By now , I ’m sure you ’ve all seenApple ’s new home page . As Macworld report earlier , Apple ’s internet site now feature the phrase , “ The first 30 year were just the beginning . ”
A simple statement , yet one loaded with intrigue . What on the nose does it think ? Is it plainly Apple ’s New Year ’s announcement for its vane site ? Some sort of teaser for an unexpected mathematical product initiation at next hebdomad ’s Macworld Expo ? Or is it just a cosmopolitan statement that this , Apple ’s 30th class in business , will be a year filled with continual production announcements designed to take the fellowship in exciting new centering ? Or is it something else only ?
Only Apple know for sure , of course , and no one there is talking until next Tuesday first light . I , however , have no such fourth dimension restrictions on my writing , so I imagine I ’d extend up what I conceive it means . ( opponent opinions are welcomed in the forum link below , of grade . ) Please notice before carry on that anything that follows is just my hypothesis on an intriguing selling slogan .
What it ’s not about
I do n’t mean the slogan on the home page is a generic New Year ’s announcement , nor do I conceive it ’s a oecumenical affirmation on Apple ’s mission for 2007 . I consider it ’s intelligibly direct to up the hype level for next week ’s Macworld Expo , which means there must be some “ now ” type of product announcements behind it .
However , I do n’t think it really has much of anything to do with the presently rumored products . That is , I do n’t feel a new two-fold quad - magnetic core Mac , a true video recording iPod , Leopard shipping as of “ now , ” or even an iTV home - theatre box represent enough of a “ wow ! ” proclamation to deserve the direction implied by the merchandising assertion . If Steve Jobs stands up next Tuesday and sound out “ We told you the first 30 years were just the get-go … and here ’s why : the new iTV , ” he ’s going to get a very flat reception . That ’s because the anticipation bar has been do quite high by the statement on Apple ’s home page .
To me , at least , the “ just the beginning ” fate of the phrase imply something really forrard - intellection . Apple is basically stating that it ’s taken the past 30 year for the company to get where it is now , and that it plans to use all that cognition to really show us what it can do .
What it ’s about
The odds that the following scenario is wrong are something greater than 99 percent . So unless you like lose money at the local lachrymation fix , do n’t calculate a exclusive dime on these words — unless you ’re look I ’ll be wrong , that is . And again , keep in mind that the following springs only from the “ I ’d love something like that ! ” area of my mind , further get down the betting odds that this is what we ’ll see revealed next workweek .
I think , much as when Apple last track down this type of pre - Expo promotion in 2002 — remember the troupe ’s “ Beyond the hearsay site . Way beyond ” teaser?—we’ll see a suite of products . ( In typesetter’s case you ’ve forgotten your history , that Expo saw the entry of the insipid - jury iMac , the 14 - inch iBook , and iPhoto — and many people found themselves disappointed by the overpowering amount of hype that had built up for the event . )
First out of the gate will be the iPhone . The hearsay on this one seem too strong to brush off . To make a incision in the crowd , competitive phone market , Apple ’s earpiece will have to Think Different . The phone will have the “ Apple ghost ” on the purpose side ( though not even Steve can really get away with a one - button telephone — can he ? ) , a user port that borrows to a great extent from the iPod ’s comfort of usance , and features unseamed integration with OS X ’s Address Book and iCal . Apple must also forecast out some direction to talk to Windows ’ calendar and physical contact apps as well , of course . And , of course , there will be some form of iTunes integration , perhaps going as far as set aside on-line purchases from the speech sound itself .
Next up will be the revised iWork entourage , now feature a spreadsheet and a database app , based on a simplified version of FileMaker Pro . With the inclusion of both a spreadsheet and a database , AppleWorks can finally be put to pillow for good . The spreadsheet wo n’t rival Excel for feature , but will be sufficient for 90 percent of users who need to occasionally cranch numbers . Same with the database ; it wo n’t allow you become a FileMaker Pro expert developer , but it will feature a very simple drag - and - drop GUI designed to quickly make childlike databases .
The final name and release date for the iTV will be announce , and its unseamed integrating with a connection of Macs and microcomputer will be demonstrated . It may or may not admit TV fipple flute capabilities , and it will be incline a stripped - down version of OS X. People will inspire .
There will be some other announcements , apparently . Leopard ’s ship escort will be annunciate as March 24 , 2007 — the 6th anniversary of the launch of OS X 10.0 back in 2001 . There will be new displays , with built - in iSight cameras . Perhaps the rumor dual quad - inwardness Mac Pro will be announce . There may even be some iPod - have-to doe with announcements , though Apple purposely downplayed the iPod at last year ’s Expo , stating that the outcome was about the Mac , not about the iPod .
If all of that comes to pass , Apple will have had a very successful event , yet falling fall short of meeting the “ just the beginning ” titbit in its new pinch - phrase . So that leaves just One More Thing .
The new Mac
So what ’s Apple break down to do to show us how much it ’ memorize in 30 years ? Well , 10 years ago the society gave us the20th Anniversary Macintosh(TAM for curt ) ; this year , I think we ’ll get the 30th Anniversary Macintosh . As with the first Anniversary Macintosh , this machine will be Apple ’s greatest thinking on the on state of design in calculator technology . In its day , the TAM represent the haemorrhage sharpness of intention in a desktop computing machine , albeit one at an amazingly high price dot . For the 30th Anniversary Mac , though , I think the desktop form factor is out .
Instead , for the 30th anniversary , Apple will make a novel standard for laptop computer . Specifically for light , small , and yet full - boast laptops . feature a widescreen 11 - inch blueprint running at 1,280 - by-800 resoluteness , this machine will be very light . And the CRT screen will flip over horizontally , transforming the laptop into a tablet that uses an advanced version of Apple ’s handwriting recognition railway locomotive — I’m guess that this will change state out to be one of the secret 10.5 feature that nobody has consider yet . iPhone consolidation will be there , too , with easy linking via Bluetooth and the ability to use the telephone in Skype - style to make call over that web . As expected , there will be an incorporate iSight camera . But this one will be mounted on a slice that can swivel in a full roach , allowing the camera to be used in either direction , regardless of how the sieve is orientate .
The design will focus on tenuity , lightness , and usability — using an 11 - inch screen intend that there ’s still elbow room for a decently - sized keyboard , and the form broker is recondite enough for a effective sized battery . Like some Apple laptops of yesteryear , the videodisc mechanism can be removed and replaced with another battery , thereby doubling the stamp battery meter . The machine will run on an Intel Core 2 Duo , of track , but will have the MacBook Pro ’s artwork card , so user are n’t limited in their power to expend 3 - 500 applications .
I give …
OK , as nerveless as I recall the above car would be , really , it ’s not all that ground - shattering . It ’s just a combination of have a go at it technologies put together in a most useful personal manner . But as I read what I ’ve written , I ’m still not certain it fulfills the “ just the beginning ” set phrase .
The world is that I have no idea what Apple has in store for next workweek . As much play as it can be to think about what could be , I ’m exalt that I ’ll be there in mortal to see what really will be . There ’s no doubt that Apple ’s abode page changes have hyped the already - high interest in the exposition even further ; I ’m just hoping the reality will match the new - raised expectations .
