Mac Scope

Macworld Expo: Christmas for Macheads

Stephen Van Esch - 2003.12.24

Everyone is no doubt caught up in the full swing of the holidays. Presents to give and receive, festivities to attend, and delicious meals to digest.

But for most Mac fans, the real Christmas season starts with Steve Jobs taking to the stage at Macworld Expo on January 6th.

In recent years, Macworld has been a real treat for Mac users. Sure, it's always a treat, but lately there's been one cool thing after another. And Apple just seems to be catching its stride now. The accelerated pace of Mac development is a joy to watch. From a reasonably standard computer maker in the late 90s, Apple has been transformed into a hardware/software/multimedia/music powerhouse.

Of course, some of this can be attributed to the disastrous decline of Apple before the iMac made its appearance. After all, when you start at the bottom of a hole in the ground, finally getting to the surface is a major accomplishment.

Apple climbed out of their hole and left ground level a long time ago, and it just seems to keep going.

So what can we expect for Christmas this year? Well, there's some wild speculation out there, and I'm not in the business of making predictions. Add the fact that my wife keeps her hands on the purse strings when Macworld rolls around (don't ask), and I'll be stuck window-shopping like I usually do.

While some are always looking forward to new products from Apple, I think we may see more of a consolidation this year. There have been many new products from Apple in the last several years, and each has received incremental improvements. Instead of focusing on new products, I suspect that the old software stalwarts will be refined and improved. Hardware will also go through a refining period.

This is all idle speculation, of course, so don't quote me. For all I know, Apple may have a plethora of new hardware and software just waiting to make our computing lives easier and more enjoyable.

I will predict that 2004 will bring more good news for Apple. With tech spending up, customers looking for something other than Microsoft, and a general acceptance (instead of snide disapproval) of Macs in general, Apple may finally be able to build on the foundation they've created over the last several years.

I'm looking forward to Christmas all year long.

Stephen Van Esch is the founder and president of the E-learning Foundry, an online training resource for Mac users. Steve loves the Mac and is doubly bilingual, since he's also fluent in Windows and French.

Recently on Mac Scope

Connecting with the broader Macintosh community, 2007.04.06. "But beyond the very minor celebrity status that came with being published on Low End Mac, it gave me a real opportunity to participate in the Mac community."
Hardware failure, that rare Mac headache, 2004.07.09. Macs are usually pretty reliable, but a hardware failure after just two-and-a-half years is still disappointing.
Still waiting for iTunes Music Store Canada, sort of, 2004.06.23. While the pay-per-tune model makes sense, Apple's post-purchase copy management flies in the face of Canadian copyright law.
More in the Mac Scope index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Mac IIfx, introduced 1990.03.19. This 'wicked fast' 40 MHz Mac trumped the 33 MHz DOS world.
February 13 in LEM history: 01: Layoffs may hurt Mac market - 02: Unix for the Mac - Rage against the Macintosh - 03: Options to move data from PCs to Macs - 04: Low cost RAM for older 'Books - 06: Apple, IBM, and Intel - 07: Picking the right cheap computer, new or used - 08: I needed to find an older Mac
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact

Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2012 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iPad iPhone, iMac, iPod, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.
Advice is presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Email may be published at our discretion unless marked "not for publication"; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.

Custom Search

Follow Low End Mac on Twitter
Join Low End Mac on Facebook

Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler 11 is now in the Mac App Store!! -- Special Introductory Price of $59.95!! -- To Buy From The Mac App Store Click Here Now!! Or buy direct from Strider Software.

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker and Mac Casino applications in minutes.

Affiliates

Amazon.com
The Apple Store
The iTunes Store
PC Connection Express
GainSaver
Parallels Desktop for Mac
eBay