Love it or hate it, the time before an Apple announcement is a time for rumors. They flutter about the flame of credibility, at the very boundary of reasonable doubt, and then, come the event, are cruelly incinerated by the harsh heat of truth. Actually, it’s not nearly so picturesque; it’s more like “people want pageviews so they propagate the most fanciful BS ever to hit the tip line.” So in the wake of Apple’s eventful announcement today, let’s see what was floating around in past weeks that did not come to pass.
The Amazing $800 Apple
I had hopes like everyone else, but in the back of my mind lurked doubt. Was it to be a netbook? A tablet? Just a cost reduction for a basic MacBook? Nobody knew for sure, but for some reason the number 800 just stuck in people’s minds. We heard otherwise towards the end. As it turns out, they kept the same pricing scheme almost exactly — and really, $1000 isn’t that much more.
Touchscreen Trackpad
How awesome/retarded would this have been? This kind of hybrid isn’t Apple’s style, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see the idea used somewhere else. I could use a little touchscreen to complement my desktop, so why not include one stuck onto my laptop?
The “Mystery Port”
Ha! I totally nailed this one. Everyone was freaking out about this ambiguous-looking port on the front left corner, saying oh it’s a dock, oh it’s a robot port, etc. Only I was a bastion of skepticism, saying it was nothing at all. Only I! And some commenters, I guess, who I got the idea from. Actually, it’s a battery indicator thing, so it’s not exactly nothing, but it sure ain’t what all them folks said it were.
Blu-Ray all up in there
I can’t believe anyone took this one seriously. Apple is about downloads. They’ve capitalized so much on the iTunes store and the digital distribution model so much that to make a commitment to a new disc format would be ridiculous. Furthermore, people don’t want Blu-Ray on their laptops. Not only is the better picture less appreciable than on a big screen, but most people still want to make regular DVDs of their iMovies and such. They don’t need, or want, the capability to write 50GB to a disc over like half an hour.
Other than that, the other rumors turned out pretty much right. Brick manufacturing process, no 17″ update, new MacBooks (with black/metallic color scheme), new Cinema Display.
So… what’s coming in January, then?
Actually, the “Mystery Port” you mentioned WAS the batter indicator light bar, I believe. Is that what you thought it was or were you saying that it was nothing but a piece of tape?
At the time of the rumor post, I thought it was a piece of tape, but there was a little bit of structure around it on the inside so it’s clear it wasn’t JUST tape. I’m not sure if I put my reservations about that in there.
Actually, it’s pretty interesting how accurate the rumors have gotten.
There was a time, not too long ago, that we were actually surprised by these Apple events. These days, for the most part, we know everything before Steve utters a word.
Kinda makes me miss the old days. These Apple announcements used to be so exciting.
Hey!
I want Blu-ray! Yes, I want to be able to play the Blu-ray disks I’ve already bought for my Blu-ray player right there on my laptop if I want to, or up onto my large external monitor if I want to. But most of all I want that huge backup recording capability, the ability to easily and cheaply store off site backup archives. That is, I want Blu-ray most for good computer reasons. I want to be able to play Blu-ray data disks recorded for me by friends who have been forced by ogres to use inferior Windows machines that CAN use the superior recording medium of Blu-ray.
The absence of Blu-ray is just building in a point of incompatability for Windows users to poke fun at.
Hey, I want blu-ray too. But as a move by apple, it makes no sense. it costs too much, goes against their future plans, and not enough people want it. I’m gonna get a burner for my XP box one of these days.