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Yes, Apple rules — but… ho hum

Posted by Mathew @ 10:18 pm on January 10 2006 | |

I don’t want to add to my reputation as a wet blanket, and I would like to state for the record that I like Apple a lot — really. Their products are great, and I know that they dominate the digital music business and are raking in piles of cash, not to mention having really cool laptops and some great software. But I must admit that Steve Jobs’ big keynote speech at Macworld seemed a little, well… lacklustre.

I know that’s probably because I’m not a daily Apple user, and it’s also because I probably got a little too excited by reports from ThinkSecret.com and others that the company was going to announce a Mini-style DVR or an entertainment hub, or even a giant HDTV with a computer in it, and they didn’t. When you get all warmed up for faster-than-light drive, anything else seems like a letdown. Even the Tao of Mac wasn’t that impressed.

At the same time though, Apple didn’t really announce anything that knocked my socks off, and Russell Beattie seems to feel the same (although he’s a known turncoat who renounced Apple and went back to Microsoft). Yes, the new MacBook sounds pretty good — but not radically, insanely great. And the new iWeb software sounds good too, and so does the oPod remote, and the other stuff. But there was nothing really stand-up-and-shout-out-loud great. I guess selling a gazillion iPods and almost a billion songs is good enough.

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Mathew posted this article under Apple, Web2.0 on Tuesday, January 10th, 2006 at 10:18 pm. . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed, and you can also view Technorati Linkbacks or check for other responses using YackTrack.

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Discussion

Comments for “Yes, Apple rules — but… ho hum”

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Elea 2 years ago 1 point
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I thought I was the only one who felt a bit let down. After all, we already knew that Macs with Intel chips were going to come out, and many suspected that a laptop was in the works as well. I'm not too excited by the MacBook Pro. Maybe if it was more affordable for the average consumer? Also, was it really such a great marketing move to release a new IMac just months before? I work as a computer sales employee at a college bookstore, and now we've got ten IMacs in stock that people are probably not going to want anymore, thanks to the Intel-based ones that just came out.

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Mathew 2 years ago 1 point
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Thanks for the comment, Elea. Those are some good points.

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Stuart MacDonald 2 years ago 1 point
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You know what? I actually take a different view here. If they didn't have any big news, good on them not to spin some up. Yes, it's lousy that their big event was not loaded with apple-tastic hoop-dee-doo, but it's a rare company that will not succumb to the "BUT WE HAVE TO SAY SOMETHING" trap when faced with a media event in the offing.

It shows maturity.

-- Stuart

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Mathew 2 years ago 1 point
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I suppose that's a fair point, Stuart. But why didn't they have any big news :-)

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Stuart MacDonald 2 years ago 1 point
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"Game, Set and Match...Mr. Ingram"...(polite applause). ;-)

- Stuart

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http://www.stuartmacdonald.ca