MacWorld 2008 Review - What wasn't there
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The biggest thing that people were hoping for or expecting was a new iPhone, but that didn't materialize. The main idea was a 3G iPhone which both the CEO of AT&T and Steve Jobs have mentioned. There is clearly a huge market for the iPhone; many iPhones have been bought and activated on other networks and are constantly being cracked for open networks. Opening up the available networks for iPhone would only help sales. But no 3G iPhone was released, though it looks like such a device is still on track for a 2008 launch.
The other device that was rumored to be released was a tablet Mac. These have been on the market for PCs for a few years, and have yet to really catch on as much as their makers have hoped. I think there is a market out there for them, but the technology isn't quite there yet. If anyone could pull it off, it would be Apple. I still wouldn't be surprised if we end up seeing a tablet from Apple either near the end of this year or early next year. (Perhaps the company is still gun shy because of the Newton? --Ed.)
Conclusion
We weren't short of good news from Apple at MacWorld 2008 this year. Time Capsule seems like a decent device; though the initial back up will take a long time to do, just updating your documents shouldn't take too long. Its size is great, but the (lack of) speed may kill this device.
Both the iPhone and iPod Touch get new applications, though the iPod Touch users will have to shell out an additional $20, which has people grumbling. Apple's online movie rental feels like it will flop, but with iTunes backing, it has a fighting chance.
Finally we saw the MacBook Air. This is an interesting device. It doesn't seem as if it is intended to be a main computer, but more of a second computer. I don't see this product having a long life at $1800 for the bare model and $3100 for the decked-out version. Still, MacWorld 2008 was exciting, and I think Apple has more great announcements and releases in store for this year.
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