MacWorld Predictions

On Wednesday I will be making my yearly trek to sample the Kool-Aid at the MacWorld Conference and Expo. It’s always fun to see the latest Mac, iPod, and iPhone goodies and at times I’ve even run into celebrities (yes, it’s Sinbad!). Of course, with Apple announcing this is their last year at the show it is a melancholy time, doubly so with all the speculation about Steve Jobs’ health. Steve made a statement today about his health that I view as a positive indicator, though I’d take issue with those headlines that stated “See, he’s okay.” He certainly wasn’t when he dropped out of the Keynote and is far from fully recovered. But, as always, we wish Steve well.

I’m attending MacWorld on Wednesday, which is good for a couple reasons. By then I’ll have had a time to hear about some of the announcements from Apple and others, so I’ll be able to hit the ground running to check out all the things I want to see. Plus, there is a Podcaster Birds of a Feather event at 6:30 on Wednesday being organized by Adam Christianson at The MacCast that I’ll be attending. Speaking of which, you might wish to listen to the first 30 seconds of the the December 20th episode of the MacCast podcast…

I’ll also be attending the MacWorld Town Hall event at 5:00 on Wednesday, where the Expo organizers will talk about the future of the event. I hope I can come up with some constructive suggestions.

Anyway, to get myself ready for the annual Apple overindulgence, I hereby present my MacWorld 2008 Apple Keynote Predictions.

Will Be Announced

• Updated Mac Mini with lots of expansion options
• Updated iMac with faster processors (larger screens are a possibility, though I think it’s a longshot)
• Updated MacBook Pro 17″ with unibody enclosure
• iWork ’09 with online/web/MobileMe component
• iTunes DRM free
• Hulu viewing on AppleTV
• iPhone 3G 32GB
• iPhone tethering option with AT&T (for too much money…)
• Pricing and ship date for Snow Leopard
• Lots of Christmas quarter sales numbers

Won’t Be Announced

• iPhone Nano (though I think a smaller form factor would be cool)
• iPhone/iPod/Mac Tablet (though I think a larger form factor would be cool)
• Mac Netbook
• Touch screen iMac
• Mac Pro update
• Cinema Displays
• iLife ’09

According to the MacWorld folks, AT&T has brought in extra cell towers to handle extra capacity. I know last year all phone and data reception was pretty much killed by 10:30 am until about 3:00 pm, so it would suck if that happened again.

Of course, the big news that we’ll be paying attention to at the keynote is to see if they’re doing anything with iPhone pricing, form factors, colors, etc.  That is because today is Julie’s birthday I have agreed to get her an iPhone for her birthday.

But I’m not stupid enough to buy anything from Apple the day before MacWorld… whether Steve Jobs is presenting or not.