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5 Predictions for Apple in 2007
Michael writes "2006 is coming to a close, and all anyone can think about (in regards to Apple, at least) is the upcoming Apple phone, but what happens next? What are we going to be salivating over and speculating about after Macworld? What changes are in store for Apple in 2007? No one knows for sure, but it sure is fun to take a guess."
Apple will remain a top subject of internet speculation.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
My top 5:
5. Apple will break the 10% market share mark in new computer sales
4. The iPod will face it's first big competitor at Christmas 2007, from a vastly improved Zune
3. iPod will release a hard-drive free version of it's Video iPod, utilizing multiple flash memory cards to achieve 40GB+
2. Apple will release the iPhone, and it will be the must have phone of 2007
1. Apple will announce plans for a set-top box, integrating gaming, cable, and internet browsing
Crack - Free with every butt and set of boobs
Apparently, someone will be going to Jail and Steve Jobs will be losing a boat load of money.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
I want an iTV. Or whatever they want to call it. Preferably with Mythtv support.
09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.
I bought a MacBook Pro a month ago, my first Mac in 15 years.
The touchpad works quite well overall, the two-finger scrolling is especially good IMO.
You can perform a right-click with the touchpad as well, but you have to turn on the feature first. Once it is on just have two fingers on the touchpad and click the button -- right click.
Overall the MacBook Pro is far and away the nicest notebook I have used, and I've used a lot of notebooks. My Toshiba Libretto and IBM ThinkPad are soon to be for sale.
Some people are like slinkies--basically useless but they bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs.
There are three ways to right click from apple. The old fashioned ctrl-click. Going in to system preferences and turning on the option so when there are two fingers on the track pad and clicked for it to act like a right click. And of course the Mighty Mouse. Personally, I use both the wireless mighty mouse and the two finger touch-pad click for when I am too lazy to pull out the mouse. Oddly enough - I don't find myself right clicking that often...
Jisho - A Japanese English German Russian French Dictionary for the rest of us.
Apple has a major stock scandal brewing. You'll probably be reading a lot more about their legal woes than their products next year.
#1 Steve Jobs will move in next to Jeffrey Skilling.
I think these are the most likely to happen: :P
Finalcut Pro will come out with a Windows version and Apple will lose a ton of the market share until...
Apple makes themselves compatible with AMD processors too and increases their market share until...
China demands repayment for all the invested/borrowed money we owe them and we try to pay it off by sueing thousands of Chinese companies for making inadaquite, bad quality products and they start world war 3 over it and we all nuke each other and have to live in caves and the Apple market share dips a little until they put in solar panels outside the caves for power so ppl can run their Macs again
I'll give 10:1 if that doesn't all happen! Any takers?
Google's Super Secret Search Algorithm: SELECT @search_results FROM internet WHERE @search_results = 'good'
I do strongly feel this may well describe the future state of the Macintosh in general. Look at sites like Mac Gamer, and you'll see a steady decline in the updates to these sites since the Intel Macs went mainstream. It almost seems like the Mac game developers/porters have thrown in the towel and have acknowledged that the majority of their previous customer base would rather install Windows on their shiny new Macs, rather than wait the usual six months for them to produce a native Mac OS X port.
If gaming on the Mac has eroded to this lowly state, it can't be long until other markets are affected too. Developers of several popular multimedia/graphics/productivity tools that have maintained multiple code bases over the years may finally decide to kill off their Mac versions to cut costs, once armed with the knowledge that the average Mac user can simply be coerced into buying a copy of Windows and installing it via a Bootcamp-like utility. Before long, Apple may well have to break down and start to officially sell Macs with Windows pre-installed to remain competative in the PC market.
Eventually, being a "Mac user" could mean little more than "someone who uses the Mac OS for file management, internet activity and itunes, and uses Windows for everything else". Granted the integration may be tighter between the two OSes, but it'll still end up with Mac users paying royalties to Microsoft in the end... either for Windows, or the necessary APIs needed to ensure complete compatibility.
In a few years, Apple will be as generic a name brand as IBM, Dell or HP.
8==8 Bones 8==8
I tend to think that Apple would come out on top if it knew how to combine technology with students and classrooms and teachers. Just as Sony has their new e-book reader, perhaps a wireless device used by teacher and students alike, just as useful, would allow for that student to 'shoot' that note over to the person at the other seat who they find attractive.
...and if the response is a 'yes', woo hoo! I'm going to the dance!
No more having to get your friends to deliver notes by hand, no more being turned down in public.
Its getting harder and harder to innovate in consumer electronics, and to have your product noticed. I have trouble thinking of Apple coming up with something as ubiquitous as the ipod in the near future.
As a former longtime OS/2 user, I would always have preferred to run a native OS2 app than a windows app under os2. I realize parallels runs windows, however, by integrating in parallels developers could now decided to write ONE version of their software (windows) and be done with it. Sure in this case your running a full windows environment, however, I'd much rather run a OSX application than a windows or a linux (ala OpenOffice under X).
Are they purpously looking around for a bunch of numbers articles?
From the article:
"After years of speculation, the full screen video iPod will make it's debut just in time for the 07 holiday season sales push."
Can someone please explain to me what the market is for portable video players with builtin viewing screens, in general?
I see these at electronics stores and their appeal is completely lost on me.
When might I use such a device? Well, I suppose when I am somewhere without access to a computer or television, want to watch a video, and can devote my full attention to a little ~2.5" screen (so not when I'm driving). For me, that is never.
As far as I can tell the primary markets for these are:
1) People who spend a large amount of time on public or air transportation, but don't carry a laptop.
2) Young children of parents who are rich enough to buy them personal video viewing devices but don't already have viewing screens built into their SUVs.
Anyone? I can't even think if a reason to buy the existing video iPod, muchless a full screen model.
Video is overrated. BBC radio news, for example, is more informative than any broadcast or cable television news outlet in the U.S. Add in the daily hour long DemocracyNOW broadcast (or podcast) and you have more real, compelling news than you will find in a week of 24x7 Fox News. And you can listen those while you commute or work. Video monopolizes your brain. Not only that, but even old pre-1950 radio dramas are at least comparable in quality to the majority of sitcoms, dramas. and comedies on television today: i.e. they are crap.
Kill your television. Don't bring it with you in a little box.
1) Someone at Apple will check themselves into rehab for a cocaine addiction.
2) Someone at Apple will comment on what Martha Stuart did with the prison during her time there.
3) Someone at Apple will come forward & admit that the majority of their iTunes traffic is pirates trying to crack passwords.
4) Someone at Apple will confess to the world they are gay & announce their love for Ellen Degeneres.
5) Someone at Apple will write a book about their life as an Apple employee that will get close to making the best sellers list.
All in all, a pretty average year for a Superstar Mega Company.
Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
Isn't that half of the list of this story? Please come up with something more original than old, old rumors.
I was just talking to him about that. He's decided that one isn't enough - he needs at least two more. He's going to make Linux on PS3 his primary development platform.
-- The act of censorship is always worse than whatever is being censored. Always.
1. Acquire satellite radio: This would allow apple to sell iTunes over wireless without a computer. Also, satellite radio use digital transmission. iPod can either do built-in transmitter or make it as an accessory. This would allow user to play their iPod on car radio (satellite radio) without wire and without loss of signal quality. I can think of tons of other benefits of Apple-satellite radio merger, but not enough space here. This will also allow wireless song sharing like Zune.
2. Acquire TiVO or offer similar service. Allow TiVO to download iTunes song and synch with iPod. Agains this will allow people to buy iTunes over broadband without using computer. Also, people can play their iTune songs on home stereo via DVR easily. This would fit in ther iTV or MacMini strategy quite well.
3. iPod remote: Make an iPod remote which looks like iPod nano. It can be synched with real iPod using a computer. Now user can truly do full control of their iPod using this remote control. My biggest problem of current generation of remotes is that I can't select a song, photo, video. I can only do play and then skip it if I don't like it. With a wheel and display, I can exactly select the song and then play. Such a remote should not cost more than 50/60 dollars.
4. External memory/battery module for iPod nano: Make an external memory/battery module for iPod which will connect to docking connector. That way, I can expand my iPod nano. How about 8 GB module for $99? Or a 48 hour battery module.
5. A camera module expansion.
...is that I will continue to not care about it. The whole "compete by selling different kinds of hardware" model reminds me of the 8-bit days. It was bad enough when you had to port to multiple 8-bit machines. The only thing that's worse is game consoles. You have to pick which one you want to port to, *and* you have to be a company that's big enough to pay an arm and a leg to the console company for the privelege of developing on their machine. Oh please, mr. console maker, oh please let me write software for you. I'll kiss your boots. Oh, please, pretty please.
If Apple released OS-X for commodity PC hardware and competed againts MS, then I'd start caring. Or, if they allowed Mac clones, I'd start caring. Othwerwise, they can tank and I won't shed a tear. I just don't get how everyone can hate MS so much, and look the other way at Apple's proprietary hardware and DRM.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
Frm the article:
"I expect to see Parallels fully integrated into Leopard by the time the OS is released, giving us the first OS in history (to my knowledge anyway) that will allow us to seamlessly run our Windows, Mac, and even Linux programs from the same desktop."
This would be a user experience and customer support nightmare for Apple.
Not to mention it would be incredibly risky for Apple to acquire and bolt on a complex 3rd party application at this late stage in Leopard development.
The author of this article is clueless. Which isn't surprising, considering it is essentially a blog post on a mac fan site. He's just regurgitating rumours from Mac community forums in order to get page hits.
Nothing to see here. Move along.
"Can someone please explain to me what the market is for portable video players with builtin viewing screens, in general?"
Glad to... you can't see video on a portable video player without a viewing screen. Hence the desire for a viewing screen.
Hope that helps you out, there.
Cheers,
-- Terry
13.3" MacBook Pro. Please? Can I have a decent upgrade path for my 12" Powerbook that doesn't involve getting a much bigger laptop or crappy plastic keys? Please?
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is kinky.
Anyone? I can't even think if a reason to buy the existing video iPod, muchless a full screen model.
Since I own a video iPod (80GB woot), I can state my reasons:
1) I have my entire photo collection with me at all times. No more pictures in my wallet.
2) I watch lastnight's Daily Show before work every morning.
3) Video podcasts.
4) I can share music videos with others on a drinking night.
And I haven't even mentioned my music until just now.
After weeks of near daily bashing of Microsoft, are we now to be treated with a week or two of glowing press (outside of that SEC story) about Apple?
My prediction? Apple will release new models of computers and digital audio players. Slashdot will rave about the company's greatness. Apple's desktop market share will once again remain static.
You want to know who isn't running Firefox 2.x? They spell it "definately" and "rediculous".
I have to agree, Apple ads for it's Mac products leave much to be desired. The ads are not what made me purchase a Mac it was Aperture. And based on a sampling of my friends and family they seem more confused by the current Mac ads compared to the switch ads, and even the Switch ads left much to be desired. The iPod ads on the other hand, are excellent, and eye catching.
At least that's what I'd like to see
ACK NAK RST
Pretty sure it was a joke...
2. ITMS and the iPod will be targeted heavily by Microsoft. Eventually the iPod will be replaced just as sony list the Walkman/Discman fame of the 80s and 90s.
.mp3 replaced the cd. apple was late to the mp3 player party, and the first ipods weren't even that good. but when they finally got a great product, it took over the market. as long as .mp3 is the preferred format, the ipod will always be successful. microsoft is determined to make their .wmv (or whatever it is) the standard and they are too focused on implementing their own special brand of DRM. ITMS is so popular because it "just works". and of course it does, ITMS, iTunes, and the ipod all come from the same people. microsoft will have to have their own store, their own program, and their own player. that will take a few years to get mind as well as market share. and even then, their size can't help them like it did in the office suite market. I think apple's biggest concern is not microsoft but current ipod users not upgrading.
it wasn't so much the ipod replaced the walkman, but the
My problem? I was perfectly gruntled, until some numbnuts came by and dissed me.
Yes, I know that Zune's wifi isn't real, but "has wireless" is a checkbox that ipod cannot currently check.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
Huh? Any 3 button mouse with scroll wheel and whatever, works on Apple. Just buy a $10 mouse and plug it in.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
What I would much prefer, as a casual user who needs to run minor MS Windows application, is the VMware solution. Note that this is also the type of solution many MS windows users employ to access a *nix type system. I would much rather Apple license a solution from VMWare and have virtualization for those that need it.
I really see this as a cost and performance issue. These was a time when one could buy a copy of MS Windows NT, but a copy of Connectix VPC, and have an inexpensive solution to an occasional problem. Now that Vista is going to a bloated and expensive hog, I don't see how anything but Boot Camp, for those few that really need it, or VMWare is going to be an effective solution.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
I'm predicting some jail time for a few Apple execs. Now that forged stock option paperwork linked to Jobs has appeared, it's just a matter of getting the legal thrash over with while they find out who goes to jail for being greedy bastards and who is merely unlucky enough to be within the frag pattern.
But the current Apple Newtons are still quite delicious!
Registered Linux User #449434
You can of course continue to use your current copy of Windows XP and the software you currently have on that platform. And that solves the problem for the most switchers: What about the software I need now but does not exist on the Mac platform?
Do not expect those switchers to jump on the Vista wagon anytime soon. And why should anyone really while Windows XP still has years left of it's supported product lifecycle left? It might very well be that the XP is the last Windows you will need.
(This sig intentionally left blank)
Can someone please explain to me what the market is for portable video players with builtin viewing screens, in general?
Sure.
The market segment could be characterised as weird old old guys who live in their vans down by the river. Or put another way, the same folks bought those mini TVs 20 years ago.
Funny thing about those TVs -- no one could really stand to watch them, but that didn't prevent any of their proud owners from showing them off to friends and strangers.
Kill your television. Don't bring it with you in a little box.
Even better, find a way to record those 5 hours of weekly programming actually worth watching, and enjoy them at your leisure.
No kidding -- that's why I'm a much bigger fan of Crossover Mac and DarWINE.
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Who says they haven't been working on it for the last 6 months? That they changed references on their web site from 'bootcamp' to 'parallels' must at least raise suspicions that they saw it as something worth aligning themselves to.
Only big ligs use sigs.
You don't have to use the mouse button, you can just tap with two fingers for a right click once you've enabled two finger scroll and tap in the trackpad settings.
I know nobody cares about my predictions, especially since they're about to end up at the bottom of the thread, but here are a few anyway:
Eight Core Mac Pro- just so Apple can advertise the most powerful personal computer EVAR
New Cinema Displays with built in iSight, IR sensor, HDCP. 23" becomes 24", firewire hub goes away. Maybe a smaller one
New keyboard, with USB2.0 ports built into it (three years too late)
.Mac will morph into some kind of social networking thing. Myspace for Mac users. It should, but won't, be free
Windows versions of Safari and iChat A/V, which no one will use because they both kinda suck
Apple needs a mid-tower computer between the mini and the Pro. The iMac doesn't cut it. Steve's cube fetish will resurface here
A tablet Macbook would be great, as long as the voice and handwriting recognition work better than anything before
Give a man fire, and you warm him for the night. Set a man on fire, and you warm him for the rest of his life.
HEY! I own one of those "mini TVs". Well, not exactly, it's a 5" LCD, but still, I don't live down by the river. I live in a house, and I even take a bath every Saturday Night whether I need one or not.
cat
Heh, that's funny. There are lots of things to criticise about Apple, but they absolutely don't "just throw [latest gadget] into a product as a checkbox filler." One of the main criticism of iPods is that "they don't contain feature X found in many other mp3 players." Compared to players from Creative or even to the Zune, the iPod is underfeatured. That's because unless the feature makes some kind of sense and can be integrated into the "iPod experience" in a moderately non-confusing way, Apple won't do it.
Can you give me anything about the iPod that's actually innovative, rather than "Same as competitor's product but looks sexier".Uhm... That's an entirely different question. Did Apple introduce anything new with the iPod? In a way, no. They took features away compared to other MP3 players, which is what grandparent was saying: Apple doesn't just throwin features left and right. What they did was make the iPod easy and efficient to use (especially compared to other players at the time).
So... you're not even contradicting what grandparent has said. You have a valid point (the iPod's features aren't that innovative), but it actually agrees with grandparent's point (Apple doesn't just add the latest fancy feature to the iPod whenever it gets the chance), as far as I can tell.
7. Apple will license OS.X to generic PC manufacturers starting with Dull^W Dell.
Only to idiots, are orders laws.
-- Henning von Tresckow
Sure I can tell you something about the market for a portable video player:
:)
1. People who spend a lot of time on airplanes - and that's quite a few on a global scale.
2. People with kids - since kids don't necessarily agree on what to watch, and they don't spend _all_ their time in the back seat of a Volvo SUV.
3. People who use public transportation for more than 15 minutes or so straight.
Anyways, I agree that mainstream TV is evil thought control.
Stop the brainwash
I'm thinking... MacChicken
Yes, but touchpad taps will rapidly drive any touch-typist insane.
Some people are like slinkies--basically useless but they bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs.
but don't be too accurate if you don't want to be sued. And please, don't start any rumors.
What?
I'm not so sure it's any more a support nightmare than letting the users run third party applications at all. You run Windows or Linux in a virtual machine, use MacOS as the display and window manager for Linux and add extensions to Windows that achieve the same effect.
The problem is that Windows and Linux apps can only be superficially skinned to look like MacOS apps; they won't really behave the same way. This won't create a support problem for Apple because OS vendors don't provide relief for substandard applications.
So the downside is this: it greatly reduces the incentive for developers to create native MacOS apps, and as a result more and more the user will be getting only a superficial MacOS experience. It'd be better for them to release a windows implementation of Cocoa that allowed Mac applications to run without recompiling/linking. This would attract more developers for creating native Mac apps, and it wouldn't really help Microsoft that much if at all.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
> Even better, find a way to record those 5 hours of weekly programming actually worth watching, and enjoy them at your leisure.
Yep, I agree and our TiVo does that for us, all from FTA TV.
5 hours of TV is plenty for us, and its all top quality, viewed at our leisure, paused, replayed and commercial skipped.
This is the way TV should be (IMHO).
Cheers,
Ashley.
PS In fact, we have trouble watching 5 hours a week, but no problem. That means we have plenty to watch when the rating finish and there's nothing on FTA TV. No need for cable (at least for us).
Um, care to name those products? Zune is a dog, Vista doesn't look much better, the XBox 360 is in a market that Apple doesn't even notice, and as for competing with Apple's iTV, Microsoft hasn't even had a "me, too" vaporware announcement.
The Independent: Reverend Spooner Arrested in Friar Tuck Incident - ISIHAC, Historical Headlines
... will find that the word 'iPhone' is both the most searched for and most common word found on the Internet - replacing the ten year reign of 'free porn.'
Such disappointment that the author not only contributes to The Great iHype, but placed it first.
One prediction that's been going round for years but has never really happened is the Apple Office-killer. Sure Pages and Keynote are nice, but there is an obvious gap where you woudl expect the spreadsheet and database to be, and those MacPro desktop machines are conspicuously overdue for a speedbump. I think Apple are saving up for something big...
I predict Apple will go agressively after the business market, this upgrade cycle would be the perfect time to convince businesses to 'switch', especially if iWork had all 4 expected apps, robust compatibility with office documents, and the pricetag of (MacPro + Leopard + "iWorkPro") is significantly less than (Vista capable pc + Vista + Office 2007), which seems entirely possible. Throw in the expected 8-core MacPro, a bit of dual boot hype and garnish with XServes, and it's a tasty package.
As for the iPhone and widescreen video iPod, I wouldn't be at all surprised if these were actually one device not two. A 360 degree clamshell design that's a very scratch-resistant shuffle when closed, a phone when 180 degrees open and a widescreen video iPod when 360 degrees open sounds like a highly marketable device to me, especially if Apple leverage their close ties with flash memory producers to give it good video storage space without a hard drive. Nokia tried hard with the N93, but they ended up with a rubik cube designed by a committee. Apple product design head Jonathan Ive must have been looking at that thing and laughing.
A pizza of radius z and thickness a has a volume of pi z z a
I guess I should have made it more obvious. :/
You missed one! My personal favorite is tapping two fingers simultaneously. Now that my MacBook has gotten me in the habbit of doing so, I find myself trying to do it on Windows laptops constantly. It annoys me to no end having to use the physical button to right click on Windows laptops.
Sunwalker Dezco for Warchief in 2016
Look up "YellowBox". Yes, it was publicly released. Yes, it did essentialy allow what you're describing (although it did require a recompile of software, it didn't require re-coding.) It was (thankfully) dropped, mainly because if it was successful, even in a state less transparent than what you described, it would have more or less killed Apple.
The real litigious bastards...
I just received an Xbox 360 for Christmas and have to wonder is it not already "iTV" it streams movies and music from a Windows PC, it has a movie store (albeit a very limited selection, but there are hi-def offerings), it has a TV show store (once again a small selection, better than the movie selection though as it has recent episodes, and once again available in hi-def, it plays DVD's and HD-DVD's if you want to spend a little extra, and of course it plays video games, heck my Directv remote even has a code to program it to control the Xbox.
Hi Bill, good to see you taking an interest in the competition.
Two tears in a bucket. Motherfuck it.
My wish list/predictions: iTV, new Apple Newton (iNewton?), smaller iPod's, bigger screens on everything, cheaper LCD panels, OS X Leopard, cheaper Mac Mini's (maybe the iTV will have something cool for a good price), Airport firmware that enables the network port and allows for wireless bridging. Screw any iPhone, I want something like the Newton.
Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
Spoken like a true American who doesn't live in a city that relies on public transport :)
:) ) or (b) at a coffee shop. The former I don't do so much these days, and the latter... well for some reason I find it much more relaxing to sit at a coffee shop with a book or... like... talk to the other patrons.
Seriously, I live in the midwest these days so public transport for me is almost non-existent. But god, I would have KILLED for a video iPod when i lived in London and rode the tube every day. Crammed into a rolling tube like sardines is bad enough, but is made particularly bad when someone near you has chronic BO. Believe me, any escape for the 30-45 minutes that'll take your mind out of that tube car is good in my book. I had a portable CD player back then, but believe me there were times I wished I could whip out a small compact device and watch some video.
I admit though, today the video iPod is a much harder sell for me. I have a Nano because it's small, light, simple and robust. I don't use it all the time, but when I do it's nice to have around. However, I tend to use it only a few places: In my car (iPod dock in my dash), at the gym or sometimes at my desk at work (deep in a coding session I like classical music). None of these places would fit the video iPod... but that's why Apple sell more than one model of iPod.
Having said that too, I must admit I find the current generation of video iPod sexy, but it's a hard sell for me because the only places I could see using it would be (a) on a plane (so long as I'm not the pilot!
I'm a touch typist (120+ wpm). I like the tapping. I hate it when someone has it turned off.
Why would it drive me insane? I have to take my fingers off the keyboard to move the mouse anyway.
#1 Apple makes an iPod Video with optional SVGA, S-Video, and RCA Jack adapters so the video can be played on TV sets and monitors.
#2 Windows Vista is supported with Apple Bootcamp.
#3 Apple looks to make a cheaper iMac using AMD chips instead of just Intel ones. Maybe they can make a price of $499 or $399 with the AMD chips.
#4 Apple ports iTunes to the XBox 360, Playstation 3, and Wii to use the Internet connection to download songs and videos to those game consoles provided they have hard drives to store the media on.
#5 Due to charges from the SEC and the DOJ, Jobs steps down as the iCEO and lets someone else take over. Jobs cuts a deal with the government over the 2001 stock options scandal and agrees to pay millions in fines and step down as iCEO in order to avoid jail time.
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
Here's my 5 predi...wishlist
1. Apple will launch a new ipod that will have most or all of the following features:
a) Widescreen movie playing & screen on ipod
b) FM receiver (not just transmitter)
c) Plays most popular video formats (a la Creative Zen) instead of just trying to lock users into MP4 & MOV "Apple" & quicktime crap formats.
d) Provide faster & different types of interconnects to the ipod such as:
-WiFi (b,g & n)... ok that last one is a wishful thinking
-Wimax
-"infrared" red light projecting keyboard, so people can interact better with software & turn it into the smallest laptop ever.
-infrared output at various frequencies, so we can turn ipod into a remote control for TVs
-power adaptor connector, so we dont have to pay for overpriced USB2 to AC converters
-Firewire (latest high speed verison)
-ON/OFF button, so batteries don't drain slowly
-Allow for easy physical access to battery & hard drive, for end-user replacement
NOTE TO APPLE: Don't do these and Zune and/or Creative Zen will become the new "ipod" of choice!
2. Apple will start to make products & specifically software that are not overly dumbed down (i.e. provide advanced modes), because if they don't most PC users (windows/linux) will remain PC users.
3. Stop over pricing their dumbed down and highly restricted (annoying) hardware/software. Only fashion fools with fundamentalist mentalities and too many dollar bills in their pockets buy apple everything year after year.
4. FIX your very very lame iTUNES... no I do NOT want to SYNCH my entire PC's MP3s & Videos to my ipod. Also, I want to create my own folders on the ipod, not live with the choices you make for me. Turn off that annoying advertisement to sell me songs from your store that I could care less about. Please learn something (ideally a LOT) from the folks over at Anapod (http://www.redchairsoftware.com/anapod/)
5. Do Keep up your inovation and teach microsoft a few more lessons where possible (i.e. how to design nice looking physical & software gui's).
Thanks,
Adeptus
No trees were killed in the making of this post; however, many trillions of electrons were horribly inconvenienced.
No, it was obvious. :)
I didn't know Poland had fanboys. (hey, hey, I'm part Polish and my Great-grandpa was a pure-bred)
This sig isn't original enough, it's time to come up with something witty...
right, except I specifically said "new software that requires vista".
Just a quick list of things the iPod did first in an MP3 player:
1. the smaller, more expensive drives
2. touch wheel
3. click wheel
4. database frontend
5. an annoying hardware dock
6. shipping earbuds that aren't terrible
7. non-replacable batteries in an integrated form factor
8. No stop button (?)
9. No screen
10. Companion music store
11. DRM
12. Random-only play
13. Podcasting
14. Prioritizing physical size over storage space
They're like The Matrix. Revolutionary when it came out, copied to the point of being trite now. But Apple has done some very original things with the line throughout the years, and should be recognized for such.
The ______ Agenda
5. Front Row becomes the 'real' 'Universal app': Apple will take the iTV idea and slowly take over the home computing market.... iTV will hub your Video/VidonDemand/TVtimeshifting/Tivo and VOIP. Much like Apple's 'going against the man' with the music labels... Apple will attack the Cable and Telcos (aren't they the REAL Enemy?). See apple partnering with Sprint or possibly some major ISP delivery company (Onvoy? Level3?) and provide a final mile solution for combining .Mac (backup services, email services, Identity services), internet, cable on demand services 'for the rest of us'
.mac and updates your operational calendar. 3rd Party home automation systems are given a SDK to integrate alarms, home automation, webcans, etc... so you can 'call home' and 'see' whats going on in the back yard via a iChat AV optimized for your phone.
4. One Front Row to rule then all: As you get your digital appliance hub above, iLife becomes the MS office of the personal life. You cradle your macPhone, and your calendar, ipod shuffle music, your fav vidpodcast, updated phone list, email and stock tips get uploaded. you change your plans, your macPhone 'calls home' via
3. Wireless displays. If you can use 'n' protocols to beam DVD quality to your TV set, why not beam from your system to a disconnected display... High end Apple Displays will have Airport'N' built-in (see the iTV as a tuner above), and your 'laptop' will all of sudden be bluetooth enabled battery powered Mac Core 2 Duo Mini [form factor: about 1/4 the size of a MacbookPro] and a keyboard pointing device that folds up into a similar form factor. High End Laptops will use 'n' protocols to use a high end display as a wireless docking station (firewire 800, USB, isight, speakers on the CinemaDisplay... all connected via 'n' to the laptop). With 'N' wireless speeds, your iTV hubs your data storage around the home, syncing 'hot files' to your local cache of 40GB Hybrid disk (nearline storage powered by 'time machine' undertechnologies.). This new macMini will have a 'tablet' connector built (friction lock, way cool btw), with a small form screen/ptr/keyboard (utilizing apple's infinite resolution patent). This will have cross over applicability into the mobile workforce (Jobs and I actually talked about this in the medical model during the NeXT days.... We needed the ability in a hospital setting to 'beam down' medical records to a handheld for portability during a care episode, and dynamically sync the master record with new/entered info, (this was 1991, mind you), and be able to just have 'displays' in diagnostic rooms where you could carry in your computer and it automatically 'beams' your information into the larger display for visualization and/or collaboration).
2. Apple will become a 'systems' company. It's not hardware that people crave, it's not software that people desire... it's the 'it just works' and the 'insanely great' that the common folks desire. Apple will press systems integration as it's 'insanely great' idea. Home networking is now the 'pain' families put up with. Networking computers, Home Theater, Music, etc. Apple's 'sharp point' into the consumer market place will be that it has the core hardware and software to 'bring it all together (iTV, MacPhone, ITunes, Bonjour, Airport)... The Apple Store will compete with BestBuy's Magnolia AND GeekSquad for the 'servicing' the common folk.
1. Leopard will make everyone from the wall street Journal to Dr Dobb's Journal orgasm.
0. I will short apple stock next year... Wall Street will be overrun by people running from Google and Toyota and Cable companies and will be pouring money into Apple. By Xmas next year, Apple will have nowhere to go but down.
I understand your perspective, but stock prices are partially controlled by what ANALYSTS think. They don't understand the technical merits of anything. Analysts assume that Microsoft will do well and Windows will continue to be a monopoly because they have done so in the past.
I think some misunderstood and thought I hate Apple. I do own Apple products and Apple stock. After all, I was only making predictions which analysts do everyday.
MidnightBSD: The BSD for Everyone
No problem Balmer. I had some extra time.
MidnightBSD: The BSD for Everyone
http://wsu.edu/~brians/errors/regards.html - Patentmat
Apple will come with a desktop that uses DESKTOP parts and lets you use your own monitor with a good video card.
Particularly because I agree with most of them. Especially the need for a mid tower mac.
I just can't get why they ignore what is essentially the biggest chunk of the market. As a would be switcher this is what I want. I want a screen less machine between the mini and the pro, using normal sized components and not laptop ones.
2. Public transit - Lots of people ride the bus for an hour or two every morning even in the largest American cities. More in other countries with decent public and mass transit.
3. Gym - Lots of people spend several times a week running in place for an hour and would rather watch what they want to than what the gym management wants to.
4. for photos - When on vacation, or a photoshoot, photos can be downloaded and still viewed to an effectivly weightless iPod on the go rather than a large 10 pound laptop that requires more space than you camera
5. Riding in somebody else car for long periods of time - It gets boring riding in a car fo r several hours, especially if you're not in the front seat with the driver
6. Lighter and smaller than a laptop
7. It's not a TV, it allows you to watch what you want, not what others want you to watch.
It was 1 & 4 plus a trip to Tokyo for me. I was very happy that I was able to watch the TV shows I wanted to watch (Lost & BSG) rather than the crappy movie they played. It allowed me to take photos all day long without making me tote along my laptop or run back to the hotel to download pics from my camera, while costing less than the extra CF cards that I would have required to shoot all day long without having to download. 3 came later but I am very glad I'll never have to watch episode of Friends ever again and would be enough of a reason to buy a new one if my current one broke.
I'd rather have the picture in my wallet, tbh. Least then I can still see it if my iPod is out of battery...
By summer it was all gone...now shesmovedon. --
The way I see it, Apple are pretty cosy with Parallels. Parallels 'coherence' is pretty slick and moving very quickly in each beta to the point that I now have an 'IE7' icon on my dock and for all intents and piurposes it's a native app. (BTW, I only need IE for testing and troubleshotting when an end user is on it, I'm a Safari user in the main :)
There can't be much work required for Apple to actually include it and hide the 'third party-ness'. At the very least, they could just bundle it. Parallels Inc. has already done all the 'prohibitive R&D' to make it work.
Only big ligs use sigs.
Why the fuck would Microsoft Office be released for MAC when its OWNED BY MICROSOFT?
Why the fuck would Microsoft Messenger be released for MAC when its OWNED BY MICROSOFT?
Because MS is a conficted monopoly? Actually at one tyme MS got good sales from Mac software.
FalconShould there be a Law?
grave.
They may now that they've switched. However the big reason Apple switched to Intels is because IBM and Freescale didn't release any G5s that could be placed in Powerbooks and iBooks, laptops. Instead of spend money on researching how to lower power requirements and therefore heat generated by G5s they decided to develop cpus for game consols. After Apple released G5s, I spent more than two years for them to release a G5 laptop constantly haunting Apple stores.
They're all running identical hardware, regardless of the brand name sticker on the casing, so why not push your customers into using the same OS used by the majority to cut development costs?
Because Mac users want to run the MacOS, OSX now. They don't want to run, or only occassionally want to run, Windows. I am a Windows user, I'm typing this on an HP PC running Windows ME which has been my main system for more than 6 years. At some point I may, just may, get Windows 2000 but if at all possible I will never ever get XP, Vista, or any other MS OS unless MS gets rid of Activation and WGA. If not for Apple I would switch to Linux compleatly, I've recently got a Linux box but I plan on getting a Macbook Pro.
Remember, Apple is a hardware manufacturer first and software developer second. If it takes selling Windows pre-installed to move Macs out the door... they will do it.
Apple is both a hardware AND a software business. While I can see Apple selling Macs with Windows preinstalled I can not see them getting rid of the Mac OS, instead these computers would be dualboot or Windows running in a VM. I may be wrong but I can't see what you suggest as coming to pass. There's the "be different" thing as well as not being another "Dell".
FalconShould there be a Law?
If Apple released OS-X for commodity PC hardware and competed againts MS, then I'd start caring. Or, if they allowed Mac clones, I'd start caring. Othwerwise, they can tank and I won't shed a tear.
The fact that they don't do either of those things is the reason Apple hasn't tanked yet. Say it with me: "Apple is a hardware company."
Apple didn't do it with OSX, but they did it with MacOS 9. This was after Jobs left and was at Next. When Apple finally brought Jobs back he stopped licensing MacOS to OEMs. He pointed out that Apple was loosing more from lost hardware sales than they were making from licenses.
FalconShould there be a Law?
you know, i'm surprised i'm not hearing more about this. i bought a portable computer to be just that -- portable. so apple nixed the 12" powerbook and forced the line to the 15" -- i am now holding onto my 12" PB with a deathgrip until apple (hopefully) gets a clue and comes out with a 12" MB pro.
does anyone have a clue why they supersized their whole laptop line? the only two things i can think of are 1) their market research suggested that people want bigger or 2) they need the space to squeeze in the extra processing/gadgets.
Until a couple of hours ago I didn't know Apple got rid of the 12" Macbook. I only saw it after visiting the Apple store online when I was told they dropped it.
to 1) i suppose i understand. i guess. no. no i don't. i thought the trend was smaller and lighter...
Me, I want a bigger, larger screen mostly, laptop. I'm not concerned about a laptop being too heavy.
to 2) i can say, give me less processing and gadgets. the small size and weight of a laptop are the biggest selling points for me.
Me, I want something I can carry with processing Power, a Larger screen, a Large hdd that's fast, and a big enough battery to power it all for hours. ie I want a desktop replacement I can take with me.
Now I realize many won't and don't ask for the same thing I do, many are like you and want something small which is why it supprized me that Apple dropped the 12" Macbook and/or don't have a smaller one.
also, what's with the glossy screens? after going through years of those shields to go over your monitor to cut glare, and other check-out lane solutions to the glare problem, the new trend is *GLOSSY* screens? OMGWTF?!?!?!
I was wondering about the new glossy screens myself. I looked at one in a store and I liked the rendition of the graphics however I wasn't able to see how well one looks in sunlight. At first I was thinking of getting a MBP with the flat or dull screen but after looking at a glossy one I decided that when I get a MBP it will have a glossy screen. In this I'm glad they give you a choice.
FalconShould there be a Law?
Based on Apple's advertising strategy, I think they're leaving the business & office suites to the suits in Redmond. If they really wanted to push an alternative to MS's Office monopoly, perhaps they should invest in OpenOffice.org (if that isn't a little too much like hopping in bed with Sun).
My, my, this sounds like an article I read a year or two ago in a business magazine, maybe "Forbes" or "Fortune". In the article the writer suggested Apple, Sun, and Redhat merge. I wish I could easily find it as I don't recall his logic but it seemed pretty reasonable. Of course expecting businesses to act reasonable is utterly...
FalconShould there be a Law?
Hey, that's great if you strap a CD player or laptop to your body when you go jogging.
Yes, when I go running, bike riding, or rollerblading I listen to a cd or tape player. I have an old cd Walkman and an even older cassette tape Walkman. I don't have anything newer, ie I don't have an iPod or any mpg player. I don't even listen to music on my PC, when I listen to music I either listen to my stereo or a radio, but I've been thinking about getting a turntable and/or a reel-to-reel tape deck. The only reason I've just been thinking about it instead of actually buying them is because I am neither independently wealthy nor do I work, I am on disability. Even if I were wealthy though I don't think I would get an iPod or other mpg player.
FalconShould there be a Law?
Given the overwhelming success of the Wii, Apple will finally see the huge mistake it has made in abandoning the PowerPC platform and return with a massively powerful G6 processor. You heard it here first.
Foo
I see the fanboy mods are out in force again.
I like Apple products. I own two of them myself. The advertising slogan is true - it Just Works. But the fact remains that their hardware is fucking overpriced, especially for the Mac Pro tower box. THAT is why they're so keen to keep OS X from running on any other hardware, they'd lose their monopoly.
Don't forget, AAPL is a member of the Business Software Alliance. And it looks like their megalomanic CEO Jobs was recently caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Apple has flatly and repeatedly stated that there will be no Windows virtualization integrated into Leopard. That the author of this article thinks that Parallels will acquire new status as anything other than a standalone, third-party product just makes him look uninformed.
Everybody knows the new Apple Tablet PC will be like the Itab with an ipod dial and accelerometer keyboard, but will it have a dvdrw?
xMac Tablet - $1,000 - $2,000 display - touch sensitive, sunlight readable, rugged, waterproof Wi-Fi - for networking, cloud, terminal mode with base station at distance Bluetooth - for earphones, mouse, keyboard, microphone, joystick, remote Optical data jack - earphones high quality, mic high quality, Optical Network jack - for connecting at high speeds to the base station Battery - 6hr runtime in the dark, induction recharge, solar skin recharge, 16 hr full use in sunlight, 8 hr full use office light, ? light use, 20 yr battery Speaker - for alerts when no headphones plugged in Microphone - for audio input with no mic plugged in Camera input - for use as camera, video conferencing/iChat, scanner, OCR Status LED - Charging (yellow), Charged (green), Sleeping (slow blink white), Dimmed (white) GPS Real World Rugged Notebook - clips onto tablet and can be used attached or separate - $500 - $1,000 Keyboard Trackpad Stereo speakers Storage draw for ipod, headphones, mic, money, etc Battery with features like Tablets and also has plug into wall outlet or automotive 12v for power HD 250GB - option DVD-R/CD-R drive - option Full complement of I/O ports: FaxVoiceModem, DVI, Ethernet, FW, USB, Headset, Microphone, S-Video I/O Not necessarilly fully Real World Rugged due to optical drive opening, I/O ports, speakers, etc. Desktop unit - sits on or under desk, keyboard and mouse on desk, can use tablet as display or another display and tablet integrates as part of system iPal and Tablet connect to and unify with Desktop unit iPal - Palm sized tablet Macintosh - same as tablet but smaller and less powerful - $500 3x5 touch screen runs MacOS full enough to run all but the most demanding software (not what???) Slower than other Macs of course Music, Videos, WiFi connected, VOIP/Cell/Radio phone, Camera Scanner GPS Real World Rugged