Musings by Grace Chng

I’m watching the swearing in of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the US. I’m watching CNN as well as on cnn.com. I counted 16 camera angles and another 4 on cnn.com capturing the excitment and the mood of this historic moment. 

Also interesting is the collaboration between CNN and Facebook. I can see all the Facebook members, mostly from the US, watching the moment online. 

I thought there would be problems getting into cnn.com. How surprised, no problem at all with the streaming. Smooth and no lag at all. Must find out from the ISPs whether there’s  spike in bandwidth tonight.

Good luck to Obama, I think he’ll have a short honeymoon before people start to hassle him to get the US back into shape.

December had been an eventful month for Apple. Apple’s guru Steve Jobs said he wasn’t going to be speaking at Macworld. That shocked me. It was unbelievable. Why, how … the questions were endless. Rationally, I know why he’s doing it - trade shows are no longer the way to tell the world about your products, the Internet and well located retail shops have proved more effective. 

Deep down I’ll miss his performance - yes, it’s a performance by a master showman - at the keynote speeches. I’m too sentimental, said my friends. I’m calmed and hopeful that he’ll show up somewhere to announce the Next Big Thing. 

I leave San Francisco tomorrow, grateful to have had the opportunity to hear and see the iconic Jobs unveil so many cool and sexy gadgets. There was iPod but what really caught my eye was the iPod Mini which came in several colours like blue, green, gold and silver. Then there’s the iPhone and the iPhone 3G. 

Jobs had a way of making the products so compelling, so attractive that you must have it. A master pitchman, he is. 

What I’ll not miss is the whole rigmarole of secrecy. No one at Apple Singapore knows what’s going to be announced until a few days before. Even then, their lips are zipped so tightly, no sound can be heard. Anyone who dares let slip what new things will be announced during Macworld gets the sack.

The irony is I also admire how a multinational company can seal the lips of all 16000 employees. No matter how tough Jobs is and how he separates the development team so that no one knows the complete product, the fact remains that the company is disciplined enough not to let slip during gossip sessions with friends and family or pillow talk. Remarkable! Because of this secrecy, whatever he announces is even more impactful. 

I don’t know if Macworld will last. The banners over the exhibition centre at Moscone says that it’ll be held Jan 4-8 2010. Given that Apple has withdrawn from the expo from next year, the show has lost its main attraction. But there’re still lots of Apple faithful who come to San Francisco every January as a pilgrimage to see what’s new in Mac land. Maybe they’ll be enough for Macworld to stay albeit as smaller show.

Apple people say that it’s the beginning of a new era. That’s marketing speak. Actually, Apple just wants to dictate where and when it wants to unveil its eye-grabbing gizmos and not only in January. Well, I’m hoping something will happen soon…. I’m still waiting for the candy bar iPhone to appear.

Here I am at Macworld 09 in San Francisco. It does feel odd for a Macworld with no Steve Jobs. I miss his panache, his sense of timing in making key comments and his showmanship in public speaking. Phil Schiller who replaced him as the keynote speaker did not attempt to copy him.He did it his own way which was good. 

Walking to the show this morning at 8am, it felt as though fewer people were going to Macworld. Previously, I could see lots of people - I know they’re heading for Macworld because of their badges - heading towards the Moscone Expo centre. This year, there’re no queues and entering the expo hall was a breeze. 

When the doors opened at 8.40am, there’s a still a sudden surge to be among the first to get in to grab a good seat. But the hall didn’t fill up immediately until minutes before 9am. I guess the latecomers didn’t bother turning up early because they would be sure to get a seat. About 1000 people fitted into the hall but there’re spots of empty seats here and there. 

The new goodies were mostly software and only 1 new hardware was announced: the 17-inch Macbook Pro. Because you can’t feel and touch software, the reception is always muted. The 17-inch notebook isn’t for everyone, since it’s aimed at the high-end power user. Nevertheless, the new features introduced in iLife and iWork are really neat and reiterates Apple’s ability to make it easy for users to use computers. 

Phil in his 90-minute keynote address - as long as in previous years - also talked about iTunes especially tiered pricing and the dropping of anti-copying measures. There aren’t many people in Singapore who can buy songs over iTunes but those who can will be happy to know that there is tiered pricing now: US69 cents, US99 cents and US$1.29.

 US$1.29? I don’t think I’ll pay that much, it’ll really depend on whether I’ll like the artist and/or song. Older songs may go for US69 cents each but then who wants to buy older songs unless I discover an artist I haven’t heard before.

I buy more TV episodes and rent movies rather than buy music. With the price going up, it won’t affect me but I’ll certainly think twice if albums cost more now. 

As for the expo, the usual exhibitors are there. Glaring absence from Belkin, Adobe and Singapore’s own Creative Tech. I hear they’ve gone north to Las Vegas for the CES show. No loss to me. Belkin and Creative Tech sell iPod and iPhone accessories, maybe newer models - how many iPod speakers, skins and covers can one buy? Besides with this recession, people are more careful with their money so while accessories are cheaper, people may hang on to their current stuff longer. Adobe - once you’ve PDF, you don’t need anything else. Besides iPhoto with all its upgrades will do just as well as PHotoshop and Photoshop Elements.

Apple’s last Macworld - it won’t be taking part in the show anymore - ended with two jazz numbers song by Tony Bennett. The crooner fittingly sang The Best Is Yet To Come - is that a veiled hint that more goodies will be launched later this year - and I Left My Heart In San Francisco as a tribute, I guess, to all the attendees who make the annual pilgrimage to Macworld every year.

Certainly I’m sad that my January calendar is suddenly empty. But hey, whenever Apple has new things and calls, the journalists including I would not be able to pack our bags quick enough to head out to wherever they’re announcing their new stuff. That’s the power of Apple.

I leave Monday for what will probably be my last Macworld. I’m sad. Apple will be pulling out of Macworld which is the largest and best gathering of Mac fans in the world. This is the last year it’ll participate in Macworld. 

Even Steve Jobs will not be speaking at the event’s keynote. Apple’s chief marketing honcho Phil Schiller will speak instead. 

Everybody’s guess is that it’ll be a muted Macworld because no one expects anything big to be announced. That I think so although I hope there’ll be some exciting new gizmo to write about. Given these gloomy times, it would be nice to have a sexy new toy that’ll excite every gadget lover. 

What will it be? There’ll be the updates on Apple’s business like the number of applications available on App Store and the amount sold. There’ll certainly be a celebatory note on the number of iPhones sold. It’s certainly sold more than the 10 million units Steve Jobs had predicted about a year ago.

In terms of new products, it’s tough to say what’ll be available. Apple has always been a trendsetter and not a follower. So I don’t think it’ll be a netbook since every brand worth its salt has this new laptop format out. It might be a Nano iPhone - that will be quite nice to have. Or there would be upgrades to Apple TV or the iLife product. 

Whatever it is, I’ll be sad. I get a big kick going to Macworld every year. The new gadgets, the landmark keynote speeches by Jobs. I remembered when Jobs unveiled the first iPod Mini. Immediately I knew I wanted the blue iPod Mini. Then there’s the launch of the iPhone and the iPhone 3G. It was so exciting. 

Of course, the way Apple organises the keynote speech, gets the journalists all hyped up. No one knows what’s being launched, only a small group of people in Cupertino, Apple HQ, know the secrets. That generates a lot of gossip offline as people start to speculate what Jobs will pull out of his hat. Gives Apple lots of news. 

I’ll be posting from San Francisco next Monday on what Macworld is like without Jobs. It’ll be less fun but somehow I think Apple will still steal headlines from CES which will be held the same week as Macworld.