So, yesterday I posted about my hopes and dream for Apple's last Macworld keynote. Consider those dreams crushed. :)
That's OK. But I guess it's at least partially worth examining what did and did not happen, based on what I commented on before the show.
MobileMe/data sync/iPhone improvements
None of this was mentioned. My MobileMe subscription runs out on January 11, in just four days. But since I have Gmail Contacts and Google Calendar syncing over the air to the iPhone now, I guess that doesn't much matter. I think I'm going to bail. (And I've been using this service since Apple first announced .Mac, the MobileMe predecessor.)
iLife on the Web
Contrary to the rumors, Apple did not announce an iLife cloud computing service.
iWork on the Web
Here, the rumors were only partially right. Instead of a full-fledged Google Docs competitor, Apple announced a paid service that will only work for people who actually use iWork on the Mac. Interesting? No.
Apple home media center
Contrary to the rumors, Apple did not announce a home media server, nor did it announce any upgrades to the Apple TV.
Mac mini
Contrary to the rumors, Apple did not announce a long-overdue and long-awaited Mac mini update at the show.
17-inch Macbook with integrated battery
Here, finally, the rumormongers got it right: Apple did announce this product in the keynote.
Market share claims
Apple mentioned that it sold 9.7 million Macs during its last fiscal year. However, FY 2008, for Apple, does not mean calendar year 2008 (the company's fiscal year runs from October to September, so we'll still have to do some math when the final PC sales numbers come out for 2008). What this means is that Apple has not yet revealed how well the holiday sales period went. The company did mention, of course, that it grew at over twice the rate of the industry during that time period (37.7 percent vs. 15.2 percent). As I've explained time and time again, that doesn't help much when your market share is small. I expect Apple's market share in 2008 to be around 4 percent. Regardless, without Jobs on stage, the claims weren't as boastful as usual. Interesting.
Regarding the keynote in general, it was a snooze-a-thon. Apple just didn't have anything interesting to announce. I wrote more about this recently in a WinInfo news article, so I won't beat that to death here.