Bye Bye MacWorld

I covered my first MacWorld eight years ago. Today, I covered my last. At least I think I did. Mac lovers around the globe have been in mourning since Apple announced that I will not participate in the annual convention after this year. They also let it be known a few weeks ago that their showman, Steve Jobs, wouldn’t be delivering the keynote for their swan song. If that wasn’t enough, Jobs said the day before the start of the convention that he is indeed ill as everyone had suspected. Needless to say, this MacWorld was a bummer.
Phil Schiller, a VP of Marketing at Apple, stepped in for Jobs to deliver the keynote address. Phil is no stranger to MacWorld keynotes. I think he has made some sort of appearance at just about every MacWorld that I have covered. He’s usually pretty funny. Today, not so much.

The program lasted about 90 minutes. 90 painfully boring minutes. With nothing really new and exciting to announce in the way of products, Phil went over the many new upgrades to the company’s software like iLife and iWork. Phil is definitely no Steve Jobs. Even the crowd wasn’t its usual self. Apple nerds have near orgasmic experiences, belting out gasps and oooohs when Steve would reveal a new product. Hell, all he had to do was show up and they would go nuts. Today, it was mostly silent.

He did announce a new 17” MacBook Pro laptop which has the option of a non-glare screen. Many people have whined about the glossy glass screen that they have on the 12 and 15 inch MacBooks. I guess Apple heard the complaint. The only caveat is it comes with a price. You want non-glare, shell over 50 bucks.
The most notable thing of the day was the announcement iTunes going DRM free. Digital rights managed music on iTunes will soon be a thing of the past. I wish I really knew what that meant. I think it is something to do with music sharing. Anyway, that was the big news of the day. I wish it was easier to photograph something like that.
The show was capped off with a performance by Tony Bennett. He emerged on a moving stage that was so far from where the press was sitting you pretty much needed a high power telescope to see him. He, of course, sang “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” to close keynote and end the Apple’s run at MacWorld.