Did MacWorld Meet Your Expectations?
We’ve got more CES coverage lined up before we go beddie-bye, but I wanted to briefly pose this question. I remember two years ago, nearly to the day, we were at CES when the Apple iPhone announcement was made in 2007. I kid you not when I say that 90% of the hot air burst from the CES bubble that very moment. Instead of talking about the latest and greatest consumer electronics to see in Las Vegas, everyone in Las Vegas was talking about the planned device presented in San Francisco. I can’t underscore the nature of that day: Apple effectively trumped the entire Consumer Electronics Show. In fact, it was so profound, I wondered if it was going to happen again last year.
Fast forward to 2009. While I obviously wasn’t at MacWorld, I quickly caught up on our coverage over at The Apple Blog. While there’s no guarantee nor need for Apple to make major product announcements each and every MacWorld, my feeling is one of “meh” this time around. Yup, there’s the unibody 17-inch MacBook Pro with high capacity battery. And iTunes will be going DRM-free, although I’ll bypass the 30% DRM tax thanks to my adoption of Amazon’s MP3 store. iWork got a new number, i.e.: ‘09. Anything else? Seriously, these are evolutionary advancements and I’m not trying to take anything away from Apple here.
Perhaps the expectations are too high and Apple simply can’t meet them any longer, or at least not this time around. I just find it interesting that many people I spoke with tonight at CES felt the same about MacWorld 2009. Curious as to your thoughts, since this is such a different experience from CES 2007.
macworld was meh… software updates and a laptop update.. these type of announcements most companies just issue press releases and move on.
Lots of complaints about Macworld from people with incredibly short memories. It’s not like the last event (introducing the unibody MacBooks) was exciting — Cook is a fine presenter but hardly enthusiastic; Ives seems afraid of crowds and his techno-talk rather dull.
And what about the event where Steve Jobs introduced the last versions of iLife and iWork? This event also introduced the aluminum iMacs. Steve had the advantage of being The Steve, as well as two brand new apps (Numbers and iMovie 08) and it was still not what anyone would call exciting. Let’s face it, demoing iLife and a spreadsheet is not thrilling stuff, no matter who does it.
Last years’s MacBook Air keynote didn’t get a lot of good press, yet today people act as if it kicked butt.
Personally, I felt a new iLife and iWork were all but overdue. I expected them today and liked what I saw. But I had no illusions it would be exciting, and Steve Jobs couldn’t have changed it. Likewise with the 17 inch MacBook.
hi, see anything new from samsung ces maybe umpc?
(im thinking of purchasing q1-up xp UMPC soon
)
Comparing Macworld ‘07 to any other Macworld will make it seem dull. I have to say that I’m not a huge Apple person, but even I was forced to stop and take notice when the iPhone was announced, and the demo by Steve Jobs was amazing. I think people’s expectations of each Apple event got a little out of whack ever since.
I do think it’s kind of unfortunate that this is the last Macworld that Apple will be a part of and it seems to have ended on a rather unimpressive note.
After going to Macworld today, I think you pretty much summed it up
“Meh” indeed.
Nothing’s gonna beat 07. I cannot think of a single product that would get so much Apple attention.
People wanted a macbook but it was quite clear they were not gonna get it.
I wanted the mini. No mini
My word for it is “Nah”…
Actually, they 17 inch MacBook Pro they intro’d get’s a MEH from me. TO me, a non replaceable battery in ANYTHING garners a FAIL!
I think the intense hype that builds up each year with all the rumors of fantastic products is also getting to be too much and may be why Apple wants to step it down a notch. That and the cost of supporting it in today’s economy.
I was hoping for a new Mac Mini to give this Mac thing a go, and also use it as a server. Made do with a used from ebay instead to use for now. Actually, the ebay one was a bargain so not too disappointed!
We knew our reaction would be “meh” when Apple announced that not only would Steve Jobs not do the keynote, but that this would be their last year at MacWorld. It’s clear that Apple no longer wants to save up something really cool to release just after the Christmas shopping season. If something is so cool and wonderful, they should release it in time for Christmas shopping rather than wait until January when everyone is spent out. They’d make more money that way.
So, this MacWorld was exactly in line with my expectations. Apple deflated expectations in the run up to MacWorld. I paid attention to them.