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Twice a year, Mac-heads participate in a ritual of frenzied speculation about what will be revealed, announced, and released, at the bi-annual U.S. MacWorld Expo trade shows, not to mention slightly less intense anticipation leading up to the expos at Tokyo and Paris, the Worldwide Developers' Conference, Seybold, and ad hoc scheduled "Apple events" such as the one last May 1st for release of the new iBook. Actually, the rumor mill never stops churning, but it really grinds into overdrive during the run-up to the San Francisco and New York shows. What drives this phenomenon? Personally, while I am of course interested in what the next product developments will be on my favorite computer platform, I remain largely sanguine, and content to wait and see what Steve Jobs tells us in his keynote. Product cycles being what they are, some things are predictable based on common sense deduction -- not leaks and spy photos -- periodic speed bumps for example, although these have been fewer and farther between over the past two years, especially on the G4 end. One hopes that there will be some movement on that front next week. Both the G4 tower machines, and especially the iMac, are considerably overdue for major revamps, and we can certainly expect some major announcements in that regard, although the latest scuttlebutt suggests that a new flat screen iMac likely won't be ready for New York, and another speed bump and face lift of the current form factor is more likely as a stopgap. It seems logical that the flagship PowerBook will be tweaked to at least match the junior Mac portable in removable media drive options, and to open up some distance in clock speed. No crystal ball gazing is required for these surmises. The most intriguing rumor for 'Bookistas like me has been the "Son of Pismo" speculation about a mid-range portable slotted between the iBook and TiBook, using a fast G3, the 14.1" screen, and essentially the motherboard architecture from the discontinued Pismo notebook. That would be a nice package, but I rather suspect that what is more likely would be a stretched iBook with a larger display and perhaps a faster G3 chip. I imagine that even Apple's expectations have been more than exceeded by the spectacular reception the new iBook has received, and logically speaking it would be to their advantage to get some higher priced and more profitable mileage out of the iBook form factor. However, I will not be surprised if Apple just stands pat for now with the iBook... but you never know. Software wise, OS 9.2 is reportedly ready, but may be just quietly slipped out the door with no hoopla as OS 9.1 was in January. A new OS X build (OS X 10.1?) is virtually inevitable. And of course there my well be some of those "Oh, and one more thing...." complete surprises. I hope so. What will be, will be. I'm happy to wait and see. A bit of suspense is the spice of life. For more information about the latest MacWorld Expo News, you'll find it on the Applelinks MacWorld Expo page here:
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