Macworld's fading future

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>> Host Hi. I'm here with CDNet Senior Editor, Sam Diaz, who right now is a little bit of a disillusioned Machead. So how you feeling, Sam?

>> Sam Diaz I'm feeling OK. Yeah. Macworld wasn't quite what I thought it would be. It was a bit of a disappointment, but I'm feeling alright about it.

>> Host You kind of looked like a kid who sort of discovered Santa Clause doesn't exist anymore.

>> Sam Diaz Well, you know, you always expect great things out of MacWorld. You know, the big keynote speech, the great product announcements, and, you know, all the great stuff that you see on the show floor this year.

>> Host No. Just wasn't there.

>> Sam Diaz Wasn't there.

>> Host Alright. So let's walk through the phases of Macworld, so to speak.

>> Sam Diaz OK.

>> Host The big, the big news was the Phil Schiller keynote, who was filling in for Steve Jobs. How did you think it went?

>> Sam Diaz Well, you know, the keynote itself really, it really lacked. It really, you know, on the applause meter, it was really high at the beginning. The excitement was there. The anticipation, and then as you sort of progressed through it, it got much, much slower. I don't think that was Schiller's fault, though. Schiller seemed to be an enthusiastic guy. He got caught up in, when there was applause. He sort of built on that energy, but, you know, he just didn't have the material. The announcements were really weak. An upgrade to iLive. Way too long talking about new features in iPhoto. Then you go into iWork and the version of iWork, which, you know, you can only hear about features within spreadsheets for so long.

>> Host Yeah, you kind of lost me when we were going through the spreadsheet demo.

>> Sam Diaz Yeah, yeah, and 20 minutes into it, that's a long time to be talking about that. And, you know, finally, a 17 inch Macbook, and we Macheads, we love our Macbooks, but that was a lot to get excited about.

>> Host But what did you think about the battery? It last a long time. I think they said eight hours, but the other issue is that it's fixed.

>> Sam Diaz Right. I mean, and that's a problem, and we had the same sort of problem with the iPhone. I mean, people want to be able to get in there and replace the battery if it needs it. They say it has a five-year life, but I don't know if I want to be the guinea pig to find out if it's really going to last five years, and then I'm assuming I'm going to have to go back to Apple and have it replaced whenever it does got out. So I don't know. I'm never really a fan of not being able to access things within the device.

>> Host Yeah, and I think they also want you to think, they also want you to at least ponder replacing your existing Macbook.

>> Sam Diaz Oh sure. Why not. Absolutely.

>> Host So then after the show or keynote, you walk the floor a bit, and did you see anything interesting?

>> Sam Diaz Well, I saw a lot of great cool little gadgets that you see at a Saturday morning flea market. You know, plenty of iPhone skins and carrying cases and speakers and ear buds and all that, but, you know, that's really not what I want to see from the show floor at Macworld. You know, I want to see some great new applications. I want to see some great new products and services, and there were a few things. I mean, there's some cool tools in terms of productivity software. There's some, you know, meeting management stuff that's out there. You saw some cool add ons for things like iTunes and synchronization and all that, but for the most part, there was really nothing that jumped out and said, "Wow, this is great for, for, you know, you Macheads out there." Just, it just wasn't there. It really lacked.

>> Host So why do you think things are lacking?

>> Sam Diaz Well, I mean, there's a couple of reasons. I mean, one, you're starting to see, you know, before Macworld, it used to be just this sort of show, showcase for a niche audience. You know, Mac was a very small audience. Mac is going a little bit mainstream now. So a lot of the stuff that you see out there for the Mac is also out there for Linux systems. It's also for Windows PCs. It just doesn't seem special anymore. You know, the other thing too is a lot of the software used to be designed for the operating system, and now with software heading into the cloud more often, you really just need an Internet browser so it doesn't really matter what operating system it is. I went up to several vendors with, they had some pretty cool software, and I said, you know, "Hey, is this for the Mac only?" They were like, "No, no. We're from PC2. It works on everything. It runs on the web." So with that case note, do you really need a show for something like that when, I don't know, it's there for everyone.

>> Host Yeah. So you're almost a mainstream guy now?

>> Sam Diaz Well, I don't know if I'd go that far, but sure.

>> Host And then finally, you know, Macworld actually, I, I had assumed that Macworld was done. It was going to be Apple's, you know, finally appearance at Macworld. Yet, you notice some banners up there where they are coming back in 2010.

>> Sam Diaz That's right.

>> Host Can Macworld go on without Apple?

>> Sam Diaz Yeah. There's signs up throughout Mosconi phonetic. They've already got the date set. Early January 2010, but, you know, I don't know. I mean, is there going to be a Macworld 2010 just because there's dates set? I mean, we've seen weddings get called off with dates set already. You know, without Jobs, without the draw of Apple and new products or big announcements, I mean, who's really going to want to go to Macworld. There will be the enthusiasts that will still want to go and certainly some vendors, but I don't know that it's going to get the turnout that it got this year, and even this year, the turnout wasn't that great. I mean, I'll probably go, but just because it's in my own backyard, but otherwise, I don't really see the value. I, I don't know. Will there be a Macworld next year? It's anyone's guess, I guess.

>> Host Yeah. It's a tough sell.

>> Sam Diaz Yeah.

>> Host Thanks, Sam.

>> Sam Diaz Sure.

>> Host And for more information on Macworld, visit blogs.cdnet.com.

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