This Apple's Got a Worm

Yesterday, Steve Jobs donned his now-notorious black-mock turtleneck and light blue jeans, and took to the stage to show us what new and exciting products Apple was working on. I'm not sure what sort of reaction he was looking for, but I know that I was sorely disappointed.

Now Apple's not going to reveal some new OMG I GOTTA HAVE gadget every time Steve-O calls for another presentation. But the coup-de-grace, the newly redesigned Macbook Air, left a lot to be desired.

Let's go back to the beginning of the press conference and look at the other developments that Apple revealed. First, iLife '11 was shown. The new interface for iPhoto borrows heavily from the iPad's slick, near perfect Photos app. iMovie made a bunch of advances in making the product more user-friendly (as Apple has been known to do), as did Garage Band. For me, it was a push.

About a month ago, a German iLife '11 how-to manual was released on Amazon Germany, and the cover said that the book was to cover the basics for iLife on Macs, iPhones, and iPads. This suggestion made me excited at the fact that Apple would release a port for iPad. Imagine the photo, video, and music editing possibilities! Unfortunately, this did not come to be, as iLife '11 seems to only be for Mac. Fitting so much into a lesser powered machine with limited screen space and a touch screen is a daunting task, and it would require a totally separate design if Apple were ever to do that. Oh well, I'll just anxiously await iPad iOS4.

The second item on yesterday's docket was OSX 10.7, called Lion. The big change? Mac seems to be promoting this happy marriage between OSX and iOS. Lion will support many more multitouch gestures, a more iPad-like interface, and get this- an App Store. Anybody who thought that the two operating systems weren't going to touch each other's space is crazy. But this is a great step for Macs- before, you either had to go to an Apple Store or drown in a computer store's software supply to find Mac-compatible software. Now you can find a whole lot of it in one centralized place. Hopefully Apple sees this, and will offer a breadth of serious software, and not just ports of iOS games.

Mission Control, one of the new features of OSX Lion, allows you to see every open program on your computer at the same time. It's like an enhanced version of Alt+Tab.

Now, on to the main event, the Macbook Air. I wasn't too excited for it, because I had a feeling that the only real changes were coming on the stat front, and I was partly right. It IS lighter and thinner than the first generation Air, with Apple finding a way to turn the device from anorexic to Ethiopian. I didn't care very much to hear the stats, as my $700 laptop's stats are double that of the Air's.

Then Steve Jobs said something that caught my attention: Instant On. Thanks to having solely flash memory onboard the device, turning it on would be no different than turning on your iDevice. It would be instant, with no more than a 10 second startup time if you were doing a completely off to on boot. Suddenly, Steve-O had me again. It was time for him to strike with a statement that would make me long for a Macbook Air.

Then, he said "We're going to competitively price the new Macbook Air". Mind you, the last time he mentioned competitive pricing, the iPad went from rumors of being priced at $1000+ to actually be priced at $500. With that statement, my guess was that the Macbook Air would start somewhere between $600 and $800. I was ready with my pen and paper to find a way to justify a new purchase.

It's so thin, you could probably attach it to a handle and use it as an ax in the winter to chop some firewood.

$999. Let me say that again. $999.

Huh? Didn't he just say he wanted to COMPETITIVELY price the Macbook Air?

Granted, it is aluminum, and it is thin, and it is light, and it is pretty. But for $999, I can buy a white-base Macbook that has a larger hard drive, is just as portable, and can run OSX Lion just as well. Oh, and just in case I NEED to use a CD drive, it's there. CDs aren't THAT extinct yet. Their lifeline is slowly flattening, but CDs will be around and important for the next 10 years. It's still an Apple computer, just without a solid aluminum frame. Like mother always said, it's what's on the inside that counts.

So...basically...with only 64 GB onboard, no expandable memory, and no CD drive, the Macbook Air is still an overpriced netbook. Bummer.

So ends another Apple press conference. If you've got a Mac already, I think iLife '11 would be a great purchase if you're an editing aficionado, and the verdict is still out on Lion.

I've said it before and I'll say it again- if Apple wants to compete with Microsoft with a shot at taking out the competition, they need to competitively price their computers. If the Macbook line was priced from $600-$1500, people would be jumping over each other to buy Macbooks. With a $52 billion in cash just laying around, Apple has the means to price their computers at a point where they only make a tiny profit.

Maybe next time, Apple. Maybe next time.