News & Views

Steve Jobs has to be under more pressure than David Copperfield. The first time you make a dove disappear. To 'WOW' the audience the next time you have to make a woman disappear. Then a Lamborghini. Then an elephant. And next a yacht. How do you continually top yourself?

It's practically a lose-lose situation. So Steve introduces the original Bondi Blue iMac. After a while he introduces the iBook. Then the Titanium PowerBook. Then a new form iMac. Then the ubiquitous iPod, then the G5 tower, and on and on.

This conundrum is starting to come to a head. Since we always expect Mr. Jobs to 'WOW' us with 'One More Thing ...,' people seem to get more and more ho-hum every Macworld about the announcements. They're ready and geared to whine.

Take for example, the announcement of the MacBook Pro. I plead 'No Contest.' My first thought about the laptop was, "What no FireWire 800!?!" Once I was escorted down from my chair and the swItchblade removed from my hand, some calm, knowledgeable people began to explain to me that it wasn't a big deal at all. Since most people have no need for that speed, they pulled it from the base model to cut costs. If I want my FireWire 800 (and I do!) I can purchase an ExpressCard/34 with my beloved 800 ports!

That makes a whole lot of sense. I used a PCMCIA card for a long time with my Titanium to give me extra FireWire 400 slots! And I was perfectly happy with that arrangement. So, some people will pocket some dosh, whereas, those of us who crave speed can get it la carte,

The next hurdle was the name. I can safely say that no topic provided more fodder for conversation that week than whether the moniker "MacBook Pro' was worthy of its lineage. "It doesn't roll off the tongue!' was the general consensus. I'm still not enamored with the name but I realize in hindsight that they could just as simply called it "Bob" and it would have been the same computer. And I fully understand wanting to leave the 'Power' prefix behind, Yet again, Steve can't win.

And you know, the furor over these topics didn't abate during the entire show. But as I read somewhere (I apologize for not remembering who's quote this is) that Mac users will whine about the Stevenote product announcements for the entire week of Macworld, then reflect and read up on what was actually introduced, then spend the next couple of weeks clamoring to get a hold of one,

While doing a daily vodcast from the Exhibit Hall the entire week for Macsimum News, it was my privilege to interview, amongst many Mac luminaries, Mr. Leo Lapotre. One of my standard questions was "using the Macworld rating scale of five mice, how would you rate MWSF 2006?" Leo looked at me and without hesitation responded "two."

"Two?" Why two? "Because I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop." He feels that it'll be a year with a monthly "One More Thing ...". Christmas times twelve. Think of it.

Now, think of Steve's situation. It's not easy being Steve.

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2006 Frank Petrie -
Macsimum News contributing editor, Freelance writer, Curmudgeon Email: frank@macsimumnews.com
iChat: phranky
Archive: home.comcast.net/~phranky

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