Enough of the MacBook Air already...
As many had prophesied, the MacBook Air was unveiled and took centre stage at Macworld 2008. The belle of Apple's ball is pleasing enough, but it wasn't the MacBook Air that caught my eye during Jobs' keynote speech - the updated Apple TV, and iTunes movie rentals are the announcements that really piqued my attention.
Well, that and a rather unpleasant kick in the teeth for myself, and many other iPod Touch owners.
The MacBook Air is unsurprisingly garnering most of the attention in the post-Macworld analysis. However, much of it is not exactly the kind of reaction Apple would have hoped for, as expectant observers have twigged there is more than just an optical drive missing from the anorexic notebook. The biggest bone of contention thus far appears to be the non-replaceable battery. In a notebook such a decision seems quite insane, and is already kicking up quite a stink.
But enough of the MacBook Air. What I really want to know is when the rest of the World is going to get its hands on iTunes movie rentals? It's not going to appeal to everyone, I'm sure, but movie rentals through iTunes, from the comfort of my sofa, makes the Apple TV something I'd go for. My music and photo albums pumped through the TV just sweetens the deal.
There's no word yet on when anyone other than the US can expect movie rentals through iTunes. I expect that Apple is working feverishly to hammer out agreements with movie distributors to bring the service to the rest of the World, but it still grates me that we have to wait. This is an intangible product delivered over the Internet for crying out loud. Why on Earth can't we have a global launch? Someone is dragging their feet, and based on past form I'd put money on it being the distributors.
Aside from an updated Apple TV, iTunes movie rentals and the MacBook Air, there were a couple of other announcements. Time Capsule looks pretty slick as do the iPhone and iPod Touch updates. Being a Touch owner, I was particularly pleased to hear the Touch would finally be getting Mail, Maps and Notes, right up until the point it was announced I would have to fork out $20 for the privilege. New iPod Touch's will come with the upgrade pre-installed.
At the risk of sounding like a whining iPhone early-adopter... that just sucks. No doubt I'll hand over my cash at some point though.
So, Macworld 2008 has come and gone. There was no iPhone this time around, but the Internet is buzzing with Apple talk - praise and scorn in equal measure - nevertheless. The countdown to Macworld 2009 starts here. Any predictions?
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Kitsimons...
...is the online home of Simon Kitson, a web designer with a healthy enthusiasm for standards-compliant, accessible design and a penchant for blogging about nothing in particular.
Notes
- Nice Nike Football ad from Madonna's better half.
- Top marks for the realigned BBC News website, bringing it more in line with the lovely new, jQuery driven, BBC homepage.
Beautiful full-screen image browsing served up by the snazzy PicLens plug-in. Impressive, though practicality is debatable.- Yahoo shifts to search the
semantic web
. Potentially huge, and very welcome news for usstandards nuts
. 
The Coke Zero Game. Latest masterpiece from the infuriatingly talented North Kingdom.
It's sites like the Red Bull Flight Lab that remind you what Flash is for. Brilliant application and an awful lot of fun.- Rejoice! The new Indiana Jones trailer has finally made an appearance. Can't wait.
- Help the Email Standards Project get Google's attention in the hope they will finally improve Gmail's awful rendering of HTML email.
- Awesome panoramic view of the Airbus A380 cockpit interior. This is the super-future.
- Excellent article from accessibility supremo Roger Johansson on how inappropriate, or overuse, of HTML features meant to aid accessibility can actually have the opposite effect.
Jen - Pop Stalin Design
15 January, 2008
I too am excited about Time Capsule. It seems a perfect solution for those that have Leopard (which I do not). I’m still not sold on Apple TV but it’s also something I haven’t looked into a lot.
Finally, I knew there was a reason I waited to get the iPhone even though I predicted I’d be an early adopter.
kitsimons
16 January, 2008
It makes that iPhone look a lot more tempting. If I didn’t have the Touch I’d seriously think about picking one up.
Well, I’ve gone and paid my £12.50 for the software update. As much as I’d like to gripe about paying, any discontent is mitigated by getting Mail on my iPod Touch. Brilliant.
Franky
19 January, 2008
Look on the brightside Simon! The iPod touch is the first iPod ever to get a major software update at all, even at a cost. (At least to my knowledge)
I for one would have gladly forked over $20 to get the new iPod Classic OS on my old 80 gig video iPod. Alas, it doesn’t look like I’ll get the cool new features on my old hardware.
Point is, it seems like a change from the iPod status quo, which basically says, “Look, just buy the latest iPod for the latest features”
kitsimons
21 January, 2008
Absolutely Franky. Was owning it for 2 months before the update was released worth £12.50? Sure. And I am glad it’s the first iPod that won’t become totally obsolete in 12 months time…