Macworld San Francisco 2010 Best of Show and Day One Impressions

[blackpond]

That whole Steve Balmer monkey act by Pogue was painful to watch. I agree, it probably should have stayed on paper.

A good Steve Jobs impersonator with a decent script could have been an absolute riot. They could have hired the Super News team to write the dialog.

 

[theydonotmove]

I dont have an issue with any of those thoughts. My issue is connecting Levar Burton with all that you said. I mean if you wanted to go the star trek route have spock or some other more known character. I had no clue Lamar Burton was in Star Trek. He had a thing covering his eyes for goodness sake. and i still think this has more to do with his reading rainbow notoriety than star trek. many stoners are in love with the reading rainbow theme and opening credits. its quite a freaky few minutes of television.

you could be right. He might have been there more for the reading rainbow thing than star trek.

However Jordi LaForge was a very much beloved character on Star Trek, though not as much as Kirk, Picard, or whatever.

I think the bottom line was that Burton wasn't A-list enough to dismiss the gig, and not D-list enough to be looked over.

He was probably the most recognizable actor/character they could afford.

 

[NewSc2]

LeVar Burton is a self-professed Mac fanboy. I think that, along with his TNG and Reading Rainbow credits, give him quite a big boost. He also has something like 1.5 million Twitter followers.

 

[iOrlando]

you could be right. He might have been there more for the reading rainbow thing than star trek.

However Jordi LaForge was a very much beloved character on Star Trek, though not as much as Kirk, Picard, or whatever.

I think the bottom line was that Burton wasn't A-list enough to dismiss the gig, and not D-list enough to be looked over.

He was probably the most recognizable actor/character they could afford.

LeVar Burton is a self-professed Mac fanboy. I think that, along with his TNG and Reading Rainbow credits, give him quite a big boost. He also has something like 1.5 million Twitter followers.

i think both of these responses make the most sense and not the ones about star trek. I guess i would say he is D-list enough to be looked over, but considering who is in the audience, maybe he was more like C-list.

Is Woz there? He would be A-list star among those in attendance.

 

[Antares]

i think both of these responses make the most sense and not the ones about star trek. I guess i would say he is D-list enough to be looked over, but considering who is in the audience, maybe he was more like C-list.

Is Woz there? He would be A-list star among those in attendance.

If you think that LeVar Burton is D-list, you clearly have no interest or knowledge of Star Trek. If you did, you would realize that he is perfect for an Apple related event. As other's said, his Mac enthusiasm and role on TNG match up well with the spirit of Apple. It's okay if you don't understand this. However, a majority of the attendees probably would and do.

I wish that I would have been able to attend Macworld in the glory days of the show. I have the means now. However, as it currently stands, if I was in the area, I would attend. However, I would not be willing to make a special trip out there without an official Apple presence.

 

[Eric S.]

As someone who's relatively new to the Mac community and someone whose never attended a Macworld can someone fill me in as to why there's so much hostility towards the event on this forum? I see myself as an outsider looking in with no dog in this fight and can't help but notice this. I would think the Mac community would look forward to attending any event that had products related to the Mac regardless of if Apple attended or not.

Has there really been hostility directed at the conference? It seems to me it's more frustration at the fact that changes in the industry have relegated this once vital event to a status of near irrelevance. This is especially true among longtime Apple fans who were with MWSF through its glory days. Some may be upset at Apple for withdrawing from the conference but Apple is not the only major company no longer attending, and the reaction this year may only be confirmation that Apple's presence was merely propping up the status quo.

But I think that Apple's absence is only one of the factors in the decline of MWSF. The ubiquity of the web as a means for creating a community and distributing information, products, and updates instantly is another big factor. And also Apple used to actively promote "third-party opportunities" in both HW and SW, which gave both big and small companies incentive to develop a distinct Apple product space in the computer market. Steve Jobs' philosophy, though, has always tended toward closed systems where Apple controls all the major pieces and this, together with Apple's move to use industry-standard components in their systems, has gradually squeezed out a lot of the third-parties who were so big at MWSF.

And when you're talking about hostility in the Mac (er, Apple) world, well, just about any product, event, or rumor will quickly establish a line with groups on both sides who will argue passionately ad infinitum about the smallest details of whatever the question is.

 

[Trojita]

Geordi La Forge?

 

[scottness]

I liked David Pogue more... before the MacWorld clip.

 

[SFStateStudent]

LeVar Burton? Dang, I thought it was Gary Coleman w/o the wheelchair...

 

[Jaro65]

you guys really got up early!!!

come on, release the new macbook pro...

But isn't that happening tomorrow?

 

[theydonotmove]

Who said that?

I hope it's soon though. I got a Dell catalog in the mail today advertising it's new line of laptops using the new intel chips. If Apple doesn't update soon we might start seeing those laptop hunter adds again, this time the hunters will say things like "These apple laptops are still using core 2 duo processors... I'd rather have the latest technology."

Apple doesn't have to make a big stink... just do it already.

 

[doctoree]

Who said that?

I hope it's soon though. I got a Dell catalog in the mail today advertising it's new line of laptops using the new intel chips. If Apple doesn't update soon we might start seeing those laptop hunter adds again, this time the hunters will say things like "These apple laptops are still using core 2 duo processors... I'd rather have the latest technology."

Apple doesn't have to make a big stink... just do it already.

geeeez. The new cpus don't helpn when the software bogs down the user.

 

[theydonotmove]

geeeez. The new cpus don't helpn when the software bogs down the user.

That's true. But the average consumer isn't thinking about that.

 

[CalfCanuck]

I have been to every MacWorld since 1996 and this is tied for one of the worst ever. There were some bad shows in the beige days but this was exceptional in the lack of actual Mac content. The professional Mac user, like myself, has seen the useful content steadily decrease while consumer items increased.
Now it was really more of an iPhone flea market. Charging an entrance fee is like charging a fee to go to the mall.
It took me less than an hour to see everything there...twice.

Thanks - I'm sitting over in Oakland with a free exhibits pass, and was wondering if it would even be worth the roundtrip BART fare! Sounds like the answer is no...

 

[pgwalsh]

Music

In the second video showing off the Ten In One pen thingy, who was the artist for the background music? I liked the song, but live in a cave and have no clue about popular music.

 

[Derekuda]

macworld 2010 review

I attended the Macworld Expo today, and I have to say, that compared to last years extremely good show, this years expo was.....small. The expo hall was about half the size of last years show and I noticed a lot of vendors missing this year. Microsoft's booth was tiny compared to last year, a lot of the mac publication magazine companies were gone, Wacom was gone, Axiotron was gone, smith micro was gone. No apperances by google. No flashy lights or giant booths this year. A lot of the hardware vendors and A LOT of iphone app makers were missing as well. I was really surprised how many people pulled out. Hopefully the high attendence numbers from consumers, will lure some vendors back next year.

 

[scroto]

Wow, that was hard to watch, pogue was so lame I'm actually embarressed for him.

 

[3goldens]

So is this Pogo stylus going to work with iPad I wonder???

 

[awmazz]

Not the same without Steve...but I do agree with the way Apple is making announcements these days. Nobody would buy anything in the weeks leading up to a MacWorld.

They should have launched the iPad at MacWorld, like they did the iPhone/iPod Touch.

The relatively muted public reception of the iPad after its launch shows it's not possible to generate the iPhone-style hype for a single product by going with a solo launch. You need the 'atmosphere' which the iPhone had at its launch.

 

[alexiabambo]

New Macbook Pro release??? When???

Anybody knows when to expect a new macbook pro 13'? I want to buy one this week, should I wait or should I buy?? Please please help!

 

[arn]

They should have launched the iPad at MacWorld, like they did the iPhone/iPod Touch.

The relatively muted public reception of the iPad after its launch shows it's not possible to generate the iPhone-style hype for a single product by going with a solo launch. You need the 'atmosphere' which the iPhone had at its launch.

not sure what you are talking about. the iPad had as much if not more hype than the iPhone and was broadly covered in the media. If you're talking about whether or not people want one or not, that's an unrelated issue. Phones are more universally needed. Tablets are not yet proven to be. Launching at Macworld would'nt have changed that.

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2010/tc2010024_830227.htm

Based on an unscientific survey of newspapers archived by The Newseum, pictures of or stories about the [iPad] appeared on front pages in at least 47 states and the District of Columbia and no fewer than 24 countries on six continents—in places as varied as Bulgaria, Uruguay, Turkey, and Portugal.

arn

 

[awmazz]

not sure what you are talking about. the iPad had as much if not more hype than the iPhone and was broadly covered in the media. If you're talking about whether or not people want one or not, that's an unrelated issue.

I dispute that it was broadly covered in the media. Just the trade media mostly, not the general media. Ballmer's launch of those three PC slates got more general media coverage than the iPad launch has from what I've been able to see for myself. Apple dudded themselves by abandoning Macworld, more than they dudded Macworld.

Being covered in the media with question marks ie, 'yet another slate, this one from Apple, is it any different?', and crowds cheering at its launch as if it was the Second Coming are two totally different things. The iPad lacked the latter, which the iPhone had. This is directly related to whether or not people want one or not after the launch event.

What we had was months if not years of anticipation for this product just like with the iPhone, if not even more so, but as soon as the presentation was over, totally different reactions by the general public. The difference - iPad launched to a room full of media, iPhone launched to a room full of ooh'ing and aah'ing and cheering fans.

It's the difference between launching a new Harry Potter book to bookstores full of fans at midnight dressed up as Harry and Hermione, and launching it to a room full of people in the afternoon from the book business. I know which one they go with, and which one I see on my evening TV news reports the next day.

Like the Potter launches, half of the immediate media reports about the iPhone launch were about the launch itself, the crowds gasping and applauding in amazement at the product and its features. It raised the interest of the general public wanting to know what was so exciting about this new product. I don't see a single media report like that about the iPad launch.