And just where is my wireless tablet Mac (iPad?) to compete against more vaporware from Microsoft?

I love headlines. Just a week ago is was “virus” this, and “worm” that, for OS X, when, in fact, it was neither, and much ado over not much.

This week, Napster is pissing on Microsoft, and USA Today responds to the Apple announcements with “Mysterious Origami by Microsoft to take on iPod.

Is it any wonder the media is seldome high on the trust list (just above politician and car salesman)?

Yeah, what is this Origami thing that Microsoft is touting lately?  I am wondering why Apple would put out a tablet at this point.  Can they do one?  I bet they already have one in the lab!  Its not the right time for one yet.  A true video iPod would be neat, with a virtual scroll wheel and 4 inch screen.  I am not convinced that the timing is right on that one either.  Jobs will probably wait until he can introduce a true movie store.  I’d also like to see Apple become an MVNO and produce their own mobile phone.  I’d buy one, as long as its GSM and not CDMA.  Of course, their plans would have to be highly competetive and they probably would lose alot of money on the deal.

Jack D. Miller - 20 December 2005 04:42 PM

mcdermd - 02 December 2005 02:50 PM

I think in the future they will be differentiated by the number of processor cores as well - Powerbooks are dual-core, iBooks are single-core.

And it’s looking more likely that Apple will introduce those new iBooks and goodies sometime early in 2006. Along with the other 27 products the rumor mills are reporting on.

- new iPod shuffle
- new iPod wireless
- new Airport Express AV
- new iBooks
- new Mac mini with PVR
- new tablet Mac
- new PowerBooks with dual core
- new iLife ‘06 Suite
- new iWork ‘06 Suite
- new bigger flash memory in iPod nano
- FrontRow and Apple Remote for everyone
- new double-side DVD SuperDrives with BluRay

You get the idea. What’d I miss?

Well, there hasn’t been a new shuffle. but the nano got smaller so thats near enough for a hit.
I keep expecting the video airport express but it never happens. With the release of the new mac mini I’m thinking that’s not in Apple’s plans. I think in a week or two we will get the newest ibook. I think the mac mini with pvr, like the video airport express is not in Apple’s plans. No table mac yet and i’m thinking that’s not in apple’s plans either (more on that later). we got the powerbooks but they are called mac book pros. and ilife and iwork. We got smaller flash memory in the ipod nano and i already gave you points for the shuffle. Front row is spreading and i don’t know about the blue ray.

I just saw the origami and was totally underwhelmed. I think its going to be a prodcut that won’t find a market.  But after reading some of the previous posts i like that “powerpod” idea. How about the “ipod pro” or the “ipod book”. I’m not sure what the sweet spot is between size and power is but if apple made a video ipod/ blue tooth cell phone/pda/camera that was just a little bigger than an ipod i would get one. or if it was smaller than an ibook and had OS X, airport, and a detachable keyborad,  i’d probably get one of those.

Apple’s 30th anniversary is April 1, 2006, and there’s not one word of any kind of announcement anywhere. No shindig, no party, no celebration, and worse—no new toys.

What’s wrong in Cupertino? Too many lawyers!

There’s that silly lawsuit with The Beatles and their record company, Apple Corp. As Apple’s lawyer says, “Any moron in a hurry” can tell the difference between the two.

Where’s the iTunes Movie Store? There’s that other lawsuit with Burst over patents. That could cause plenty of harm to the future of me spending more money on goodies from Apple. That alone would dampen the economy.

It’s already started. My wife had her credit card stolen last month. I haven’t reported it to the police yet. The thief is charging less on the card than my wife did.

All seriousness aside, where’s the new Intel iBooks? Where’s the new iPod? Where’s the new PowerMacs with Intel Inside and no “power” in the name?

I’m starting to develop a buyer’s twitch.

Apple has announce the iPad (PDA) the new Macintosh Quad and Octo, a wireless mighty mouse, a new Airport and a new iPod.

These are, sadly, april fools rumours

I’ve been thinking about this awhile. There’s a lot of noise from Mac users who want a media center, or something Apple-like that competes with Microsoft’s Windows Media Center.

It won’t happen. Apple is interested in selling video content, not setting up and selling a system that records it for free from TV or cable, ala TiVo.

There’s plenty of competition in the DVR industry already and Apple is a high margin company, so they don’t want to play there.

What they have an opportunity to do is create a media center which STORES audio and video and digital photos and DVDs and lets them play through to a TV set. Along the way, you’ll be enticed to buy more audio and video from Apple’s stores online.

That’s almost so obvious that I almost overlooked it. However, there MUST be some way to move video content from DVRs/PVRs to the Mac in a seamless way. Just as iTunes syncs up an iPod.

I don’t see anyone doing that just yet. What do you think?

FACK. DVRs won’t bring any food on the table. It is also not the iTunes way - or does iTunes allow you to record music from satellite radio?

The way Apple went ahead with the iTunes, iTMS, iPod trinity was to organize music content, sell music content (with little margins), and sell hardware (with big margins). I would assume that Apple would try to repeat that successful strategy with video. The can (already have) expand(ed) iTunes to manage video, they can sell more and more video content via iTMS: the question is what the hardware is they want to sell.

Video iPods? I am not convinced that mobile video is as attractive as mobile music.
An AirPortExpress with video transmission to easily connect your Mac to a TV via WLAN? Too lowtech and easy to clone by competitors.
Macs? When I want to watch a movie and I do not want to run fullblown computer OS.

I am just left clueless.

Maybe the next great thing isn’t a Mac at all. Maybe it’s a TV commercial about how Macs are so much better than Windows PCs, no viruses, no spyware, and the like.

I read the ArsTechnica article about the new TV campaign for the Mac, but I haven’t seen the commercial yet.

Anybody else seen the TV commercial?

Well, I have seen the “virus” spot. Not my kind of humor (too well-behaved and harmless) - Whatever happened to Ellen Feiss *sigh*

I saw one on TV tonight and checked the Apple site. All six of the TV ads have been posted at this Link.

They’re subtle, yet obvious. Pleasant, yet not superior (to the PC). They’re humorous, but not obnoxious or overly zealous. The “Mac” is a bit too hip for me…

Otherwise, they’re just enough to get the point across that Macs work better than PCs. I loved the ad where the PC freezes, and the other one where it crashes.

Classy.

Thanks for the link. After seeing all the spots, I withdraw my earlier assessment. Overall, they are indeed not bad. I do like the WSJ and network spots.

Still don’t like the sneezing “joke” in the virus spot. That’s close to cakes in the face.

This advertising campaign by Apple is one of the best ever, and from what I can tell, it’s also running longer than any ad campaign I can remember about Macs. Much longer and more often than the Switch ads from a few years ago.

That’s probably a good sign that Apple is seeing some excellent results.

Regarding the “next great thing” I’m convinced we’re open for a big surprise between now and Macworld 2007 in January. It’s a no brainer that Leopard will get previewed in August and launched in early 2007, probably a showcase at Macworld, then a launch when it’s nearly ready.

It’s also no surprise that we’ll probably see the first of the Intel version of PowerMacs in August, probably using both new Intel desktop chips and server chips. The quad core chips may not appear in the “Mac Pro” line until early 2007 but that smacks of screaming-meanie 64-bit Mac Goodness.

What else?

Personally, I’d like to see the following:

1 - wider screen video iPod

2 - MacBook mini - an ultra lite version

3 - iPhone - I don’t think it’ll be called “iPhone”; probably “MacPhone” or “PhonePod” or something else

#4 - Movies on iTunes Music Store - I expect a revamped iTMS which splits music from video

#1 won’t be a surprise this year. #3 is expected but not known when. Most big PC makers have a #2 but it’s truly a limited market

The problem with my list is that it’s somewhat expected, only the timing is the issue. So, where’s the surprise? What little bombshell can Apple drop that makes headlines?