years. What’s next? Wireless broadband? 802.11n should get it started. Now, cut an iBook in half, give it wireless, a base station that does video, iChat, music, photos, et al. I’m a happy cookie.
I talked to a friend today who as at WWDC and does some development. He says OS X is VERY fast on the 3.6ghz dev machine. Of course, that’s not OS X applications like GarageBand, iPhoto, etc.
That is not so surprising. All the cruft that comes from backwards compatability and supporting specific applications slows things, run and testing and development, down. Apple is far more willing to make the application developers do their job and keep their software updated.
I’m curious to know why rumors are so important on Mac web sites and forums. Almost no one talks about the latest and greatest when it comes to Windows. I work in an office of about 60 people, mostly Windows users, though we have some Macs in advertising. The Mac folks talk about cool things you can do with your Mac. The Windows folks mostly complain that something crashed, or doesn’t work. That’s why I like Macs. They work. But I don’t care much about whether the chips are from here or there, or what Apple has planned that’s a secret and no one knows what it is, but they make a sport out of guessing.
I think it boils down that people spend time on things they feel they care about.
In a general sense, Mac users like their computers while Windows users tolerate theirs. You don’t want to spend time speculating about something you just tolerate, while if you like something, it’s easy to start jonesing for more when you’ve up on what’s known. Natural instinct is to reach for the unknown and daydream.
Putting it another way, I had a coworker once who was lousy with people. I dealt with him as necessary and I didn’t spend any time when he was out of sight wondering what he was up to. Meanwhile, I’m a fan of the new Battlestar Galactica and so even though it’s filled with fictional people, I spend time while not watching the show speculating on what will happen in their fictional lives.
