Apple TV

The Morning After (Macworld)

After digesting yesterday's Stevenote, I decided to go way back—all the way to Christmas day—and revisit my predictions for the big event. Now, I'm not one to toot my own horn; and certainly a lot of what I predicted was already being buzzed about by the usual suspects. However, I do have to say I called a really nice shot on the Apple TV, but more on that later. Here's a recap of my predictions and my morning after analyses:

Prediction: Ultra-portable Notebook: Everyone seems to think this is a foregone conclusion. I'll buy it, although I don't see the love affair with a 13" notebook. It's got to have something special about it to set it apart from the Mac Book.

Morning After: Even though me and everyone else were expecting this, I think a lot of people were stunned at how thin and beautiful it turned out to be. I am amazed at what the industrial design team at Apple was able to pull off. I said that it would have to be special to set itself apart from the MacBook and it certainly is, in my humble opinion. Score one for me, and just about everyone else on the planet.

Prediction: iTunes Movie Rentals: I can definitely see this happening, although I think it may be a part of something bigger...

Morning After: Like the MacBook Air, this was widely predicted by most everyone who keeps up with the Mac Universe. However, I alluded to something bigger and it turns out I was right. More below.

Prediction: Mac Pro Refresh: Those in the know say OS X 10.5.2 is very nearly ready and supports Intel's newest Xeon chips, which are currently only used by the Mac Pro and Xserve. Macworld is a consumer show, however, so I hesitate to think he'll spend much time talking about a decidedly professional product.

Morning After: My initial hang up with this rumor was that it wouldn't be presented during Macworld because it didn't make sense to announce professional products during a consumer show. It turns out I was right about that, too. Apple released updated Mac Pro and Xserve models, based on Intel's latest quad-core Xeon chips, several days before Macworld.

Prediction: iPhone Software 2.0: Some of the rumor sites have started to buzz about an iPhone hardware upgrade, but I'm as much or more convinced that Uncle Steve will hit us with a big software upgrade for our beloved iPhones. Despite all of its awesomeness, the iPhone still lacks some basic features that most all other phones possess. My gut says Steve unveils a major iPhone software update that will bring us among other things, video capture, MMS, copy and paste and the previously seen Notes syncing. One would also have to think that such an update would prepare the way for installation of the third party apps that will be coming once the iPhone SDK is released in February. I think SJ will use Macworld to tout the SDK and invite a few choice developers to show off the apps they've been working on with an advance release of said SDK.

Morning After: I was wrong on this one. I though the leaked firmware making the rounds over the last couple weeks were only a sliver of what we would get from Jobs at Macworld. In reality, the leaked firmware was exactly what was released yesterday—even a bit-for-bit copy according to Nate True. My guess is that we'll get another update in February to pave the way for third-party apps created with the forthcoming SDK.

Prediction: Apple TV: Some have already written the inscription on the Apple TV's tombstone, but I believe Steve has other plans. I believe something big will happen with Apple TV at Macworld, either in the form of a major software upgrade or a new hardware configuration or both. I can see iTunes movie rentals playing into this, but I think it would be much more than that. I think we're going to see some way(s) to get HD content from Apple and onto our TVs. I think we'll see improvements to media sharing with iTunes. I think we may even see some more integration with YouTube and possibly other content providers. I really think every attempt will be made to make the Apple TV relevant.

Morning After: I really nailed this one and most of what I saw from the blogosphere was a prediction of Steve holding a funeral for Apple TV. The only thing I didn't predict was a price drop, which should make it even more desirable. I called the major software update (Steve even went so far as to call it version 2). I was right about HD content. I was right about media sharing, with the ability to procure content directly from the device and sync it back to Macs or PCs. I was right about YouTube. I was right about other content providers (in this case, it a provider—Flickr). I predicted Steve would make every attempt to make the Apple TV relevant and I believe he did just that.

Overall, I didn't do a bad job, although I went with some fairly safe predictions. Save for Apple TV, every prediction was being thrown around by most, if not all, of the Mac rumormongers on the interwebs. Now, it's time for me, and all fellow Apple fanboys, to turn our attention to NAB and WWDC. Until then, I'll be praying for someone to buy me a MacBook Air

New Toy: Apple TV

I recently came in possession of an Apple TV. After spending a bit of time with it, I must say I'm impressed, although it's not perfect. Setup was a very simple and it works as advertised. I have only one gripe with the device. Each machine from which you sync or stream media is treated as a separate "source". This means that if one has media living in multiple iTunes libraries on multiple machines, they must switch between these sources every time they wish to view media from their respective machines. This is not ideal, in my mind, and I can't see a reason for it. All content across all computers should be aggregated into a single selection. This would make the Apple TV much more usable, in my opinion. Of course, Steve has already hinted at software updates to the devices, so maybe it's still possible at some future point in time. All in all, however, the device is great. I would recommend it to anyone that keeps a fair amount of content in iTunes.