Macworld 2009 Predictions

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Since the covenants of Mac blogging include making Macworld predictions (likely for the last time ever), I’m going to join every other Mac blog and make my predictions too. The following are my own predictions of what the Phil-note will contain and the likelihood of it happening.

Very Likely

  • Snow Leopard Preview – There is no doubt the words “Grand Central” and “Open CL” will be mentioned a few times.
  • Mac Mini – I’m not sure if it’s a complete abandonment of the product or a design update, but something will happen with the Mac Mini. If it’s updated, I would expect a price drop too. $599 is still high for many computer users.
  • iMac Update – A design change is pretty unlikely, but expect better processors and other hardware improvements.
  • 17″ MacBook Pro Update – The Macbook and 15″ MacBook Pro were both updated in late 2008. It’s time the 17″ MacBook Pro got the unibody treatment.

Likely

  • iPhone Software Update – Perhaps copy/paste will make an appearance?
  • iLife Update – iLife was largely ignored in 2008. The creative suite is often seen as one advantage of buying a Mac vs a PC. Apple needs to restore some of the luster to their Mac creative suite.

Not Very Likely

  • Apple TV – I’d love to see the product move forward somehow. SDK, third party hardware certification, something else? But please, please don’t kill it Apple!

The Detriot Lions Winning the Super Bowl Next Year Likely

  • Netbook – Not now, but maybe before the end of 2010. With the current economic conditions however, a Netbook would do more for Apple’s bottom line in 2009 than in 2010.

Those are my Macworld 2009 predictions. I have no inside knowledge of Apple release schedules or product development, so these are just my gut feelings combined with a little bit common sense. I’d love for there to be a whiz bang “one more thing”, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

Steve To Everyone: I’m Fine, Now Leave Me Alone

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Apple and Steve Jobs released a letter today, detailing for the first time the medical issue Steve has been suffering from this past year.

Fortunately, after further testing, my doctors think they have found the cause—a hormone imbalance that has been “robbing” me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.

As you would expect (at least for Apple, Inc), Apple (AAPL) is up over 5% as I type this post. At the very least, this has given Apple investors a boost of confidence.

I wish Steve a speedy recovery!

Update 1/5/2009 @ 14:38 EST: Apple also released a statement by the Board of Directors.

Last Minute Christmas Gifts For The Mac Lover In Your Life

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For those of you that celebrate Christmas, or other holidays this time of year, you might be looking for some last minute gift ideas. Here are a few last minute gift ideas based on things I personally recommend based on my experience with these products (unless otherwise noted). Hopefully I’ve given ideas based on the Mac users in your life.

The Cord-Phobia

Wireless Mighty Mouse – Great for both the office and the travel bag.

Apple Wireless Keyboard – Sleek and functional. No keypad, but it’s not an issue for me.

The Traveler

Belkin Mini Surge Protector/USB Charger – I haven’t used this particular product, but I’ve wished for something like it several times. Next time I travel, I’m probably going to get one.

Incase Neoprene Sleeve for MBP – For both my MB and MBP, this was the first thing I bought. Incase has sleeves available for the MBP, MBA, and MB.

The Long Commuter

Griffin iTrip Auto with SmartScan – Easy to use and good sound quality. Perfect for anyone who wants to listen to their iPod in the car. Very good return policy as well.

The Cook

MacGourmet – Excellent recipe management software for Mac. A iPhone/iPod touch companion application is currently in beta. Website importer and Clippings make recipe entry painless.

The Movie Buff

MacHEADS – A “documentary about fanaticism and unconditional devotion to a corporate brand”. You can view a trailer of the movie here. I haven’t seen this, but it looks both informative and entertaining. The DVD is coming soon.

Welcome to Macintosh – “The documentary for the rest of us.” Like the above, I haven’t seen this but it looks very good. Here is the movie trailer. The DVD costs $19.84.

The Photo/Video Junkie

Drobo – Easy, expandable, data security in one simple to use device. I don’t have one, but I sure do want one!

The Hard Drive Up-grader

OWC Mercury On-The-Go – Perfect to turn your old laptop hard drive into an external drive. It’s very easy to install your old drive into the enclosure.

The Runner

Nike + – It got me back into running after several years off due to an injury. Some have reported inaccuracies over long distances, but I’ve never had a problem on short runs.

The iTunes Lover

Apple TV 40GB – My wife and I use the Apple TV almost daily. So very simple to use. I really can’t recommend this product enough.

XtremeMac XtremeHD HDMI to HDMI Cable – I have two of their other cables and they have worked flawlessly. The cables are also reasonably priced. If you get the Apple TV, you’ll likely need this too.

Anyone

iPhone – What else needs to be said? By far my most favorite electronic gadget I’ve bought in recent memory.

These are all products I can highly recommend. I’ve linked to Amazon on many of the products mentioned. There is still time to get them by December 24th using Amazon’s two day shipping option (3PM PST deadline). Happy holidays to all!

Apple Black Friday Deals

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Tomorrow (November 28th) is probably the busiest shopping day of the year. Retailers look forward to the beginning of the holiday shopping season, and that season begins tomorrow with Black Friday.

Like every other retailer, Apple will be offering some deals tomorrow. Since it’s already Friday in Australia, TUAW is reporting that the best offer in the Australian online store is a discount on the new unibody Macbook. It’s likely Apple will run the same deals across all countries they do business in.

The discounts in the AU store include:

  • Macbook
  • iMac
  • 8GB Nano
  • iPod Classic
  • 8GB iPod touch
  • Apple TV
  • Time Capsule
  • iPod and iPhone cases
  • Other Mac accessories

If you need to shop for the Apple fan in your life this holiday season, tomorrow is likely the best day to do so!

Update 11/28/08: Here’s the link for the Black Friday deals page on the US Apple website.  Just replace the two character country code with your country to see the deals listed for your country.

Steve Jobs The Early Years

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Diana Walker’s book, The Bigger Picture, gives you a glimpse into the lives of some of the most famous people in the world. Featured in her book among others are President Reagan, John Travolta, Mikhail Gorbachev, Princess Diana, and our favorite CEO, Steve Jobs.

You can get a glimpse of Steve’s life back in 1982 with this picture. The Bigger Picture is available for $40 and features 200 color and black & white photos.

From Doctor To Apple Blogger

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If you follow the Apple rumor mill, no doubt that you’ve visited MacRumors. I don’t usually pay too much attention to Apple rumors, but I know a lot of people do. If you’re interested in the man behind MacRumors, the NY Times has a great article about him. Arnold Kim has been running MacRumors for eight years and recently stopped practicing medicine to run MacRumors full time. Head on over to the NT Times to read the rest of the article. Congratulations to Kim for being able to blog full time!

Cupertino, We Have A Problem

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What a day it has been for iPhone owners new and old across the United States. At 8AM in each time zone across the United States, the iPhone 3G was in the hands of Apple fans. And for some of them, the phone actually made calls. For countless others however, they left AT&T or Apple stores with an expensive paper weight.

Unless you’ve been underground for much of the day today, I’m sure you heard that Apple and AT&T had some “issues” with iPhone activations. In fact, that story is the headline story on CNN.com as I type this.

In addition to the activations by those buying the new iPhone 3G, anyone updating the 1st generation phone to iPhone 2.0 Software also had to reactivate their phone as part of the upgrade process. Can you guess the approximate time that the iPhone 2.0 Software was officially released? Yep, about 8AM EDT. But wouldn’t that make 6 million iPhone available for updating at the same time the entire East Coast was beginning their iPhone purchases? Why yes it would.

As you might have guessed, Apple ran into some problems. In fact, my iPhone experience went something like this:

9:15AM – “Oh, software 2.0 is out, I can update my 1st Gen iPhone now”.
9:45AM – “Sweet, iPhone 2.0 installed”
9:50AM – “This sure is taking a while”
9:55AM – we could not complete your iTunes Store request – error -9838; “That can’t be good”
9:56AM – “Crap, I can’t even use my phone!”
10:10AM – Ok, mass iPhone activation problems at home and at AT&T and Apple stores
1:15PM – “I should try again”
1:45PM – “OK, I’m giving up until I hear for sure that someone has actually gotten their phone activated”
4:15PM – “Zonks, my iPhone is activated and restoring from backup!”

So all total, about 7 hours of having an iBrick. I guess it could have been worse right? Not sure how but….ok, time for bed.