One problem, would Apple include a phone number with your subscription?
Well, for $38/per year Skype gives you a number. Now that is in addition to the $25 you pay to be able to call non-skype users ($15 if you sign up now). So that's $63 per year for the phone number. Add $20 for Voicemail at it goes for $83 per year. Less than $7 per month. dotMac costs me $100 per year, and to tell you the truth I feel a little ripped off compared to what Google gives me for free. If dotMac threw in a similiar package, I think people would rush to get a dotMac account even if it was $120 a year.
Sure, you can get it cheaper elsewhere...even free over at WiFi TV. But people pay for things to be integrated into Os X.
I just dont see why Apple cant do this? or wouldnt?
According to Macrumors the latest Leopard build has an iChat with Voicemail, so that would be covered. I don't think it would add much to the cost of .Mac but maybe Apple can start doing more with .Mac... finally.
Maybe the .mac + Leopard update might include a built-in VoIP service for mac users that rivals offerings like Skype. The new Leapard release definitely is hinting at something approaching this.
.Mac membership includes the exact same service Skype is now pimping. Free .mac-to-.mac calling plus unlimited calling to outside lines for $100/year sounds like something that could flow from the company that brings us the Fair Play DRM.
Ties right into a dual mode mobile smart phone. I mean. Why not add the ability to call outside lines to a .mac iChat account?
First of all no cell phone cell phone company is go to let you use a phone on there network to use a VoIP service and if they do they may fore you to buy a Smart phone Data plan that costs a lot of then a non smart phone data plan
I can see apple not realeasing much during the keynote (ie iLife and iWork and one or two others), but what i think may happen is that we will have a series of special events over the first quater (maybe even half) of the year, constantly keeping apple in the news with cool new products. If they released everything in one go, they would have one massive media outage. Spreading it about a bit will keep them in the spotlight for longer, and more (good) publicity should mean more macs sold.
I agree with all of your other stuff, just not this one. This is a Mac gathering, and I think he will be focusing on just the Mac. What I think will happen is that his Leopard slot will fill up to be 30 minutes, instead of 15. After all, let's just rub into Microsoft's face how what they are doing is sooooo 2 years ago.
The new features will have to be things that will cause the home and corporate PC user to Zune in their drawers! Focus on simplicity, efficiency, greater PC compatibility... everything the PC user wishes they had. Many of them don't seem to be too impressed with appearance, more with extreme reliability, ease of use. Y'know, stuff we're used to.
Please give that cube thing a rest would you. The cube is dead. The Mini is faster than the cube was back then, so they wont make the Mini any bigger.
But it was/is a thing of beauty. Now, I certainly prefer the iMac G4 design for an integrated machine, but one of my G4^3s is doing fine right now with a 22" Cinema as a way to show my Japanese coded DVDs .
I still see the possiblilty of a digital iCamera - after all, they are going down that road as well.
I'm sure there will be a great many new features products, but no where near enough to keep folks satisfied.
- iPhone - better (hell if they don't come out with it soon, the other models will just keep improving, and there won't be room for the iPhone… can you say "Chocoale - in iPod colors
- Widescreen iPod - it's now or never. If they let the MS unit get much of a strong hold, it WILL hurt. Maybe only a little, bit it will hurt.
- Macbooks - thin, thick, tall, short, faster, slower… something, but again, some will be disappointed, but others will be very happy, and buy them
- Desktop… tough call, but I think so. A little something, but something
- Tablet… possible
- Software… a given, just what?
- .mac account info… yes, and it will be tied in with other annoucments
- iTv - of course
Botton line - MWSF is WAY to far away for many of us, myself included.
I just ordered a new Mac/intel 3.0 with a 30" monitor… so the rerst of you should wait, cuz that means Apple will be coing out with something "Kick-(my) Ass" (which is what I'll do - one more time for buying now)
I still see the possiblilty of a digital iCamera - after all, they are going down that road as well.
Random... but OK. Here is the thing, Apple can't have a product overload, so while it's possible they may eventually make "iCameras" in the future, I highly doubt this one and it DEFINITLY won't be at Macworld, 1) It's a Mac event and 2) Product Overload.
Quote:
I'm sure there will be a great many new features products, but no where near enough to keep folks satisfied.
Sadly you are about 100% accurate with this.
Quote:
- iPhone - better (hell if they don't come out with it soon, the other models will just keep improving, and there won't be room for the iPhone… can you say "Chocoale - in iPod colors
I highly doubt this one showing up at Macworld as well, but recent rumors seem to point to that, then again, those are just rumors. You didn't say much about this though and your posting of it makes no sense. You started to say something then you went into a Long side note and forgot to get back to it.
Quote:
- Widescreen iPod - it's now or never. If they let the MS unit get much of a strong hold, it WILL hurt. Maybe only a little, bit it will hurt.
Microsoft will not get much of a stronghold and I highly doubt Apple will brush them off like they did before (and lost all of their Personal Computer Marketshare at it) and outright murder the Zune. People are asking far too much in this thing though, Touch Screen/Bezel/Widescreen etc. Avoiding all of that, and maybe adding a Wider screen, here is a conservitive suggestion: a built in Camera for quick snapshots (and they wouldn't have to make an iCamera )
Quote:
- Macbooks - thin, thick, tall, short, faster, slower… something, but again, some will be disappointed, but others will be very happy, and buy them
- Desktop… tough call, but I think so. A little something, but something
- Tablet… possible
A New Macbook (Pro) is more likely then not and as for that "little something" (are you trying to avoid making a real prediction?) well look towards the Mac Mini. Apple's current Mac Lineup is fine the way it is, they just need to add Core 2 Duo and drop the price of the Mini. An updated Mac Pro could also be in the cards, but an updated Mac Mini is much more likely.
Quote:
- Software… a given, just what?
iLife 07 and iWork 07 for sure. .Mac maybe, and just for the hell of it, Aperture 2.0 (I'm not serious about that last one) and (hopefully, it wouldn't be a Mac without Mac OS X of course so...) Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.
Quote:
- iTv - of course
Didn't Steve say this was a sure thing? Or did he just say more details in the Spring because I'm pretty sure he said Macworld.... ???
Quote:
Botton line - MWSF is WAY to far away for many of us, myself included.
Agreed, I'm still waiting for Macworld so I can finally buy iWork (recently bought my Mac and avoided iWork just for this reason, but NeoOffice needs to be dropped from my Macs HDD and that likely won't happen until Office for Mac )
Quote:
Yes, this is my opinion.
You are entitled to it, but it's no fun if you don't make real predictions.
With all the talk of Apple getting into the corporate environment (thats a laugh...right now), I look for a "mid range" SFF unit suitable for such activities: a small, single core 2 duo box that is easily serviceable with upgradable everything, cheap and big desktop HDDs and desktop optical drives for about $1000
back to reality:
iTV: integration with iTunes/iPod and DVR, I expect a cable card slot and maybe some special divice for integration with Dish or Directv (maybe a cable card+propriatery external sat tuner)
iPod: NOTHING! they seem to get their own events, this is a MAC show
New/bumped laptops...maybe
bumped mac mini? or maybe a Mini+iTV hybrid?
TONS of time spilling the beans on Leopard
Also, if I may endulge in a WWDC prediction, I wouldn't be surprised if you see Apple announce something with Sun: NOT OOo related at first, but something to provide a reasonable alaby for their engineers to work together on an OOo and MS Office compatible Mac Based office suit using Pages and Keynote (mabe keynote as a presentation standard where one-version-old becomes open like PDF) Imagine iWork/ProWork 08; word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, everything...using Core Image, with an apple pro app interface and iLife integration...
If nothing else, Apple better have something on the shelf when MS stabs them in the back with Office...you know that the MBU is in existence for one reason: to keep the DoJ looking the other way while they FUD linux to death and beat su and bully the little software companies. The moment they feel safe (which is now, Bush being in power and the handcuffs of the mid-90s punishment being gone) they could royaly screw Mac-ers over...Apple needs a hedge to the Office:Mac bet.
- xserve raid express... case for hot swappable drives (SATA, SAS) for macs
- mac pro renamed to mac xstation. ... I always love the xstation name...
- intel quad core chips inside mac pro
- SAS drives into mac pros
- ipod and itunes stuff
- new displays with isight
- new versions of ProApps until NAB, maybe all final cut studio apps will use aperture UI. new shake will be out until end of '07 or 1st quarter of '08.
Alright, looking at Intel's lineup, I don't see a major notebook advance until Santa Rosa (a socket and chipset change) which looks like April release. So I don't see Jack Squat for any Macs except the Mac Pro at MWSF.
Obviously, the Mac Pro will have to go to octo-core in at least the top level. I could see a jump to a quad-2.66/quad-3.0/octo-2.66 setup, but the real question is whether we see cooler features like hardware RAID or SAS drives or SLI/Crossfire. I don't know if that'll fit at MWSF, just in terms of it not being a consumer device by any means.
iLife and iWork are all but assured of updates. The killer question is whether iWork tries to position itself as a competitor to MS Office. Given the loss of VBA in the Mac version of Office, and the fact that it's gonna be a while until we get converters for .docx, .xlsx, etc., I wouldn't be surprised if Apple called MS out on cheating on their deal. Add a Numbers and a Records to iWork, and with a better Pages 3 and Keynote, it's a good competitor.
Insofar as iPhone, Macbook Thin, and xMac go, I would expect only 2 of the 4 (including Mac Pro), since we're already seeing iTV and Leopard.
Alright, looking at Intel's lineup, I don't see a major notebook advance until Santa Rosa (a socket and chipset change) which looks like April release. So I don't see Jack Squat for any Macs except the Mac Pro at MWSF.
Obviously, the Mac Pro will have to go to octo-core in at least the top level. I could see a jump to a quad-2.66/quad-3.0/octo-2.66 setup, but the real question is whether we see cooler features like hardware RAID or SAS drives or SLI/Crossfire. I don't know if that'll fit at MWSF, just in terms of it not being a consumer device by any means.
iLife and iWork are all but assured of updates. The killer question is whether iWork tries to position itself as a competitor to MS Office. Given the loss of VBA in the Mac version of Office, and the fact that it's gonna be a while until we get converters for .docx, .xlsx, etc., I wouldn't be surprised if Apple called MS out on cheating on their deal. Add a Numbers and a Records to iWork, and with a better Pages 3 and Keynote, it's a good competitor.
Insofar as iPhone, Macbook Thin, and xMac go, I would expect only 2 of the 4 (including Mac Pro), since we're already seeing iTV and Leopard.
I actually am very concerned about software for our new Macs and certainly Apple going away from the MS Office world, especially considering how much superior the Mac version of Office has been to the PC one for years in most things, it would be a horror to lose easy integration and sharing. Anyone else out there in acadme who still gets papers submitted as .wps documents and not .doc files? Anyone care to complicate the process of conversion from .xls to anything else? It is tough enough to have to live in a world of .pdf files when you operate shared printers to imagine Adobe as the solution!
While I certainly wish iWork good luck and hope for innovations, just imagining the problems we will all have once CS is updated I do not want to have to weather that battle, so please keep those translators integrated and easy to use.
Comments
I love the idea
One problem, would Apple include a phone number with your subscription?
Well, for $38/per year Skype gives you a number. Now that is in addition to the $25 you pay to be able to call non-skype users ($15 if you sign up now). So that's $63 per year for the phone number. Add $20 for Voicemail at it goes for $83 per year. Less than $7 per month. dotMac costs me $100 per year, and to tell you the truth I feel a little ripped off compared to what Google gives me for free. If dotMac threw in a similiar package, I think people would rush to get a dotMac account even if it was $120 a year.
Sure, you can get it cheaper elsewhere...even free over at WiFi TV. But people pay for things to be integrated into Os X.
I just dont see why Apple cant do this? or wouldnt?
Sebastian
Maybe the .mac + Leopard update might include a built-in VoIP service for mac users that rivals offerings like Skype. The new Leapard release definitely is hinting at something approaching this.
http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/softw...ine-221661.php
.Mac membership includes the exact same service Skype is now pimping. Free .mac-to-.mac calling plus unlimited calling to outside lines for $100/year sounds like something that could flow from the company that brings us the Fair Play DRM.
Ties right into a dual mode mobile smart phone. I mean. Why not add the ability to call outside lines to a .mac iChat account?
First of all no cell phone cell phone company is go to let you use a phone on there network to use a VoIP service and if they do they may fore you to buy a Smart phone Data plan that costs a lot of then a non smart phone data plan
anyother rumors other than iPhone and iTV?
I would like to see MacBook Pro redesigned or with new features, its kinda of only CPU, GPU upgrades happening over the last 18 months ...
What about something new iMac?
MacBook Lite could be *real* surprise with sleek and good features...
Just three weeks away ...
anyother rumors other than iPhone and iTV?
I would like to see MacBook Pro redesigned or with new features, its kinda of only CPU, GPU upgrades happening over the last 18 months ...
What about something new iMac?
MacBook Lite could be *real* surprise with sleek and good features...
Other rumors, other than iPhone and iTV?
That's easy, new Apple keyboard design with built-in iPod dock, new Cinema displays, thinner, lighter, built-in iSight, IR etc. and Apple tablet.
stu
I agree with all of your other stuff, just not this one. This is a Mac gathering, and I think he will be focusing on just the Mac. What I think will happen is that his Leopard slot will fill up to be 30 minutes, instead of 15. After all, let's just rub into Microsoft's face how what they are doing is sooooo 2 years ago.
The new features will have to be things that will cause the home and corporate PC user to Zune in their drawers! Focus on simplicity, efficiency, greater PC compatibility... everything the PC user wishes they had. Many of them don't seem to be too impressed with appearance, more with extreme reliability, ease of use. Y'know, stuff we're used to.
Please give that cube thing a rest would you. The cube is dead. The Mini is faster than the cube was back then, so they wont make the Mini any bigger.
But it was/is a thing of beauty. Now, I certainly prefer the iMac G4 design for an integrated machine, but one of my G4^3s is doing fine right now with a 22" Cinema as a way to show my Japanese coded DVDs .
I'm sure there will be a great many new features products, but no where near enough to keep folks satisfied.
- iPhone - better (hell if they don't come out with it soon, the other models will just keep improving, and there won't be room for the iPhone… can you say "Chocoale - in iPod colors
- Widescreen iPod - it's now or never. If they let the MS unit get much of a strong hold, it WILL hurt. Maybe only a little, bit it will hurt.
- Macbooks - thin, thick, tall, short, faster, slower… something, but again, some will be disappointed, but others will be very happy, and buy them
- Desktop… tough call, but I think so. A little something, but something
- Tablet… possible
- Software… a given, just what?
- .mac account info… yes, and it will be tied in with other annoucments
- iTv - of course
Botton line - MWSF is WAY to far away for many of us, myself included.
I just ordered a new Mac/intel 3.0 with a 30" monitor… so the rerst of you should wait, cuz that means Apple will be coing out with something "Kick-(my) Ass" (which is what I'll do - one more time for buying now
Yes, this is my opinion.
Skip
I still see the possiblilty of a digital iCamera - after all, they are going down that road as well.
Random... but OK. Here is the thing, Apple can't have a product overload, so while it's possible they may eventually make "iCameras" in the future, I highly doubt this one and it DEFINITLY won't be at Macworld, 1) It's a Mac event and 2) Product Overload.
I'm sure there will be a great many new features products, but no where near enough to keep folks satisfied.
Sadly you are about 100% accurate with this.
- iPhone - better (hell if they don't come out with it soon, the other models will just keep improving, and there won't be room for the iPhone… can you say "Chocoale - in iPod colors
I highly doubt this one showing up at Macworld as well, but recent rumors seem to point to that, then again, those are just rumors. You didn't say much about this though and your posting of it makes no sense. You started to say something then you went into a Long side note and forgot to get back to it.
- Widescreen iPod - it's now or never. If they let the MS unit get much of a strong hold, it WILL hurt. Maybe only a little, bit it will hurt.
Microsoft will not get much of a stronghold and I highly doubt Apple will brush them off like they did before (and lost all of their Personal Computer Marketshare at it) and outright murder the Zune. People are asking far too much in this thing though, Touch Screen/Bezel/Widescreen etc. Avoiding all of that, and maybe adding a Wider screen, here is a conservitive suggestion: a built in Camera for quick snapshots (and they wouldn't have to make an iCamera
- Macbooks - thin, thick, tall, short, faster, slower… something, but again, some will be disappointed, but others will be very happy, and buy them
- Desktop… tough call, but I think so. A little something, but something
- Tablet… possible
A New Macbook (Pro) is more likely then not and as for that "little something" (are you trying to avoid making a real prediction?) well look towards the Mac Mini. Apple's current Mac Lineup is fine the way it is, they just need to add Core 2 Duo and drop the price of the Mini. An updated Mac Pro could also be in the cards, but an updated Mac Mini is much more likely.
- Software… a given, just what?
iLife 07 and iWork 07 for sure. .Mac maybe, and just for the hell of it, Aperture 2.0
- iTv - of course
Didn't Steve say this was a sure thing? Or did he just say more details in the Spring because I'm pretty sure he said Macworld.... ???
Botton line - MWSF is WAY to far away for many of us, myself included.
Agreed, I'm still waiting for Macworld so I can finally buy iWork (recently bought my Mac and avoided iWork just for this reason, but NeoOffice needs to be dropped from my Macs HDD and that likely won't happen until Office for Mac
Yes, this is my opinion.
You are entitled to it, but it's no fun if you don't make real predictions.
Sebastian
What about the software possibilities of the "community of vendors"?
Will there be any chance of Microsoft Office adjusting to the new Mac intels? Latest word out of Adobe?
Anything about to break for new in the Printer world?
I'm still stoked by my purchase of one of those cool iMac G4 "stands" produced by Rain Design and introduced in NY lo these many moons ago....
back to reality:
iTV: integration with iTunes/iPod and DVR, I expect a cable card slot and maybe some special divice for integration with Dish or Directv (maybe a cable card+propriatery external sat tuner)
iPod: NOTHING! they seem to get their own events, this is a MAC show
New/bumped laptops...maybe
bumped mac mini? or maybe a Mini+iTV hybrid?
TONS of time spilling the beans on Leopard
Also, if I may endulge in a WWDC prediction, I wouldn't be surprised if you see Apple announce something with Sun: NOT OOo related at first, but something to provide a reasonable alaby for their engineers to work together on an OOo and MS Office compatible Mac Based office suit using Pages and Keynote (mabe keynote as a presentation standard where one-version-old becomes open like PDF) Imagine iWork/ProWork 08; word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, everything...using Core Image, with an apple pro app interface and iLife integration...
If nothing else, Apple better have something on the shelf when MS stabs them in the back with Office...you know that the MBU is in existence for one reason: to keep the DoJ looking the other way while they FUD linux to death and beat su and bully the little software companies. The moment they feel safe (which is now, Bush being in power and the handcuffs of the mid-90s punishment being gone) they could royaly screw Mac-ers over...Apple needs a hedge to the Office:Mac bet.
- leopard server demo ...
- with leopard, quicktime pro for everybody
- new versions of iApps and iWork..
- preview of universal apps from adobe, microsoft and other mac developers
- more GPU options for mac pros, adding SLI (nvidia) and CrossFire (ATI) techology, including this baby --> http://www.nvidia.com/page/quadroplex.html
- new apps for apple, iApps and proApps
- xserve raid express... case for hot swappable drives (SATA, SAS) for macs
- mac pro renamed to mac xstation.
- intel quad core chips inside mac pro
- SAS drives into mac pros
- ipod and itunes stuff
- new displays with isight
- new versions of ProApps until NAB, maybe all final cut studio apps will use aperture UI. new shake will be out until end of '07 or 1st quarter of '08.
Obviously, the Mac Pro will have to go to octo-core in at least the top level. I could see a jump to a quad-2.66/quad-3.0/octo-2.66 setup, but the real question is whether we see cooler features like hardware RAID or SAS drives or SLI/Crossfire. I don't know if that'll fit at MWSF, just in terms of it not being a consumer device by any means.
iLife and iWork are all but assured of updates. The killer question is whether iWork tries to position itself as a competitor to MS Office. Given the loss of VBA in the Mac version of Office, and the fact that it's gonna be a while until we get converters for .docx, .xlsx, etc., I wouldn't be surprised if Apple called MS out on cheating on their deal. Add a Numbers and a Records to iWork, and with a better Pages 3 and Keynote, it's a good competitor.
Insofar as iPhone, Macbook Thin, and xMac go, I would expect only 2 of the 4 (including Mac Pro), since we're already seeing iTV and Leopard.
Alright, looking at Intel's lineup, I don't see a major notebook advance until Santa Rosa (a socket and chipset change) which looks like April release. So I don't see Jack Squat for any Macs except the Mac Pro at MWSF.
Obviously, the Mac Pro will have to go to octo-core in at least the top level. I could see a jump to a quad-2.66/quad-3.0/octo-2.66 setup, but the real question is whether we see cooler features like hardware RAID or SAS drives or SLI/Crossfire. I don't know if that'll fit at MWSF, just in terms of it not being a consumer device by any means.
iLife and iWork are all but assured of updates. The killer question is whether iWork tries to position itself as a competitor to MS Office. Given the loss of VBA in the Mac version of Office, and the fact that it's gonna be a while until we get converters for .docx, .xlsx, etc., I wouldn't be surprised if Apple called MS out on cheating on their deal. Add a Numbers and a Records to iWork, and with a better Pages 3 and Keynote, it's a good competitor.
Insofar as iPhone, Macbook Thin, and xMac go, I would expect only 2 of the 4 (including Mac Pro), since we're already seeing iTV and Leopard.
I actually am very concerned about software for our new Macs and certainly Apple going away from the MS Office world, especially considering how much superior the Mac version of Office has been to the PC one for years in most things, it would be a horror to lose easy integration and sharing. Anyone else out there in acadme who still gets papers submitted as .wps documents and not .doc files? Anyone care to complicate the process of conversion from .xls to anything else? It is tough enough to have to live in a world of .pdf files when you operate shared printers to imagine Adobe as the solution!
While I certainly wish iWork good luck and hope for innovations, just imagining the problems we will all have once CS is updated I do not want to have to weather that battle, so please keep those translators integrated and easy to use.
- more GPU options for mac pros, adding SLI (nvidia) and CrossFire (ATI) techology, including this baby --> http://www.nvidia.com/page/quadroplex.html
.
The quadroplex need 2 full x16 pci-e slots and the intel exon chip set has less pci-e lanes then the pci-e g5 had.
8)