Macbook Meh, &c.
This is my obligatory Apple fanboy Macworld opinion post. Deluded advocates of other, lesser computer and consumer electronics manufacturers should avert their gaze now.
13 months ago the prospect of the MacBook Air would have persuaded me to completely switch to Apple sooner than I did, but it’s really not that small compared to my MacBook Pro, so I actually don’t feel that I would have benefited by waiting for it. The specs are a bit weedy in absolute terms, although it is reasonably impressive that they’ve fitted all that stuff into such a thin, light chassis. Overall, for me it’s too little, too late.
No mention of an iPhone SDK yet, either, which is another disappointment. I’m pretty sure I don’t want a JesusPhone anyway, but I know I don’t if I can’t do anything more than code web pages for it without voiding the warranty.
iTunes movie rentals won’t be available in the UK until 2015 or so, and my 7-miles-from-the-exchange DSL connection rules out switching to digital downloads, so that news is boring. Same goes for the Apple TV, which is still a solution looking for a problem.
As usual, it’s a bit disappointing after all the rumours and speculation. There was one interesting new gizmo to cheer me up, though: Time Capsule looks like it could well be completely and utterly brilliant. If they added a DSL modem option it would be The One Convergence Network And Backup Device To Rule Them All. Even as it stands, I definitely want one. (subject to some believable reviews telling me that it’s not got some horrible bugs or privacy-destroying “feature” of some sort).