The Steve Jobs Apple Revival Show
It's been a busy day for the Apple tribe. Steve Jobs announced the thinnest notebook in the universe (I'm not sure that's what the universe needs, but he is at least pushing lowly competition to innovate more) and updates for the iTunes, iPhone, iTouch, AppleTV and Time Capsule wireless backup (check out our full coverage). The blogosphere was all Apple, all day. It wasn't a grand slam (how do you top the iPhone?), but it will keep the Apple fan base happy until next time.
The flurry of announcements and Jobs' public presentation also brought the blogosphere to its knees. Many of the sites covering the keynote, as well as Twitter, we slowed down or timed out.
The highlight of the presentation for the audience was the new notebook, which Jobs unveiled in not-so-dramatic-fashion by taking it out of an interoffice mail folder as proof of its thinliness. The MacBook Air is stunning, but I will stick with the more fatter, the more full featured notebook for less money.
I thought perhaps that Bill Gates would make a final appearance before the Mac crowd to take a bow for the Mac Office 2008 edition, which just shipped. Gates is moving exclusively into the Microsoft boardroom starting in July and will devote his time to his philanthropic foundation.
Contrary to what I had previously posted, a Microsoft official told me that Bill Gates and Steve Jobs did not meet at CES in Las Vegas. Whatever the case our speculation on what they might have talked about is interesting.
Needless to say, Gates was not in the house, but Google CEO Eric Schmidt, co-founder Sergey Brin and YouTubers Chad Hurley and Steve Chen were in the crowd.
It would not have been friendly territory for Gates or any other Microsoft executive outside of the Mac Office.
For entertainment, Jobs brought out Randy Newman to sing a few tunes to close out the presentation. Last time it was John Mayer. I would have like to have seen Herbie Hancock, a long time Apple fan who was in the audience. He is up for three Grammy awards this year, including album of the year for "River: The Joni Letters." Kanye West, Amy Winehouse, Foo Fighters and Vince Gill are also in the running for album of the year.
Credit: Corinne Schulz/CNET Networks
Jobs made no effort to address business applications for which Apple products could provide solutions. This was strictly a revival for Apple as the premiere consumer brand for digital tech.
It was also the revival of Apple TV, which has been a brick to many users. The new version is now more like an on demand media box, with direct access to the iTunes store and rentals, near-instant streaming, HD-quality video, Dolby 5.1 surround sound, content from every major film studio, and access to photo services such as Flickr.
One of the big questions is where is the 3G iPhone for the U.S. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said late last year that a 3G version of the iPhone is coming in 2008. Sooner is better.