andrewlayton
Jan 11, 2007, 11:56 PM
TOPIC ONE: WHERE ARE ALL OF THE ANNOUCEMENTS?
>This lack of annoucements happened for five reasons.
1) Investors WANTED the iPhone yesterday, not Leopard. After all, what is going to make more money for the company, the much-hyped phone, or yet another incarnation of an already superior OS? The iPhone represents an unlimited sales territory that can potentially hundreds of millions of dollars worth of top-line sales to Apple and Cingular. If Apple did not release/announce the phone, shares would tank, and the public would find out anyway through the FCC approval or some other means. Plus, you saw how long that iPhone demo took, imagine just briefly demoing the highlights of Leopard, iLife, iWork, and whatever else.
2) It's CES PEOPLE! Vista is launching, and it has taken the micro's many years to get to this point. No matter how lacking Vista is, the fact is most of the world uses Windows, and is going to be paying attention to its grand roll-out. People will not be interested in OS X until after January 30, when they realize Vista is still a load of crap.
3) Why not steal Vista's thunder...later? Vista's release isn't till Jan. 30, and a PR push for Leopard right around/shortly after that time would be perfect. Like I said before, Vista is getting its obligatory spotlight at this moment.
4) The products are not ready yet! Based on the reports/progress ive read/seen, there is still a bit of work to be done before Leopard is ready. Remember, 10.5.1 needs to be a hell of alot better than Tiger was in order to get the switchers. Tiger crashed my powerbook for one week upon first install. If people are having trouble with Vista, or upgrading their computer to that fabled Shangri-la, and Leopard is just one Safari ride full of mosquitos, what fun is that?
5) They're releasing later this year! - In the Keynote, Steve told the crowd that he had quite a few announcements planned for 2007 that we'd enjoy, so what's the problem?
TOPIC TWO: I SAVED UP MONEY, BUT NOW HAVE NOTHING TO BUY!
I was planning to go down to Knoxville and buy iLife and iWork myself this weekend, but so what if it's a little longer. Same goes with the WS iPod. I was quite happy when they said they were releasing it, and was pissed as hell when the did not. But do you think they don't know that? I think we'll see the WS iPod, along with all of the other iPod refreshes, around the time we see the next gen Zunes.
Besides, it just does not make since from a sales point to release something that revolutionary right now. Retail sales are going to suck for the next few months, and putting something like that on the market at this moment makes no financial sense for the company. It's way too soon after the holiday quarter where the current iPod is still the #1 player. So how are they going to make money from the 16 million new iPod owners? Apple knows they have a killer mp3 player on their hands, but they'll hold this in their back pocket until they really need it. I agree with the various posters, an October launch seems more reasonable, although i'd still buy it today.
Plus, Like with Vista, they'll let Microsoft show their hand first, and simply one-up them. After all, the iPhone has "over 200 patents, that we intent to protect". So no matter how hard the Zune tries, it can never be as cool.
TOPIC THREE: THE NAME CHANGE.
It is fitting that Apple changed their name on Tuesday. They make iPods now, they make displays now, they make wireless routers now, along with $100 italian leather iPod cases that have since been discontinued and sold for $25 at my local Best Buy. Apple is more fitting, and represents a company with limitless possibilities. Apple Computer is chock-full of limits. Honestly, do you really think we aren't going to get some kick ass Mac's this year?
>This lack of annoucements happened for five reasons.
1) Investors WANTED the iPhone yesterday, not Leopard. After all, what is going to make more money for the company, the much-hyped phone, or yet another incarnation of an already superior OS? The iPhone represents an unlimited sales territory that can potentially hundreds of millions of dollars worth of top-line sales to Apple and Cingular. If Apple did not release/announce the phone, shares would tank, and the public would find out anyway through the FCC approval or some other means. Plus, you saw how long that iPhone demo took, imagine just briefly demoing the highlights of Leopard, iLife, iWork, and whatever else.
2) It's CES PEOPLE! Vista is launching, and it has taken the micro's many years to get to this point. No matter how lacking Vista is, the fact is most of the world uses Windows, and is going to be paying attention to its grand roll-out. People will not be interested in OS X until after January 30, when they realize Vista is still a load of crap.
3) Why not steal Vista's thunder...later? Vista's release isn't till Jan. 30, and a PR push for Leopard right around/shortly after that time would be perfect. Like I said before, Vista is getting its obligatory spotlight at this moment.
4) The products are not ready yet! Based on the reports/progress ive read/seen, there is still a bit of work to be done before Leopard is ready. Remember, 10.5.1 needs to be a hell of alot better than Tiger was in order to get the switchers. Tiger crashed my powerbook for one week upon first install. If people are having trouble with Vista, or upgrading their computer to that fabled Shangri-la, and Leopard is just one Safari ride full of mosquitos, what fun is that?
5) They're releasing later this year! - In the Keynote, Steve told the crowd that he had quite a few announcements planned for 2007 that we'd enjoy, so what's the problem?
TOPIC TWO: I SAVED UP MONEY, BUT NOW HAVE NOTHING TO BUY!
I was planning to go down to Knoxville and buy iLife and iWork myself this weekend, but so what if it's a little longer. Same goes with the WS iPod. I was quite happy when they said they were releasing it, and was pissed as hell when the did not. But do you think they don't know that? I think we'll see the WS iPod, along with all of the other iPod refreshes, around the time we see the next gen Zunes.
Besides, it just does not make since from a sales point to release something that revolutionary right now. Retail sales are going to suck for the next few months, and putting something like that on the market at this moment makes no financial sense for the company. It's way too soon after the holiday quarter where the current iPod is still the #1 player. So how are they going to make money from the 16 million new iPod owners? Apple knows they have a killer mp3 player on their hands, but they'll hold this in their back pocket until they really need it. I agree with the various posters, an October launch seems more reasonable, although i'd still buy it today.
Plus, Like with Vista, they'll let Microsoft show their hand first, and simply one-up them. After all, the iPhone has "over 200 patents, that we intent to protect". So no matter how hard the Zune tries, it can never be as cool.
TOPIC THREE: THE NAME CHANGE.
It is fitting that Apple changed their name on Tuesday. They make iPods now, they make displays now, they make wireless routers now, along with $100 italian leather iPod cases that have since been discontinued and sold for $25 at my local Best Buy. Apple is more fitting, and represents a company with limitless possibilities. Apple Computer is chock-full of limits. Honestly, do you really think we aren't going to get some kick ass Mac's this year?
