Macworld Predictions

It’s that time of year again: the time when otherwise self-respecting Mac journalists stoop to annual lows and play the prediction game. Most of us are wrong most of the time, so there’s absolutely no reason to read on. After all, I have no insider info about what Steve Jobs will be announcing at today’s Macworld Expo keynote address; no more so than any other journalists. However, just for fun, I’ll make a list of what I think we’ll be seeing today. Just so you can tell me how wrong I am.

• iWork 2007, with a new spreadsheet application. This is obvious–at least the 2007 vintage–and the spreadsheet app has been talked about for long enough that, even if it’s not announced, it will be in the meme pool for another year.
• iLife 2007. Another obvious prediction, since it is now an annual ritual. Will there be a new application? Perhaps, though I can’t imagine what sort of digital content app is missing. But if there is no new tool, there will be many enhancements to the programs in this package, with the exception, perhaps, of iTunes, which got a rev a few months ago.
• The iTV. Again, this was semi-announced at the WWDC, so we’ll be seeing it today. What will it do? If it doesn’t have a hard disk, I think it’s a no-go. Having to leave a Mac on in your home–even over AirPort–seems like a huge waste of energy for such an appliance.
• The iPhone. Under another name. Because someone else already got that one. It will make a lot of noise, then go the way of the Newton and the Pippin…
• Mac OS X 10.5, or Leopard. So I’m four-for-four so far! Steve Jobs will present more new features from Leopard, including (and this is a real prognostication) a new Finder, with, among other things, tabbed windows!
• A complete Beatles set on iTunes, and, perhaps, a Beatles iPod. Paul McCartney will be present to end more than a decade of strife between Apple Computer and Apple Corps. The Beatles will be the best-sellers on the iTunes Store for the coming months. And a Beatles iPod will let all the aging boomers relive their youth.
• A 24 iPod. Kiefer Sutherland will be present to inaugurate the first non-music themed iPod, and Apple will have some other kind of promotion to go with it: perhaps a complete 24, though most fans already have the DVDs…

Now for the real out-on-the-limb predictions…

• Mac OS X Leopard mobile/embedded/mini. A “light” version of Mac OS X that will run on the iPhone, the Mac tablet (that may or may not be announced today) and other future portable Apple devices. The future of computing that Apple is going to announce today goes in that direction: small, ultra-portable computing devices, that are not full computers, but that interface with Macs.
• A Mac tablet. A small, 10-inch or so device for reading ebooks, surfing the web, and controlling other Macs. You’ll be able to access files, run applications and do much of what you do on your main Mac, but it won’t have a hard drive (flash memory for both the OS and storage) and will be designed as a complement to a full-sized computer.
• Voice recognition. After all, the first thirty years were about typing and RSI (repetitive stress injury). It’s time to cut the cord. Apple will announce a full dictation system built-in to Leopard, not only to control a Mac, but to type as well. This will also be used with the tablet Mac, which won’t have a keyboard (but will have a popup virtual keyboard for such things as entering passwords).

There you have it. I’ll be right on at least four counts, and probably one or two others. If I get them all right, you can count on my getting a letter from Apple’s attorneys, asking where I got my info. By the way, there will also be hardware upgrades, faster Mac Pros and lower prices, but probably no new iPods. Enjoy the keynote!

---