Editorial--Macs Only's Macworld Expo Keynote Projection

This is among the most anticipated Macworld keynotes because we know that Steve will unveil the fourth and last quadrant in Apple's "new" hardware strategy, the consumer portable Mac, but we KNOW virtually nothing at all about it despite lots of fun speculation and bogus "leaks" posted on many web sites. It's ALL speculation, folks. The consumer portable's design, feature set and price are the best kept secrets since the iMac which itself surprised even the most ardent elegant-simplicity advocates amongst us. Based on simple deduction, I posted my projection and reasons for it of the iBook's (my projected name--I'm certainly not alone on that one) design, features and price on July 13th which differed substantially from most speculation kicking around the web. Of course, Steve Jobs is anything but simple so it will be fun to see how well I did.

There is also the possibility of Apple announcing an Apple-branded internet service and greatly upgraded portal beyond the current www.apple.com and apple.excite.com. On June 12th I suggested that Apple consider resurrecting its internet service, formerly called eWorld, to help combat the "Free PC" movement as first reported on Macs Only! that date. An Apple ISP will also help to make the internet set up experience with an iMac or iBook as simple and seamless as possible. Subsequently, there has been a lot of speculation on the web that Steve will announce such today. I will go out on a limb here and make the same projection because it makes so much sense to me.

Speaking of being out on a limb, I projected on June 9th that Steve Jobs will announce an Apple-branded PDA, like a 3Com Palm in iMac-like colors. I posted my reasons back then. If the iBook is virtually as I projected, an Apple-branded PDA makes a little less sense but we'll soon see and I am not backing off my projection.

Then there is the speculation that Steve will announce further speed bumps for the B&W PowerMac Pro G3 and the iMac and maybe a bigger screen for the iMac and even DVD ROM across the two lines. These are simple but significant improvements which definitely will come in time. My projection is that this is not the time, partly because the B&W just got a speed bump and partly because a significant iMac improvement should follow the wide availability of the iBook to not steal any of the iBook's thunder. The iMac is already differentiated enough from what I believe the iBook will be so I expect a significantly new iMac to be kept for the holiday season. Look for B&W announcements at Seybold next month.

For software, Phil and Steve will demo the features of Sonata (Mac OS 8.7) which should be out early this fall. They will also demo Mac OS 10.0, that's "ten-point-oh" as Steve said at the WWDC and as was printed on his slides, not Mac OS X. In so far as I know, Macs Only! is still the only web site to post this observation and I find this peculiar. Hopefully, the recent AppleWorks highlights on Apple's web site mentioned on Macs Only! portends improvements to this excellent but much-overlooked Apple productivity package. Speculation on the web is that Claris Emailer will be added but I don't think so with Microsoft's excellent Outlook Express being modeled after Emailer and available for free. There will also be one or more third party software demos. Certainly Microsoft's Ben Waldman will show something, maybe Internet Explorer/Outlook Express 5.0 or better yet Office 2000 as works in progress to help freeze the markets a bit for Microsoft, something which MS seems to like to do.

Financials seem a gimme. Steve has always explained how well Apple is doing. After beating analysts' consensus projections in all seven quarters of unbroken profitability, I project he won't skip this opportunity to further remind the gloom-and-doomers that Apple is doing very well indeed. But then, Steve likes to be unpredictable. He will be in this case.

Keep watch. As soon as possible after the keynote, I'll post the results.--Bill