A few quick remarks on the WWDC keynote
by Volker Weber
It's been a long time since Apple announced any new gear. And WWDC is not about new hardware. It's all about the software to be delivered through the rest of the year. With that in mind:
- Mac Pro sneak preview: very unusual. It was an assurance that Apple will deliver to the power-hungry. A replacement for the Pro was long overdue. They have not quite finished it yet, but we know it's coming.
- New MacBook Air: that was to be expected but it did not quite fit into the format of the keynote. Long battery life: good. No touch: bad.
On to the software:
- Great iOS redesign. Will be released with the new iPhone in the fall. Maybe a new iPad is also in store. Supported from the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 up, it won't support all features on all devices. There simply is not enough power in the older ones. I expect it will perform well from the iPhone 4S and iPad 3 up.
- Activation lock is long overdue. I am not sure why this needs a new operating system. Apple has all UDID and if you set your device as stolen, they could refuse to activate it.
- I almost fell asleep in the OS X Mavericks presentation. I have not picked up many new features in Lion or Mountain Lion. And I don't expect to do it in Mavericks. I will upgrade anyway, because it's not expensive and I will like a few bits and pieces.
- iWork iCloud. Kind of inevitable, now that Microsoft does that. What kills Numbers and Pages for me is the file format. For Keynote I am making an exception because it is my instrument, my tool. I know how to efficiently make great presentations with it. But I am not seeing Apple making any inroads into Microsoft Office or LibreOffice territory. It's kind of a lame duck.
I am missing something revolutionary. Anything that changes the status quo. Everything gets a little bit better. iOS gets a lot more modern. The good news is that none of the things shown today will disrupt existing patterns and workflows.
But if Apple does not lead the world to a new level, somebody else will. Like a surfer, Apple will need to be in front of the next wave.
Comments
I assume that Mac Pro announcement is just depending on when Intel is going to announce their Ivy Bridge Xeons. I bet at one point the plan was to announce at WWDC however without an Intel processor announcement/GA (and I have not seen one yet) there is little they can do beyond providing a preview.
iOS seemed a bit too colored for my taste. Like it was received on an LSD trip.
I do like a lot of the Mavericks changes. The whole Multiscreen-thing, finally better Filemanagement, possibly simple iCloud Filemanagement via Tags, ... solid next step.
Do you really consider no touch on the MBA to be a bad thing? I haven't heard many folks in the Apple space asking for touch on a laptop. I love that my Lenovo X1CT has touch and use it all the time. Just something I don't read from the press talking about apple products much.
The touch thing would be a definitive 'go for it'. I can live with a 'no touch' for the time being as neither my MBP nor my HP laptop in the office give me a touch experience. But my wife uses touch screens in her pharmacy since quite some time and we both use 'touching' on our iPhones and iPads. Whenever I show her something on my MBP she touches the screen to interact with the laptop.
People get used to the touch experience very rapidly these days. Apple should consider this.
Funny. Concerning no touch on MBA my thoughts before the announcement were: my next machine will be a Lenovo Yoga or an MBA should the new MBA sport a touch screen. I guess Apple chose for me.
