Macworld

Prevent cables from falling behind your desk with “CableDrop”

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CableDrop

One of the coolest things I saw at Macworld this year, was actually one of the cheapest, and smallest. They’re simple little doohickeys (technical term) from a company called, Blue Lounge. They call them CableDrops, and as the name implies they keep your cables from falling off the back of your desk when you disconnect your device.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t buy any CableDrops right now, as they won’t be available for another 6 weeks. I did get a couple free samples, and they’re pretty cool. They’ll sell 6 for $10 when they come out. Check the site around the end of February.

Are Trade Shows really dead?

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While reading various stories and comments tonight on the news that Apple won’t be participating at Macworld Expo after 2009, I noticed one sentiment that kept popping up on website after website. The idea that trade shows are an archaic, 20th century, form of marketing that are either dead, or dying. I’ve never heard this before, is this really true?

I actually have both a personal and professional interest in this. On a personal level, I enjoy going to trade shows. They’re a great way to get some face-to-face time with the companies that make the products I use, or am interested in using. I think it’s time well spent, by both sides.

On a professional level, I create trade show materials for some of my clients. Everything from Video attract loops, to booth graphics, to handouts. It’s not a huge part of my business, but it definitely contributes to my income.

Other than current problems due to the general state of the economy, I haven’t heard anything specific about trade shows dying as a format. And, I’m curious if this sentiment is directed specifically at computer-related trade shows, or do people think trade shows of all types are on their way out.

Anyone care to comment on this?

Eye TV Hybrid for $99.95, before Dec. 31st

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Elgato Eye TV

The Eye TV Hybrid, from Elgato, is a nifty little device that allows you to watch and record TV on your Mac. It normally sells for $149.95, but you can get it for $99.95 through this promotion if you buy it by December 31st, 2008.

I picked one of these up at Macworld 2008. I don’t use it a tremendous amount, but it is very handy, and I’ve been happy with it’s performance. I recommend them.

As a side-note to anyone attending Macworld in January, Elgato will be there, and they usually offer this same price during the Expo, along with discounts on their other products.

Apple Cancels Christmas too!

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Stendig 2009 Wall Calendar in our kitchen

As a followup to my last post…

From another press release:

CUPERTINO, California—December 16, 2008—Apple® today announced that this is the last year for Christmas. Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, spoke at a joint press conference held with Santa Claus at the North Pole this morning. He announced: “Apple has been honored to work with the North Pole the last several years to make Christmas possible, however, we have decided together that this is the last year for Christmas.” more…

Hilarious! I’m amazed at how quickly people can turn these things out. :)

Holy Crap! Apple will no longer exhibit or give the keynote at Macworld!

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Stendig 2009 Wall Calendar in our kitchen
Photo Credit: Wahaha wu

Holy Crap!

From Apple Press Release:

CUPERTINO, California—December 16, 2008—Apple® today announced that this year is the last year the company will exhibit at Macworld Expo. Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, will deliver the opening keynote for this year’s Macworld Conference & Expo, and it will be Apple’s last keynote at the show. The keynote address will be held at Moscone West on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. Macworld will be held at San Francisco’s Moscone Center January 5-9, 2009. more…

If you’ve ever been to Macworld, you know that Apple’s exhibit usually dominates the hall. Their absence is going to leave a huge hole in the expo… assuming the conference can even continue without Apple. Given the other big names that pulled out of this year’s event, it’s entirely possible this may be the last Macworld. That would be really sad.

Also, I can’t believe that Steve Jobs won’t be personally giving the final keynote. What is up with this? It all sounds very suspicious.

I can totally understand why Apple may want to scale back its presence, but ditching the show all together seems strange to me. And, the fact that Phil Schiller will be giving the final keynote says one of three things (to me):

  1. Apple has virtually nothing to announce.
  2. Regardless of what they have to announce, Steve Jobs just isn’t up for it. He has been looking very thin (and sick) at the last few events.
  3. Apple has things to announce, and Steve is well enough to do it, but his health is failing and there’s going to be a transition of public figures. Apple may see this as an opportunity to aid in that transition.

I’m sure there are a lot of other possible reasons, but those are the three that come to my mind. I can’t wait to see what happens.

This totally bummed me out! I guess my dream of someday attending a keynote in person is no longer an option. :(

UPDATE: This news was (obviously) talked about on all the big Mac sites tonight. After reading a lot of what people had to say, it seems like the consensus is that Apple’s press release should be taken at face value. Apple is simply moving away from 3rd party conferences and focusing on their own events and facilities for making product announcements, which gives them (Apple) total control over announcement schedules, etc… It’s also widely viewed that the keynote being given by Phil Schiller only serves to emphasize the fact that Apple no longer considers outside events to be a priority, and is not necessarily a reflection on the health of Steve Jobs. We’ll probably (hopefully) still be seeing Steve Jobs handle Apple’s own Special Events.

Although I’ve read a lot of convincing arguments as to why Apple did this, and that it may actually be a good thing (for Apple), it’s still very sad news. I enjoy the frenzy that the Apple community gets whipped into this time of year, but that won’t happen if Apple isn’t involved with Macworld. And, despite statements to the contrary, this could be the beginning of the end for Macworld Expo.

Macworld 2008 followup: Where’s my Freakin ToDos?

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Macbook Air introduction at Macworld 2008

I’ve been pretty swamped this week but I thought it was about time I got to a followup post to my Macworld predictions. I didn’t do so well this year. Most of my predictions were actually wrong. And, in all honesty, what was announced left me slightly disappointed.

Macbook Air (aka Rich Guy Toy)

As we all know by now, the big announcement this year was Apple’s new ultra-slim laptop, the Macbook Air. The new Macbook Air is, in a word, stunning. It’s also an engineering marvel, and we should all praise Apple (and Intel) for this accomplishment. But, as cool as the Macbook Air is, I honestly can’t see myself buying one anytime soon.

In my opinion, the Macbook Air is totally inappropriate as a primary machine. And, with a price tag ranging from $1799 to $3098 for the base models, it’s an extremely expensive secondary machine. The technical specs on this computer by no means justify its price tag. You’re really just paying for the wow factor. On a side-note to this, I think it’s kind of sad that the largest hard drive available for the Macbook Air has LESS capacity than what’s available in the iPod (Classic).

I was all for Apple moving into the sub-notebook market, but unfortunately they chose to enter through a route that will be out of reach for most people, myself included. Apple’s clearly targeting consumers that require very little form their computer, and are willing to pay top dollar for it.

iPhone

Apple made some significant usability improvements to the Google Maps application. I was really glad to see that. If you haven’t seen these features, there’s a guided tour available on the Apple site.

Apple also gave us the ability to add web-clippings to the home screen, and rearrange the home screen icons. I find this moderately useful.

I just have one question for Apple regarding the iPhone… Where’s my freakin ToDos? The ability to sync iCal ToDos should have been part of iPhone software 1.0. After 3 updates they still haven’t added this feature. What the hell? I don’t understand why this is so difficult. Can you tell I’m pissed about this? Please, Apple… give us ToDos!

Time Capsule

Time Capsule is Apple’s new hardware companion for Leopard’s built-in backup feature, Time Machine. It’s basically an Airport Extreme base station with a built-in hard drive, allowing you to wirelessly backup all of the Macs on your local network. They come in 500GB ($299) and 1TB ($499) capacities. For what you get, these prices aren’t bad. In fact, it’s more than likely that I’ll be buying one of these… partially because I was planning on buying a new Airport Extreme anyway to replace my aging NetGear router that has become a little flakey.

Apple now offers 3 Airport base stations… Airport Express, Airport Extreme, and Time Capsule. If you’ve been considering buying one, but you’re not sure what the difference between them is, Apple’s broken it down on this comparison chart.

iTunes Movie Rentals

Not much to say about this. It is what it sounds like. You can now rent movies through iTunes. They cost $2.99 for library titles, $3.99 for new releases, and $4.99 for HD. Initial selections are a bit small (especially for HD), but all major studios are on board.

Apple TV Take 2

Well, Apple didn’t come out with an actual television like I predicted, but they did make some significant updates to their Apple TV set-top box. The biggest news is you no longer require a computer to use it for viewing iTunes store content. The Apple TV can now access the store directly. You can also access Podcasts, photos on .Mac and Flickr, and YouTube videos. Apple also lowered the price to $299 for the 40GB model and $329 for the 160GB model.

No New Displays?

The one thing that really stunned me this year was no new Cinema Displays. I would have bet money on this one. At very least I expected built-in iSights. After all, it’s been quite a while since they quietly stopped selling the stand-alone versions.

One interesting side-note about this is if you go to the Apple site, and click on the store, Displays aren’t even pictured. They’re listed under accessories. It’s as if they’ve become second class products.

90 Minute Macworld Keynote in 60 Seconds

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Not all of us can spare the time (or have the interest) to watch the full 90 minute Macworld 2008 Keynote by Steve Jobs. Luckily, Mahalo Daily has compressed the entire thing down to 60 seconds. It’s surprisingly accurate.

Of course, if you do want to watch the entire thing, Apple has made it available here.

I’ll be posting my impressions on what was announced as soon as I can get to it.

Mahalo Daily Link | via Laughing Squid