Comments on: Macworld 09: Apple blows expectations

By: Janus

Janus — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 06:53:22 +0000

“Whenever we talk online, any time he types a contraction it comes out as two separate IMs because his finger misses the apostrophe key and hits Return instead. It’s laughable how poor of a design it is.”

Sounds like what happens when I’m IMing on my iPhone ;)

If Apple would let me use a nifty foldable USB or Bluetooth keyboard with iPhone, I’d never consider a netbook.

As for the full-size keyboard issue, Apple should be commended for refusing to compromise on that. However, that can be done in a machine as wide as the 12″ PBG4, without all that superfluous space on both sides of the keyboard…

By: raist3d

raist3d — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 23:29:04 +0000

@Nat – I meant sorry, but you are wrong, Jon is right. Oops.

By: raist3d

raist3d — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 23:28:40 +0000

@nat

Actually Nat, sorry but Jon is wrong. The xbox 360 is selling very well. As for the Wii- yes, the Wii is selling in insane numbers but that doesn’t meant he Xbox is not carving a solid #2 position. To look at the Xbox 360 as a failed system would be similar in logic to say the Mac has failed because it has < 10% marketshare. There logic just doesn’t work.

The truth is the Xbox is selling better and better compared to before. The PS3 is not doing “doorstop bad” but it’s not selling as much mainly due to the price difference.

More importantly the 360 is making Microsoft money now. So I hate to say this but let’s take off the biased glasses for a second and look at facts on this.

http://www.vgchartz.com

If you think having 27.54 million units worldwise is a fail, I don’t know what to tell you.

- Raist

[Selling 27.5 million units across several years, spending billions to subsidize and then repair those units, all to have an installed base that is now on the verge of obsoleteness, is a fail. Microsoft is only "making money" in the sense that is isn't losing as much as it was. - Dan ]

By: VeoSotano

VeoSotano — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 21:42:56 +0000

Nice to hear from you Daniel! I have been missing Roughly Drafted. Happy New Year and all that crap ;)

VeoSotano

By: kris

kris — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:33:29 +0000

Apple has taken its productivity apps online, first in a beta program, but will eventually start charging money for it, just like MobileMe.

That’s not what Phil said at 1:06:20 – 1:06:30 of the keynote.
He said in the end it will be a free service.

By: nat

nat — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:17:25 +0000

@daGUY,

Ah, I see. Yeah, a tablet is the only thing I could see Apple releasing to compete with the netbook market, but obviously neither are realistic (at least not from Apple; the other Steve will gladly try to sell you his Modbook).

Haha, I enjoyed that 17″ MacBook Pro trick too. :D

By: daGUY

daGUY — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:18:38 +0000

@Nat: I agree, I don’t think tablets are the way to go. Personally, I think the iPhone/Touch are better solutions than netbooks anyway, so I don’t see why Apple would even need a direct netbook “competitor.”

I’m just speculating that IF they were to compete in that market head-on, I think they’d go in the direction of boosting the Touch rather than making an ultra-cheap low-quality low-margin laptop. But yes, there are issues with that design that would need to be worked out.

Just as a side note, I love how analysts were calling on Apple to release a $299 netbook at Macworld, and instead they did a total 180 and announced their most expensive laptop!

By: mikeg

mikeg — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:37:29 +0000

After reading the first look of iWork.com article by Prince McClean on AppleInsider, I have a better feel for what iWork.com is, and how it might be useful. I don’t fully understand cloud computing, and would not want my personal data files posted on a remote server either, but as a collaborative tool, I can see real benefits of iWork.com for business applications. I think Apple is on to something here.

By: Boycott Novell » IRC: #boycottnovell @ FreeNode: January 7th, 2009

Boycott Novell » IRC: #boycottnovell @ FreeNode: January 7th, 2009 — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:11:25 +0000

[...] Mac fans mourn a weak gig from Apple: http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2009/01/06/ma…; [...]

By: T. Durden

T. Durden — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 08:26:53 +0000

If it was possible to make a functioning, nice looking kind of netbook, then one advantage would be the spreading of OS X to a broader public.

Perhaps there are more people out there like me, who didn’t really consider Mac until discovering the iPhone? A cheaper netbook (that also works well) could get them hooked on the Mac experience and motivate them to also consider purchasing a “standard” Mac.