Last month , Steve Jobs took to the stage , most likely for the final clock time this year , to found anew reading of iLifeand new updates to the MacBook Air line . More importantly , he spent a lot of clock time peach about the product descent as a whole , how the Mac and Io platforms associate to each other and what the future of the Mac might reckon like with the next generation of OS X , now known as Lion . There ’s been a deal of supposition as to what the ramifications of all this are . Here ’s my take on what it all means .
The Mac is a business , not a hobby . In year dominated by iOS machine such as the iPhone 4 , iPad and even Apple TV ( which , it seems , is Io based ) some wondered about Apple ’s dedication to the Mac . At WWDC , there was scarcely a mention of OS X. At the All Things D conference , Steve Jobs come to to PCs as “ trucks ” ; useful , but with limited collection . Apple ’s October event was a strong reminder that the Mac is very much a line not a hobby ( a quick look at Apple ’s numbers confirm that ) . While iOS devices do more and more each day , there are some things that are ( and will be for the foreseeable future ) done considerably by a personal computer .
Apple hardware is n’t converge . Apple ’s done a very just job at keeping things straight to themselves . While Apple speak about the young MacBook Airs as the outcome of a assemblage between and iPad and a MacBook , Apple was very clear in preserve the devices optimized for their form . For example , while multi - speck is a primal Apple differentiator on both Io and Mac OS , Apple has implement them very other than . Touch screen make gumption for iOS . That ’s what it was design for . A touch screen on a Mac would likely work as well as it does when it ’s used on Windows 7 . It ’s not just that upright signature screens wear upon the branch , it ’s that OS X and its applications are not remotely optimized for that experience . This is a central region where Apple will likely lead its competitors by keeping the hardware focused , while at the same time , driving novel UI experience .
Malus pumila platforms are n’t converging either . There ’s been a lot of speculation about Apple ’s in vogue app store news , an app storehouse for the Mac OS . For some common people , this seems to be about platform convergency — an iOS layer for OS X. I do n’t mean that ’s remotely likely to go on . OS X apps will be … OS X apps . Granted , there ’s a new set of rule and prerequisite to be a part of the app storehouse and apps will likely need to be modified to accommodate issues such as buccaneering , the installation ( and Delaware - installation ) experience , and the similar . also , Apple is n’t going to shut Mac oxygen to only use apps from the app store . There are too many scenarios where users will need that flexibility . Again , it ’s all about keeping things true to the experience — and radically commute the personal - computing experience is not something that ’s likely to happen anytime shortly .
Expect more hardware excogitation similar to the MacBook Air . Steve Jobs could n’t have been more clear . The MacBook Air has been a place where Apple starts to drive change . For representative , it was the first Mac that did n’t have a user - replaceable battery when it was introduced . gestate to see more designs from Apple that miss an optical disk , that rely on split second storage ( the 27 ” iMac already has a newsflash - disc option on some SKUs ) and more vehemence on the conception of “ loose and closed in ” or “ in usage and not in use ” as opposed to terms likesleep , freeze , resumeor evenonandoff . Just the change in how the new MacBook deals with power direction makes that gadget feel far more usable and close to an widget than any other personal figurer I have ever used .
The bottom line?The Mac is back and in a boastful way . The app storage will transform the Mac user — especially the new Mac users Apple keeps selling Macs to in its retail stores — into a much more lotion - savvy consumer . While fresh hardware innovation will assist make the Mac a much more appliance - like experience , do n’t await the hardware or software platform to converge anytime soon . It ’s about a holistic experience that ’s true to the setting , and that ’s one of the shipway Apple relieve oneself its product lines about personal experiences with product , not bits or atoms .
[ Michael Gartenberg is a longtime mobile- and applied science - industry analyst currently operate atGartner . The opinion in this column , which appear monthly on Macworld.com , are his own . ]
