Now that there are only about 19 hours until the end of 2008 (at least where I am), I think it would be a good idea to look back at some of the product releases and updates that we saw throughout the year.
Time Capsule
Time Capsule is a really interesting product. As stated by Steve Jobs, it is a "backup appliance". With either a 500GB or 1TB hard drive built in, this device makes backing up your data with Time Machine easy. It also doubles as an AirPort base station which is also very cool.
MacBook Air
One USB port? No optical drive? What the heck? Remember all the complaints that came following the introduction of the MacBook Air? The MacBook Air is Apple's ultra-thin, ultra-portable notebook. With a full size 13.3" display and a beautiful full size backlit keyboard, what is to complain about. I think that the MacBook Air makes perfect sense for someone on the go that doesn't need much power, but needs that small, light package.
iPhone SDK & App Store
I think I'm correct in saying that the iPhone App Store is likely Apple's biggest success of the year. They've sold thousands of third party applications, and some developers are making loads of cash off of their applications. I bet the introduction of the App store has also helped iPhone and iPod Touch sales.
iPhone 3G
Making up 39% of Apple's 3rd Quarter earnings, the iPhone 3G was a major sucess for Apple. It was introduced at WWDC in June and hit the stores on July 11th. The iPhone 3G was half the price of its sucessor, and a third of the price of the original iPhone at it's release. It had problems with slow 3G data, long backups, and poor battery life at first, but it has been improved with the 2.1 and 2.2 software updates.
MobileMe
I'm going to say that MobileMe was a total flop for Apple. It obviously wasn't ready to be released which was clearly shown by all the issues early on. I haven't had any experience using it, so I can't judge if it works fine yet, but I'm kind of dissappointed in Apple for releasing a product as premature as MobileMe was.
Tall iPod Nano
In September, Apple updated the entire iPod line. Most of the models remained looking the same. The iPod Touch was only slightly changed cosmetically. The most apparent change in the iPod line was the new tall, curved iPod nano. It ships in either 8GB for $149 or 16GB for $199. The new nanos are what Apple calls "nano-chromatic" and come in 9 brand new colors that are all very vibrant.
Aluminum MacBooks
Finally we get to Apple's last big announcment of the year. In October, Apple introduced the new aluminum MacBook on top of the previous line which still exists in Apple's product lineup for $999. The aluminum MacBook features a beautiful glass trackpad with no button, a precision unibody enclosure, and a very shiny glossy screen. It does however lack a firewire port, and many users were very frustrated with Apple for that. The new Nvidia 9400M graphics chipset is included for up to five times faster graphics processing than on the previous model which used an Intel GMA integrated graphics chip.
That's pretty much it for 2008. I think Apple has a fairly solid product line-up entering 2009, and I can't wait to see what they introduce next. MacWorld Expo is next week already!
Time Capsule
Time Capsule is a really interesting product. As stated by Steve Jobs, it is a "backup appliance". With either a 500GB or 1TB hard drive built in, this device makes backing up your data with Time Machine easy. It also doubles as an AirPort base station which is also very cool.
MacBook Air
One USB port? No optical drive? What the heck? Remember all the complaints that came following the introduction of the MacBook Air? The MacBook Air is Apple's ultra-thin, ultra-portable notebook. With a full size 13.3" display and a beautiful full size backlit keyboard, what is to complain about. I think that the MacBook Air makes perfect sense for someone on the go that doesn't need much power, but needs that small, light package.
iPhone SDK & App Store
I think I'm correct in saying that the iPhone App Store is likely Apple's biggest success of the year. They've sold thousands of third party applications, and some developers are making loads of cash off of their applications. I bet the introduction of the App store has also helped iPhone and iPod Touch sales.
iPhone 3G
Making up 39% of Apple's 3rd Quarter earnings, the iPhone 3G was a major sucess for Apple. It was introduced at WWDC in June and hit the stores on July 11th. The iPhone 3G was half the price of its sucessor, and a third of the price of the original iPhone at it's release. It had problems with slow 3G data, long backups, and poor battery life at first, but it has been improved with the 2.1 and 2.2 software updates.
MobileMe
I'm going to say that MobileMe was a total flop for Apple. It obviously wasn't ready to be released which was clearly shown by all the issues early on. I haven't had any experience using it, so I can't judge if it works fine yet, but I'm kind of dissappointed in Apple for releasing a product as premature as MobileMe was.
Tall iPod Nano
In September, Apple updated the entire iPod line. Most of the models remained looking the same. The iPod Touch was only slightly changed cosmetically. The most apparent change in the iPod line was the new tall, curved iPod nano. It ships in either 8GB for $149 or 16GB for $199. The new nanos are what Apple calls "nano-chromatic" and come in 9 brand new colors that are all very vibrant.
Aluminum MacBooks
Finally we get to Apple's last big announcment of the year. In October, Apple introduced the new aluminum MacBook on top of the previous line which still exists in Apple's product lineup for $999. The aluminum MacBook features a beautiful glass trackpad with no button, a precision unibody enclosure, and a very shiny glossy screen. It does however lack a firewire port, and many users were very frustrated with Apple for that. The new Nvidia 9400M graphics chipset is included for up to five times faster graphics processing than on the previous model which used an Intel GMA integrated graphics chip.
That's pretty much it for 2008. I think Apple has a fairly solid product line-up entering 2009, and I can't wait to see what they introduce next. MacWorld Expo is next week already!
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