Last week San Francisco played host to the Macworld Conference & Expo, the culmination of weeks of rumors and speculation that had the gadget-obsessed teetering on the brink of sanity.

Fake Steve Jobs said it best:

If you're pressed for time, the luscious Veronica Belmont (a title given to her by FSJ which I am further propagating) posted a video of the keynote, compressing the 90 minute presentation into 60 seconds.



The big announcement was of course the MacBook Air, which I found a little underwhelming as I really couldn't see its niche. The general consensus is that you can tell what Apple will release by trying to find holes in its product line. It's clear that there was a need for a device more portable than a MacBook and more functional than the iPhone. The industry was speculating everything from a sub-notebook, to a tablet, to a combination thereof.

It was assumed that after the recent release of the Eee PC by Asus, the Taiwanese manufacturer that supplies many of the components for Apple's laptops, that something similar would pop up with an Apple badge, nicer aesthetics, and a premium price tag.

Instead what we received was not so much a sub-notebook, but an anorexic MacBook. The laptop has a similar footprint to Apple's current laptops, yet could readily be considered a downgrade in almost every way except weight, thickness, and the multi-touch track pad. Merlin Mann of 43folders hit the nail on the head: "MacBook Air got small on the least interesting axis to me."

So who is this for? It's not meant to be a primary machine, and even as a secondary machine it doesn't deliver as much as a MacBook Pro for slightly more money or the MacBook for considerably less. It's great "if you're kinda rich and want a fourth computer," quipped Merlin.

That's pretty much the target audience. "I already ordered mine" said Dave Sifry, founder of Technorati, hours after the keynote. It seems if you want a Mac, aren't too worried about the price tag or its inherent drawbacks compared to other laptops in its class (a travel laptop that doesn't allow you to change batteries?) then this is the laptop for you.

Gizmodo seems to have the same view, exemplified by this excerpt from an interview with Mike Abary, senior vice president of VAIO product marketing:

So there's your new Mac. Except Macworld really isn't about Macs anymore, is it? In fact, Macworld hasn't been about Macs for several years now thanks to Apple's resurgence in other markets.

Previous Macworld events had turned into iPod trade shows, with cases and accessories making up a significant chunk of the exhibitor list. Last year was completely devoid of Macs, with all attention being paid to the iPhone with a little Apple TV thrown in.

To give credit where it's due, there was more of a Mac presence this year. "I expected an iPhone show" said famous Photoshopper Bert Monroy while guest hosting on This Week in Tech, "but there was a return to a lot of Mac software". Leo Laporte, host of This Week in Tech agreed, "Microsoft released Office 2008, Intuit was here" referring to two companies that have historically been dragging their feet updating their Mac software.

There was also a respectable showing of Mac games, actually warranting their own pavilion this year. Aspyr Media won a Macworld Best of Show for its port of Guitar Hero III, and also demoed The Sims. CCP Games showed off EVE Online, and EA showed off Spore, though sadly you could only create characters. Not an impressive showing, but it was nice to see.

Aside from that however it's clear that Apple is focusing away from the Mac. In the last five years there have only been three new Macs introduced to the market; the MacBook Air this week, the MacBook in 2006, and the Mac mini in 2005. Despite changes to their names and internal components, Apple's professional laptops and desktops have remained fundamentally unchanged since 2003. Five years is a long time in the computer industry, and even longer for Apple.

The other announcements made by Apple this year further reflect this, with software updates to both the iPhone and Apple TV, the stars of last year's Expo - more underwhelming news from Apple, the updates having been long rumored and lacking in anything groundbreaking.

Movie rentals at $2.99 for old titles, $3.99 for new releases, and $4.99 for HD titles are coming to the iTunes Store and the Apple TV. The prices and selection are competitive compared to Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace, but fall short Netflix's offering.

Netflix stole some of Apple's thunder when it announced unlimited streaming access to all of its unlimited plan customers. Netflix's unlimited plans start at $8.99, which means for less than the price of two HD movies on iTunes you can have unlimited streaming access on Netflix. Netflix also offers 6000 titles for streaming, six times more than Apple's for-rent selection.

It seems then that Netflix is right on Apple's tail, offering more bang for your buck with similar services. However, other companies that have tried to compete with Apple have failed in one crucial area: getting content away from the computer and onto televisions and portable devices. Apple has the Apple TV and an install base of 100+ million iPods and 4 million iPhones. Netflix's service doesn't event work on Macs, much less other devices.

Netflix did make an announcement earlier in the month about a set top box built by LG Electronics that will deliver movies to HDTVs at no additional cost, save the price of the box itself. However it won't be available until at least the second quarter, and is still a far cry from Apple's offering.

Engadget sees this as a sign that the two companies, despite having similar strategies for bringing digital media to the consumer, are aiming at different audiences.

One thing remains clear, with products from Apple, Netflix, TiVo (via a collaboration with Amazon's Unbox), Microsoft, and the critically well received upstart VUDU, digital distribution has become a viable alternative to traditional outlets like TV and hard copy rentals and this makes the Writers Guild strike all the more poignant.

Our own FearTheReaper had this to say about the recent announcements.

But Apple TV's newfound features aren't just a game changer for current studio produced content. They lower the hurdle for new user-generated content as well. Apple TV now allows you to subscribe to podcasts without the need for a computer at all, leap frogging TiVo's own announcement about supporting HD podcasts later this quarter.

There was a strong focus on podcast training at Macworld this year. An entire studio was set up for the purpose of podcast production. Dozens of sessions were made available to attendees on how to raise the quality of production, how to connect with musicians and other artists to collaborate on projects, and how to monetize and market what you produce.

We're likely to see this trend continue as the line between podcasts and traditional programming becomes blurred. Again FTR offered some poignant thoughts.

There are already several well-produced shorts that exist only on the internet, and with the current mood of content producers towards studios, this strike could be the best thing that ever happened to digital distribution.

Another part of Macworld this year that had absolutely nothing to do with Macs was Web 2.0's presence. Pownce, the microblogging social network, held its launch party on Wednesday, celebrating its launch on January 22. Meanwhile, TechCrunch held its inaugural Crunchies, an award ceremony celebrating internet startups and innovators on Friday.

"I'm surprised there aren't more Web 2.0 companies exhibiting this year," said blogger Robert Scoble, "Google was one of the most popular booths." Indeed it was, and that was only partly due to them giving out Google socks, the only swag I relented on. As the line between desktop applications and web applications blurs we will see more exhibitors showing web only products.

It's clear that this show has become more than a gathering of Apple fanboys drooling over the latest toys from their favorite company. Just as Steve Jobs has transformed Apple from a computer manufacturer to a vehicle for digital production and distribution, so has the conference and the people who attend it.

AceT apologizes for the tardiness of this article, he was excitedly doing things and meeting people you probably couldn't care less about.