By Fabian Westerwelle
This year has been one, if not the worst years in our history. The elections made us all look stupid, and many did not like our new president. The stock market fell deep again, and of course there was the event that made all other problems look like kids playing in the sand: September 11th.
It changed our whole country and made us see how very unimportant our daily worries were. After 9/11 who cared about what iMac would be released at MacWorld SF, or what we needed to make our system better, what games would be released, or who we would play in the next clan match. All we cared about were the people in New York, our family and friends, and grief about all who died. We now also know much more about what is important in life and we are much more caring and sophisticated when it comes to human suffering or loss.
Is that a good thing though? Wasn't it a lot more fun when we were more innocent back in the "old" days? When all we had to worry about actually were the iMac releases, the clan matches, or computer games.
Well I think we are returning back to normal, at least slightly and maybe we are back to the point were we want to think about the old stuff again. So lets get to the point. How did Apple do in this tragic year?
Apple put their digital hub strategy into full swing during the last year.
They started the year of with a bang when the PowerBook G4 was introduced at MacWorld SF. It looked amazing with its titanium body, and its blazing speed. It basically set up the video editing trend Apple is into now with Final Cut Pro. You can shoot, and edit a whole movie on a PowerBook G4. Even though there were some problems with its battery it was probably the biggest news of the last year.
Then later in May the new iBook was introduced. No one really expected it since it was announced at a small press conference. The iBook was designed to be more appealing to people who hated the old "purse look", finally Apple got their thinking straight. It looked really nice with its silver look and it was very versatile with its two USB ports, and FireWire ports. The iBook is the portable for the average consumer in Apples digital hub strategy.
All that was small though compared to MacWorld NYC. Yeah right. MacWorld NY was a high anticipated event that didn't life up to anyones expectations. Not that that was a planned thing. Many rumors where flying around on the net about new LCD iMacs, new PowerMac G4's, handhelds (the Newton coming back), and everything else possibly imaginable. What happened on the big day? Well Steve threw around a Digital camera, got us all hyped up about MacOS 10.1 but made us wait for it, and generally had nothing very interesting to show. But it was always mend that way. MWNY wasn't supposed to be a big show, people just made it out to be. Now MWSF is coming and Apple says that "This one is big. Even to our standards." There is definitely something big coming, and this time it's ok to fill the rumor forums with wild speculations.
Then later in the year the iPod was released. Apple's first electronic device since the Newton, and the first portable that is part of the electronic hub strategy. It holds 1000 songs on its hard drive, and has a 10 hour battery life. Many other cheaper MP3 players feature that too, but what is really amazing is its innovative interface. It is like nothing before and it is truly a joy to use.
Apple also opened a dozen more Apple Stores all over the country, that are now making a loss. The theory now is that the stores are not planned to make a profit themselves, but rather to hype up current users and convert PC users, who then will buy Apple products over other means such as the online store. "Shop in store, buy online".
Apple has also introduced MacOS 10.1 which finally makes OS X worth using. It is as fast as it should have been from the beginning, and supports more printers, burners etc. Also more software is comming out daily, making the OS even more apealing. The only thing Apple could have done better with OS 10.1 would have been to actually release it when it was announced at MacWorld NY, instead of just hyping up the crowds.
A few more minor things were the updates of the iMac series which included an update in early 2001, and one during the summer. The processor speeds where bumped, more hard drive space was added, every iMac now has USB and FireWire ports, and a few other minor improvements were added. The iBook and PowerBook G4 were also updated a few more times.
That was the year for Apple. So what can we expect for this year? (2002) Well Apple is certainly starting of the year with a bang at a MacWorld SF that is according to Apple "..big. Even to our Standards." Lets hope the rest of the year will be the same. With less war and more peace, and instead of real worries, some more of those pathetic worries that we all seem to love so much.
Happy New Year!!
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