My Speculations: Mac name and New Inventions
The Man said:
I thought, however, that the designation would go lower case like the iPods, but apparently Apple went with Pro. Somebody proposed that Apple use Express for consumer line, but I think it's not that catchy. Mac Express, MacBook Express. Some say use Home, but that's not right either, because what if it's used at school? No, Apple will keep it simple like the iPod
I don't think i'm feeling you on the "Mac" names for all the computers. The "i" is always fitting for the watered-down professional (iLife, iWork, iCal). iBook seems to be set to stay. "i" applications and hardware seem to already group themselves to be a made for home/educational/small business and budget conscious system. They can't give that up.
The Ambiguouity of the MacBook "Pro" is simply trying to go with the naming of "final cut PRO" or "soundtrack PRO" or "Logic PRO". Apple seems like they are trying to take the focus away from the CPU. It's a good selling point, because PCs users are going to compare speeds and not compare purely about practicality and productivity. So the name won't obtain the type of CPU. Question is there going to be a "MacBook Express"?
I say the Desktop line would probably leave the "Power" because for (1) it is kinda cheesy if your really think about it and (2) no more PowerPC. So we probably would see MacDesk Pro, MacStation Pro, or MacStudio Pro.
Plasma Screens and Home Entertainment. If this is true, I really think Apple is not going to use their Mac name, because it's not a Mac...literally. Technically it is, but it's not going to function as a computer (namely "mac"). Also i think they'll make it elegant enough so that it won't sport the "i" name.
A little tangent: Apple is always going to gear toward Media instead of Office Machines. Notice their "i" is basically their Office end covered (ilife, iwork, ical). They've taken Music as their basis. I'm thinking they are copying the MTV route. MTV was about the music, then music videos, which fed on to film entertainment, movies, and now it's about reality shows. So thinking "Media" and what's been done... it won't be too long until we see handheld iChat Live or PodChat, a Wifi/bluetooth iPod, .... etc. Long live Apple. Can't wait til the next product.