Macworld Whirls Sans Apple
by Tony Reveaux
iPad Panelists Ted Landau and Ryan Block admire Andy Ihnatko's mock-up iPad. photo iPad panel Macworld MagazineWhat's so good about Macworld? Aside from being one of the most user-friendly trade shows ever, it always provides a fast-forward view of the means of making and experiencing media. Regardless of whether you use a Mac or a PC, time and time again, it's Apple that poked its finger into the future.
The Macintosh, first introduced in 1984, brought us the graphical user interface, later copied by Microsoft's Windows, and the 3.5 inch "floppy" disk (in point of fact, it was not bendable). Then Mac was the first to leave disks behind for optical media, and its editing program, Final Cut Pro, made editing easy and scalable from suite to laptop.
At CineSource, we have been reporting on the steady progression from the world of film and tape to digital and on to HD. Now the playing fields for media planning, production and distribution are exploding in all directions. From the Internet to Netflix and pay per view, streaming and smartphones, the moving image document you produce may multiply, re-form and appear in different micro-venues. As Apple has been the igniter and driver for many of these directions, we eagerly awaited at San Francisco's Moscone Center last January to report on the latest techno news.
Steveless at Macworld
Whoa, hold the iPhone - Apple didn't show! The company did not apply as an exhibitor to IDG World Expo's Macworld. There was no huge theater with nonstop presentation demos, nor the rows and rows of hands-on Mac set-ups of every model and application. Most missed was the always dramatic keynote by CEO Steve Jobs. On stage he would reveal freshly hatched products with "One more thing...," a rabbit-out-of-the-hat new concept which could change the industry.
So what's the beef? Apple soured on shows because it had successfully developed its own year-round alternate marketing and customer contact and service interface with the Apple Stores. Jobs opened the first store in Virginia in 2001. Considered a risky experiment, they carried the company's hope that the shops might at least break even. The number of stores skyrocketed as they caught on with their accessible energetic creativity.
You may recall long ago when Microsoft opened a pilot company store in SF's Sony Metreon. Exuding the lively charm of a stationer's supply room, it didn't last a year. Now with 286 Apple Stores worldwide, Cupertino's experiment has blossomed into a profit center. Apple has claimed the #5 spot in 2009 technology sales, both online and in brick and mortar stores, according to NPD's Consumer Tracking Service report.
The Tribe, United, Rocks the Hall
2010 was a smaller Expo with about 300 vendors in Moscone's North Hall, but more than 30,000 attendees jammed the aisles, workshops and conference programs. The general consensus of the vendors was positive relief with the notably good traffic - indeed, they did better without the giant magnet of the Apple booth pulling away the crowd. I've been to every Macworld held here, and a cheery constant has been the seriously enthusiastic, multi-generational multitude of Mac users: people who personalize the work that they do. A throbbing, swirling social network, they were just as full of steam as when Apple was there. In a Mac trends panel on the floor, the wrap-up question was asked of the audience; "How many of you will come next year without Apple?" More than 80% of us raised our hands.
Like Big Features, computers have weathered the recession, and MAC 2010 was thronged. photo Macworld MagazineThe Launching iPad
Apple's new iPad had been announced at a press conference just before Macworld opened. Although it will not ship before the end of this month, its presence and promises were being discussed everywhere throughout the busy halls. Already, more than one vendor displayed cases and accessories for the new and potentially "break-out" product.
In fact, on the last day of the Expo, a special iPad preview panel was cobbled up for the fans. Andy Ihnatko, gdgt's Ryan Block, and Mac Observer's Ted Landau discussed the iPad with Macworld's Jason Snell and Dan Moren. In lieu of real iPads, the panelists waved around convincing mock-ups. But for the last two weeks, Apple had loaned them pre-production test units, so they spoke with the wonder and familiarity of hands-on touching and feeling. Here are some of the consensual comments that arose from this finger-fest.
They all agreed on the "rightness" of the feel of the iPad in your hands. The raised bezel works to hold a grip on the panel and keeps your fingers from sliding onto the active area as can happen with the iPhone. Its proportions were book/magazine friendly, and the lack of a longer dimension to accommodate wide-screen movies was seen as a practical trade-off. While the iPad may come on as a Kahuna of an iPhone, it quickly establishes its own identity. The 9.7" color screen was praised for enhanced readability, especially for comic books and magazines. The iPad is well positioned to support interactive graphic media.
While the panelists acknowledged the lack of a camera and multi-tasking, they agreed that there might be all kinds of surprise adds on the shipping version, because two months is two dog-years in development time. The new and more advanced iPhone OS is coming out at the same time, and the panelists expect that it will be a more powerful Phone/Pad enabler. The iPhone SDK 3.2 is already into the hands of developers.
The panelists had mixed impressions of reading a book on the iPad's iBook versus the Kindle, but conceded that it could be a tipping point and game changer for print the way that the iTunes Store was for the music industry. They concluded with jovial pleasure at their trial experiences, and looked forward to the iPad being their "One more thing..."
Flash in the Frying Pan
As to the lack of Flash capability on the iPad, Jobs was later quoted in a report that; "Flash is a CPU hog;" he went on to claim that the iPad, "would have a battery life of just 1.5 hours if Flash was enabled." Apple lists the iPad as providing "up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video or listening to music," running on the built-in 25Whr rechargeable lithium-polymer battery. Jobs also pegged Flash as "full of security holes" and "old technology," adding, "Whenever a Mac crashes, more often than not it's because of Flash. No one will be using Flash... The world is moving to HTML5." That could be just a hint that the beloved Flash may join the 3.5" floppy on the road to sayonara.
So, whence the iPad? It has all the electric aura accompanying previous Apple innovations which wildly surpassed their initial premises: the Apple Stores; the iPod with iTunes and the iTunes Store (now approaching its ten-billionth download); and the iPhone (which started with a handful of demo apps but generated a microindustry of 140,000 and counting). We'll just hang on for the ride! Posted on Mar 01, 2010 - 01:20 PM
by Tony Reveaux
iPad Panelists Ted Landau and Ryan Block admire Andy Ihnatko's mock-up iPad. photo iPad panel Macworld MagazineThe Macintosh, first introduced in 1984, brought us the graphical user interface, later copied by Microsoft's Windows, and the 3.5 inch "floppy" disk (in point of fact, it was not bendable). Then Mac was the first to leave disks behind for optical media, and its editing program, Final Cut Pro, made editing easy and scalable from suite to laptop.
At CineSource, we have been reporting on the steady progression from the world of film and tape to digital and on to HD. Now the playing fields for media planning, production and distribution are exploding in all directions. From the Internet to Netflix and pay per view, streaming and smartphones, the moving image document you produce may multiply, re-form and appear in different micro-venues. As Apple has been the igniter and driver for many of these directions, we eagerly awaited at San Francisco's Moscone Center last January to report on the latest techno news.
Steveless at Macworld
Whoa, hold the iPhone - Apple didn't show! The company did not apply as an exhibitor to IDG World Expo's Macworld. There was no huge theater with nonstop presentation demos, nor the rows and rows of hands-on Mac set-ups of every model and application. Most missed was the always dramatic keynote by CEO Steve Jobs. On stage he would reveal freshly hatched products with "One more thing...," a rabbit-out-of-the-hat new concept which could change the industry.
So what's the beef? Apple soured on shows because it had successfully developed its own year-round alternate marketing and customer contact and service interface with the Apple Stores. Jobs opened the first store in Virginia in 2001. Considered a risky experiment, they carried the company's hope that the shops might at least break even. The number of stores skyrocketed as they caught on with their accessible energetic creativity.
You may recall long ago when Microsoft opened a pilot company store in SF's Sony Metreon. Exuding the lively charm of a stationer's supply room, it didn't last a year. Now with 286 Apple Stores worldwide, Cupertino's experiment has blossomed into a profit center. Apple has claimed the #5 spot in 2009 technology sales, both online and in brick and mortar stores, according to NPD's Consumer Tracking Service report.
The Tribe, United, Rocks the Hall
2010 was a smaller Expo with about 300 vendors in Moscone's North Hall, but more than 30,000 attendees jammed the aisles, workshops and conference programs. The general consensus of the vendors was positive relief with the notably good traffic - indeed, they did better without the giant magnet of the Apple booth pulling away the crowd. I've been to every Macworld held here, and a cheery constant has been the seriously enthusiastic, multi-generational multitude of Mac users: people who personalize the work that they do. A throbbing, swirling social network, they were just as full of steam as when Apple was there. In a Mac trends panel on the floor, the wrap-up question was asked of the audience; "How many of you will come next year without Apple?" More than 80% of us raised our hands.
Like Big Features, computers have weathered the recession, and MAC 2010 was thronged. photo Macworld MagazineApple's new iPad had been announced at a press conference just before Macworld opened. Although it will not ship before the end of this month, its presence and promises were being discussed everywhere throughout the busy halls. Already, more than one vendor displayed cases and accessories for the new and potentially "break-out" product.
In fact, on the last day of the Expo, a special iPad preview panel was cobbled up for the fans. Andy Ihnatko, gdgt's Ryan Block, and Mac Observer's Ted Landau discussed the iPad with Macworld's Jason Snell and Dan Moren. In lieu of real iPads, the panelists waved around convincing mock-ups. But for the last two weeks, Apple had loaned them pre-production test units, so they spoke with the wonder and familiarity of hands-on touching and feeling. Here are some of the consensual comments that arose from this finger-fest.
They all agreed on the "rightness" of the feel of the iPad in your hands. The raised bezel works to hold a grip on the panel and keeps your fingers from sliding onto the active area as can happen with the iPhone. Its proportions were book/magazine friendly, and the lack of a longer dimension to accommodate wide-screen movies was seen as a practical trade-off. While the iPad may come on as a Kahuna of an iPhone, it quickly establishes its own identity. The 9.7" color screen was praised for enhanced readability, especially for comic books and magazines. The iPad is well positioned to support interactive graphic media.
While the panelists acknowledged the lack of a camera and multi-tasking, they agreed that there might be all kinds of surprise adds on the shipping version, because two months is two dog-years in development time. The new and more advanced iPhone OS is coming out at the same time, and the panelists expect that it will be a more powerful Phone/Pad enabler. The iPhone SDK 3.2 is already into the hands of developers.
The panelists had mixed impressions of reading a book on the iPad's iBook versus the Kindle, but conceded that it could be a tipping point and game changer for print the way that the iTunes Store was for the music industry. They concluded with jovial pleasure at their trial experiences, and looked forward to the iPad being their "One more thing..."
Flash in the Frying Pan
As to the lack of Flash capability on the iPad, Jobs was later quoted in a report that; "Flash is a CPU hog;" he went on to claim that the iPad, "would have a battery life of just 1.5 hours if Flash was enabled." Apple lists the iPad as providing "up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video or listening to music," running on the built-in 25Whr rechargeable lithium-polymer battery. Jobs also pegged Flash as "full of security holes" and "old technology," adding, "Whenever a Mac crashes, more often than not it's because of Flash. No one will be using Flash... The world is moving to HTML5." That could be just a hint that the beloved Flash may join the 3.5" floppy on the road to sayonara.
So, whence the iPad? It has all the electric aura accompanying previous Apple innovations which wildly surpassed their initial premises: the Apple Stores; the iPod with iTunes and the iTunes Store (now approaching its ten-billionth download); and the iPhone (which started with a handful of demo apps but generated a microindustry of 140,000 and counting). We'll just hang on for the ride! Posted on Mar 01, 2010 - 01:20 PM
