Apple: Steve's baby

I have promised a post about Apple, but one has yet to come just because I have been a little lazy ... so here it is.

I am going to start with Steve Jobs.  Apple news seems to revolves around Steve Jobs, Steve this, Steve that - he is of concern to everyone.  When CNN issued the ireport that he died, the stock took a nosedive.  People are overly convinced that Steve Jobs is Apple.  Gigaom has a post about how Apple will be just fine without Steve Jobs, here.  I'd like to think it is true, and hope that people aren't stupid enough to realize that a single man doesn't make a company great.  Steve has instilled a culture at Apple that will long out last him - at least I'm sure he hopes it does.

On that note ... you may have heard that this is the last year Apple will be participating in the Macworld conference - set to take place in early January in San Francisco.  Apple backing out of the trade show means that it is over, and is certainly the end of an era - but I think they are right in doing so.  Apple used the event to tout new products - something that is just as easily done from the small theatre on the Cupertino campus.  More interestingly though, even though this is the last Macworld - Steve Jobs won't be giving the keynote ... so what does that mean.

Well as of this morning, investment firm Piper Jaffray thinks that nothing of any excitement will  be announced because of Mr. Job's absence.  I am inclined to think the contrary ... perhaps Apple is going to prove that they can make a huge announcement without Steve Jobs standing up on the stage and dazzling people.  The events aren't about him, it should be about the product - right?

So what will we see at Macworld ... what will come.  Here is what is making its way around the rumor mills:

* Mac mini - the mini has been the same forever, and people have said it is going bye bye time and time again.  The mini has proved itself, especially in business applications - where people want a small form factor machine that can perform basic tasks and display video - without crashing.  I know its funny when we you see the BSOD on a display outside or at some store, but I'm sure the company doesn't find it cool - so they should be choosing the mini.  I desperately hope the mini gets an update ... and I think it will, especially with Apple's switch to Display Port technology with the latest lineup of Macbooks.

* iMac - Our age old friend needs a redesign ... maybe?  It will definitely see some kind of refresh, who knows if there will be an actual design change.

* iPhone Nano - This has been speculated before ... will we see it.  Who knows, I'm not holding my breath.  Engadget has some deets on the situation, here.

* Apple Media Server - You will remember my post yesterday about HP's MediaSmart home media server, and my complaints about how Apple has been basically useless in this category.  The AppleTV was a great start ... but it doesn't have the storage capacity to be a media server, nor was it meant to serve that purpose.  Yesterday afternoon, right after the HP announcement, mac rumor site 9to5Mac posted a rumor about a supposed media server that we could expect to see at Macworld.  I screamed for joy.  It would basically serve as an add on to MobileMe (hopefully no cost change), and would be able to act as a home media server and one accessible over the internet (so I don't need to use Lala at work - sorry Lala).  9to5 has the full rundown, here, but it sounds pretty awesome.  This is exactly what I want/need.

Anyway Phil Schiller, SVP of Worldwide Marketing, will be giving the keynote on Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 at 9am PST.  So, on Tuesday morning look for some links to live blogs on the keynote and look for something after the keynote about what was said and what we got.

Food Coma

Here is what is making news this afternoon (or a few days ago - depending on how far I get in Reader):

* Mike Riggs over the CityDesk took PC Mag's 100 Best Blogs list and narrowed it down to 6 that he thinks are the best of the best.  While I'm not so sure about that, I don't have the time to go look at 100 blogs and decide which are the best, so I'll have to take his word on it.  Go check out his list here; and PC Mag's full list here.  (Conrad, you should check out Riggs' list, there is a cool medieval blog that I can just picture you sharing on a daily basis)

* Good news ... The great Italian restaurant formerly located in ... the Golden Triangle-ish, Galileo, is coming back!  Executive Chef Roberto Donna has signed a letter of intent with the owners of the former Butterfield 9 space.  WaPo Going Out Guru Blog has the full story - here - I don't want to just copy everything they said ... but this is really exciting.  I remember Brandon Sherr used to rave about Galileo - In fact when Friend and I came to visit him/GW in the February 2004, HomeZone @ old J Street was featuring Galileo food - it was delicious.

* Good news again ... and old news.  On Christmas Eve (I had left the post unread in Reader and just read it) the MoCo Planning Board enthusiastically endorsed Light Rail for the Purple Line.  This just a step in the right direction to making sure that the Purple Line actually gets built - and that it is LRT instead of BRT.  Via DCMud - here.

* In other LRT news, BeyondDC brings news that yesterday the Phoenix Valley Metro light rail system officially opened for business!  Finally the Phoenix metro area has rail train sit ... yay!  Excitement!  Here.

* BestBites has a post about how some restaurants including one of my favorites, Poste, have taken to bottling their own sparkling/still water.  It is a little bit more expensive, but in the end they don't have hundreds of cases of empty bottles to throw out - and they can even customize the 'sparkling-ness' of the water.  Here.

* City Room says that NYC had a record 47 million visitors last year - up 1 million from a year earlier.  And they spent $30 Billion in 2008 as well.  Cool.  Here.

* History of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree - here.  (Via City Room)

* An interesting article in The Paper of Record over the weekend about a bar that is moving - and if its patron will follow.  I had to think about this for a while, as I certainly have a good number of bars and restaurants that I frequent because they are good - and fairly close.  If they moved - even if only a few blocks - would I still go?  If they moved closer to me, of course - haha, but there are definitely one or two that I would probably go to much less often if they moved 4 or 5 blocks further from me.  Here.  Your thoughts?

* A Vegas casino with a smoking ban ... hmmm.  This is only one of two casinos in Nevada which has a ban on smoking - it's actually in Reno, not Vegas.  And people are hoping it survives - to show the major casinos that smoking is not necessary for business.  Here - via The Paper of Record.

* The Paper of Record's Motherlode blog (here) wonders what age is it okay for a child to ride the train alone?  A reporter sparked a nationwide debate when she let her 9-year-old ride the subway alone, sent her daughter on the train this Christmas - now 10.  A conductor on the train did not like this, and had the police called - though the officer eventually agreed with the mother and let the child go on her way alone - it makes you wonder ... what is an appropriate age.  The MTA says the minimum age is 8, so clearly the conductor was out of line in his concern - but still ... thoughts?  I think it all depends on the kid, but 10 seems legit - especially in the age of cell phones and constant communication.  

* The Phantom of the Opera: Part 2 -- are you kidding me.  Via Perez, here.  This sounds like crap.

* Crystal City 2.0 ... check it out at DCMud, here.  Maybe we can finally have a Crystal City that is actually friendly and is easy to drive around and walk around - and doesn't look like such a mess.  Even thinking of Crystal City upsets me.

* Do you like Narnia ... too bad.  Disney said no to the 3rd film, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  Via Reuters, here.

* TUAW (here) has some lovely information from Engadget ... while Apple has yet to answer my prayers HP has!  The new HP MediaSmart centers are able to act as a centralized storage server for your iTunes library ... which is necessary now that I have AppleTV.  Oh this is exciting.  Unstoppable.  It is based on Windows Home Server and has storage expandable up to 9TB, and comes standard with 750GB (599$), or 1.5TB (749$).  Amazing, but slightly expensive.

Rejoice: It's over.