iDon't Care

I'll admit that I'm a computer geek: I don't read magazines any more all the time but I'm still interested in and follow technology news. So when I saw this headline on the BBC today, I naturally took a look at the article. Then I went to the Apple website. And I'm still shaking my head.

In past years, the January MacWorld expo has given Apple an opportunity to wow everyone: they've introduced several new technologies that (they hoped) would change the computing world forever (they didn't, but they were pretty cool, nonetheless). The iPhone was first unveiled at MacWorld in 2007 (although the actual item wouldn't be available for another 6 months), the switch to the Intel Core Duo processor (which allows Macs to run both Windows and OS X on the same machine) was announced in 2006, and the iMac made its debut in 1996 (which, I would argue, is the device most responsible for the inroads that Apple has made on the computer market: it's a great monitor and CPU bundled into one well-designed, compact piece of hardware; it's relatively inexpensive; and it's extremely easy to set up).

A quick perusal of what Apple calls "hot news" gives you a sense of the disappointing offerings for 2009:

Changes come to the iTunes Store: Now you can download music to non-iPod MP3 players. Woo-hoo. iPod has somewhere around 90% of the MP3 player market. That's akin to Microsoft's lame decision to strike back against Apple's Switch campaign: they're shooing flies with a bazooka. Oh, wait: there's also a new visualizer in iTunes.... Next!

Apple introduces new 17-inch MacBook Pro: They brought out the 15-inch version earlier this year; the larger, much more expensive version was bound to follow. Next!

Introducing iLife ’09: I'm still using whatever version came with my computer... and I pretty much only use iMovie and iDVD... and I only use them because I can't pony up the $1000 for FinalCut. Next!

Apple unveils iWork ’09: Apple's answer to Office. If I want to avoid giving Microsoft any more of my money (and I do), there's open-source software available that does exactly the same thing... for free.

Is that really all you've got, Apple?

I'm sure there are people who are interested—perhaps even excited—by this news coming out of Cupertino. Maybe 2 or 3 of my geekiest pals at Tekserve... but I doubt it.