Comments on: A quick recap of Apple news at Macworld 2009

This year's Macworld keynote presentation was not the most exciting event Apple has ever put on, but there were still some noteworthy announcements. Here's a quick look.

[ace10134]

(Yawn)...Going to check out Microsoft's CES Show now!

[myles taylor]

Why? Because Microsoft is known for it's exciting announcements? The leaks for CES were even worse than Macworld. I'm not saying this was all that exciting, but I doubt Microsoft will be able to top it.

[Mark_Anderson]

You mean aside from probably giving details about Windows 7 you mean? Something Apple appear to have failed to do with Snow Leopard?

[PC-PieceOfCrap]

Mac users are not gasping for Snow Leopard... we have no concept of going back in droves to an earlier operating system like XP just to get things done. Some users seem to have looked out the Windows, sold on the promise of a great Vista... only to see a wall of bricks.

In the PC-Parallel Cosmos, I can imagine people really are chomping-at-the-bit for Windows 7. Already (under the pretense of "giving details") the Microsoft machine is cranking up expectations ~ which, as before, will be driven to a frenzy by a PC press (designed on Macs).

When the biggest part of your business is generating excitement, and always about some future OS... it's kind of saying, "what we are using is not very good" and I don't like that name ~ 'Windows 7'. It implies: another 3 and we'll be as good as MacOS 10... I can already see the ad.

"Hello. I'm a PC." ~~ "And I'm a Mac."
"Well, aren't you gonna ask why I'm so happy today?" ~~ "Yeah, yo do look kinda... what~?"
"I just finished installing Windows 7... Didn't take too long ~ And it's really great!" ~~ "Insanely great?"
"What d'you mean? ~ Are you making fun of me again?" ~~ "Man, you're not a stereotype... you're my friend."
"Well, at least I wash my hair!" [putting his happy face on again:] "You can't spoil my enjoyment of Seven." ~~ "Hey, man! ~ wouldn't want to." [awkward pause:] "And we are all thrilled with MacOS TEN."

[www.chrillo.at]

I really wanted to buy a new mac mini :-(

[o2bnited]

Agreed. I was very disappointed.

[BenzTech]

Seriously. I was so hoping they'd be updating this platform. iMacs are great, but I've already got enough monitors and keyboards sitting around just begging for a sweet Mac Mini...

[myles taylor]

Yea me too. They could still do it. The whole pulling out of Macworld thing proves that they don't need to use tradeshows to announce product launches and updates. I wouldn't be surprised to see them update it in a couple months.

[davehong]

I was disappointed too, but still am looking forward to whatever they've got planned down the pike!

[Polarsunray]

Yeah. i wanted to see what the Macs are like to see any possibility of me ever getting a Mac Book or i Mac. The Mac mini could have been a great apple starter package for people that are curios ( like myself) but don't want to spend $1k+ for a computer i might not like.

[SeizeCTRL]

No wonder Stevie didn't want to show up for this one. Not enough here to even hype up a press release.

[thefilebunch]

Returned an iMac I received for Christmas in anticipation of a new iMac. Maybe the Easter Bunny will bring me an updated iMac....

[RobinQueens]

Boring! why bother going? let the macdroids continue to blather over themselves, who cares? I was hoping for an updated mac mini, perhaps a less expensive iPhone but either those concepts seem dead or they are saving it for another apple campus kissassathon . At this point. I dont even care. Macworld is making CES look relevant by comparison, Can the macdroids handle that?

[Chapmaniac]

You guys all missed the real Apple introduction - the MacBook Wheel!
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/apple_introduces_revolutionary

[Polarsunray]

A terrible idea, even for a prank.

[Mark_Anderson]

You can see why they've dropped it, can't you? No more rabbits to come out of the hat it seems.

[sanenazok]

What an awful event. I guess the point was to show that it wasn't needed anymore, and did they every prove THAT point. The audience still went uuuuuhh and aaahhh even though all that was being unveiled was iLife '09 strangely enough for the year 2009. It comes with new features, why what a surprise!

[rccoffee]

No new Mac Mini. No new i-Mac. The best part of this show was Tony Bennett. I hope he sang "I Left My Heart In San Francisco." This man is a great entertainer.

As for Apple, it was a waste of time. I-Life 09, i-Work 09. Yawn! i-Work.com is hopefully not being produced by the people who brought us MobileMe!!!

I buy my music at amazon.com and it has always been DRM-Free and they include the album art, too.

Ah, well. A slice of cheesecake and a good cup of coffee at Eppler's is worth the trip anyway. Perhaps a slice of Divine Decadence Chocolate Cake at Just Desserts plus Tony Bennett. It wasn't a complete waste.

[vinnyrb]

"iWork '09: Does anybody actually use iWork?" I do, Cheaper and easier to use than MS Office. But i still think this incremental upgrade is nothing to go crazy about. I had actually kept cash to order a new Mac mini the moment they were out. Too bad.

[random truth]

I use it too, however I dont see a reason to upgrade.

[grand2--2008]

I use Pages a lot. I write multipage technical papers with lots of pictures and graphs. Word goes crazy after several pages, throwing pictures all over the place, and always a pain when it does work. Finally, I started using Pages for the same work and all goes very smoothly - no crashing and erratic behavior. When I am finished, I simply export as a Word Doc and all the world can read it.

I don't use Numbers. It is a dog! Slow as molasses.

Keynote has PowerPoint beat hands down, except for the few features missing. The new one seems to push the lead further out.

[kelmon]

Yes, I use iWork as well and will give this new version a trial and see what it is like. Both Pages and Keynote are rather good applications that I prefer using over their Microsoft equivalents. Numbers wasn't great in version 1 so it will be interesting to see how much it has improved in version 2. Pages was a bit rubbish in version 1 so I have faith that it will all be good this time and the demo allows me to "try before I buy".

[napereira]

Umm.. did you say no new "Power Macs"? I guess you meant Mac Pros! LOL

[Tom Krazit]

Wow, that was a good one. Welcome to the 21st century. I'll fix.

[myles taylor]

Well nothing too exciting. I am actually looking forward to iLife '09 but disappointed to not see updates to the hardware. As I said above however, Apple is showing that it doesn't need tradeshows to announce new products. They could announce it tomorrow and to quote Phil, they have more people in their stores in a week than 10 Macworlds.

[ThreeMilesNorth]

Any news on Snow Leopard, Tom?

[Tom Krazit]

None, which was surprising.

[AppleSuxLeo]

Snow leopard is suffering from frostbite , so it`s a no-go.

[CNET editors' note: Offensive content deleted.]

[trd1282]

You want to go ahead and give me a release date on any other operating systems?

[PC-PieceOfCrap]

Mac users are not gasping for Snow Leopard... we have no concept of going back in droves to an earlier operating system like XP just to get things done ~ "does not compute". But in your world, I can imagine people really are chomping-at-the-bit for Windows 7. Already the Microsoft machine is cranking up expectations ~ I do hope it at least meets those for the PC user; ideally, exceeds them.

BUT when you are generating a tide of excitement always about some future OS... it's kind of saying, "what we are using is not very good" and I don't like that name ~ 'Windows 7'. It implies: another 3 and we'll be as good as MacOS 10... I can already see the "I'm a PC ? and I'm a Mac" ad.

[PC-PieceOfCrap]

TRY AGAIN:
Mac users are not gasping for Snow Leopard... we have no concept of going back in droves to an earlier operating system like XP just to get things done ~ "does not compute". But in your world, I can imagine people really are chomping-at-the-bit for Windows 7. Already the Microsoft machine is cranking up expectations ~ I do hope it at least meets those for the PC user; ideally, exceeds them.

BUT when you are generating a tide of excitement always about some future OS... it's kind of saying, "what we are using is not very good" and I don't like that name ~ 'Windows 7'. It implies: another 3 and we'll be as good as MacOS 10... I can already see the "I'm a PC ~ and I'm a Mac" ad.

[That question mark should have been a dash ~ the PC guy is in no doubt that he's a PC guy! And he's not a "stereotype" ~ he's someone all Macheads have great affection for... and more than a little compassion]

[Snakespeare]

I believe the Keynote address had a more subtle message than the above analysis and sundry comments have noted. I think the message is, nobody's going to buy new stuff this year, so we are tightening our belts and going into austerity mode. Expect more exciting news when the economy turns back in a bullish direction. Therefore, iTunes will have no DRM and some songs will be cheaper. The only new addition is a new widescreen laptop. iWork and iLife are updated, and they are also inexpensive. I have customers who use iWork. It does not interact with translation software. If you plan to use your files beyond your own desktop, you might save a lot of money by choosing an older more established program, even one from "the evil empire".

[3rdalbum]

I wonder how much the song "Rich Girl" will cost? $10? :-P

The caption "DRM-free iTunes" is incorrect. Only the music will be DRM-free. Video will remain locked-down.

[mycrapsgame]

I am missing the new, way more better Mac Mini announcement. The current Mac Mini I have is nice and the only Mac box of the five computers in my office.

[scooterchick08]

What happened to the 32gb iPhone? I am so disappointed.