Apple’s Software

We thought it would be interesting to compare Macworld 2007 to Macworld 2008, particularly in terms of Apple’s product releases. How do the two most recent Macworlds measure up?

Lets take a look back at Macworld 2007’s keynote address. There really wasn’t a lot of discussion of the Mac. Steve Jobs reminded us of the spectacular speed in which the entire line of Macs were converted from PPC to Intel (the complete conversion took just 7 months), noted that more than 50% of all US sales of new Macs were to “switchers” (buyers that had never before owned a Mac), and quoted Microsoft’s Jim Allchin as saying “I would buy a Mac today if I was not working at Microsoft”. And that was it. At 4:43 into his Keynote, Jobs stopped discussing Macs, and the screen behind him moved to a tight shot of an iPod Shuffle clipped onto a young woman’s shirt.

In the 2007 Keynote, Jobs went on to discuss the iPod Nano’s new colors, the iPod Shuffle, and he announced Apple’s new deal to sell Paramount movies on iTunes. Jobs’ also announced the Apple TV, and, as always, saved his biggest announcement for last: Apple’s iPhone.

So, how does that compare to this year’s Apple new product announcements? Well, in what appears to have been a (somewhat successful) attempt to upstage CES, this year’s announcements started the week before Macworld, when Steve Jobs announced the new Penryn based, 8 core standard, Mac Pro. That, in itself, is an impressive announcement.

It was followed by an equally impressive Keynote address at Macworld 2008. Time Capsule was introduced, a Wireless N utility + hard drive that has the potential to become the standard in backup hardware for Macs (and PCs). Major software updates were announced for the iPhone and iPod Touch, including a Google Maps feature that brings both devices very close to having GPS functionality.

Apple TV, Take 2 was launched. Although the $70 price drop is welcomed news, the ability to use your Apple TV (or iPhone or iPod Touch) to rent movies from every major studio is huge, both in terms of newsworthiness and potential profit for Apple (we predicted this one just a few hours before Jobs keynote). And Job’s biggest announcement: the smallest notebook ever. Apple’s new, super thin, MacBook Air. It features a shiny metallic finish, a 13” LED based display, and an optional Flash drive styled solid state hard drive, with no moving parts (we gave this laptop our “high probability” ranking in our pre Macworld predictions).

So let’s summarize.

I know this is very much a judgment call, but on a 5 star scale, I’m giving last year’s Macworld 4 stars, and this year’s Macworld 5 stars. To me, there’s really no comparison.

Maybe it depends on whether you like gadgets or Macs. I own an Intel Mac, but I don’t own an iPhone. If you own an iPhone but done own a Mac, you may feel differently.

Sure, iPhones are cool, and they’re practical. There’s no arguing those points. But they didn’t even come out for 6 months. Apple TV wasn’t that big a deal, partly because prices for the big screen, high definition televisions that they power still bordered on obscene a year ago. And the deal with Paramount increased Apple’s movie stock from 100 to 250. Well, it did include the Star Trek movies, as Steve Jobs pointed out while the crowd managed a mildly subdued laugh. It also included one of the best Star Trek movies, Star Trek III, but that’s another discussion for another time.

On the other hand, this year, we saw the 8 core Penryn Mac Pro, which may well be the fastest home computer on the market. We saw what may be the future of backup devices. We saw the iPhone and iPod come even closer to being hand held computers. We saw movie rental deals with all the major studios. And we saw a notebook that fits in an inter office envelope. As I said, in my opinion, there’s really no comparison.

Innovation and Best of Show

I want to take a quick look now at 2007’s Best of Show awards, and see how they compared to this years:

Adobe Photoshop CS3: Photoshop CS 3 was not so significantly better than Photoshop CS2 to deserve award status.

Adobe Premiere Pro: This was a reintroduction of Adobe Premier to the Mac, and the first Intel version. That combination, plus its contribution to video editing, probably made it worthy of the award.

Apple TV: I’m not entirely sure this product earned its place on the Best of Show list.

Apple iPhone: On the other hand, there can be no question that the iPhone earned its place on the list.

Aspyr Prey: I also can’t argue with an FPS for the Mac, even if it’s not one that I play.

Chestnut Hill Sound’s George: This functions as a home base station / charging unit for your iPod. It includes an alarm clock, am/fm radio, built in speakers, and a detachable front panel that operates as a remote control. It’s cool but very pricey, at $599 (it now sells for $499). IPod sold separately.

IntelliScanner’s IntelliScanner Mini: This is a $299 barcode scanner for home organizing. You can transfer its data to your PC or Mac and use its database to organize items such as wine lists, CDs, and groceries. It’s clever, but how many people need one?

NEC LCD2690WUXi: A 25.5-inch monitor with 1,920 x 1,200 resolution and featuring 91% of the Adobe RGB color gamut for $1,699.

OWC / Axiotron Modbook: Created from a MacBook laptop, this is the first and still the only Mac tablet computer. You can write and draw directly on the modified screen with the Axiotron Digitizer Pen, it has 512 levels of pressure sensitivity, Inkwell handwriting recognition, and starts at $2279, with many upgrade options. This is a truly unique product. In my opinion, it’s second only to the iPhone as the most unique of the 2007 Best of Show winners.

Roxio Toast 8 Titanium: I know it’s good Mac burning software, but still, burning software as Best of Show?

SWsoft Parallels Desktop for Mac: There’s no arguing the importance of Parallels as a competitor to Boot Camp, with the Bells and Whistles that users are more than willing to purchase.

I’d say that the standouts for 2007 are the iPhone, the Modbook, and Parallels. We’ve already done a complete look at this year’s Best of Show winners, which you can find here. The standouts in this year’s list are the Macbook Air, Eye-Fi Card, and Mac Speech Dictate. Also, as with the Modbook, there was a modified Apple product at Macworld 2008, the touchscreen Mac, that’s as innovative as the Modbook but didn’t win an award.

All things considered, I feel that both Macworlds earned 4.5 Stars on the innovation scale. Both shows produced impressive products, not only from big names, but also from small companies, which is always nice to see.

One Disappointment

Something that I’m disappointed to see is that there seems to be less and less support from 3D graphics vendors for Macworld. Part of the reason may be that, with Macs able to run Windows programs, software vendors just don’t see the need for creating 3D software for the Mac. Another issue may be the technology, there are more choices in graphics hardware for Windows than there are for the Mac, and the Windows choices are usually less expensive. If Apple wants to continue to see the Mac thought of as a graphics computer, it needs to address this need by encouraging vendors to participate in future software releases, and in future Macworlds.