I’m back from WWDC 2009, only the second time I’ve attended. Some observations follow.
Keynote
The new MacBook Pros look great. I originally thought that adding an SD slot was weird, then I realized the trick was to think about it not as a camera-card interface, but as a cheap, simple, and efficient way to add a (bootable) second drive. $100 for 32 GB isn’t an amazing deal compared to hard drives, but given the speed, size, and convenience of these little guys, it’s pretty close to magic.
Remember how Snow Leopard was going to have only one new feature, Exchange support? Think again. I’m told that the last seed runs considerably faster than today’s Leopard on the same hardware. This was just one of this week’s many lessons in how performance-obsessed Apple engineers are. The haters’ tripe about Apple products being all style and no substance has never sounded as hollow.
I’m sure Phil Schiller’s prediction of iPhone 3G S quickly becoming the most popular video-capable phone - if not the most popular consumer video device period - is right on the money. A message for those working on apps that help us shoot, edit, organize, and share quick, casual video clips: get ready to get busy.
AT&T
I’m not sure how well the keynote stream and the subsequent reporting captured the groans which followed AT&T’s two big boners, no MMS for another few months, and no tethering. Before June, many iPhone owners had no particular attitude about AT&T; now they’re actively pissed off. The company was publicly embarrassed that Monday morning, and I’ve heard it speculated that Apple is giving them the IBM-G5 treatment, basically letting AT&T make themselves look bad, and shopping around for a new provider.
Regardless of what you think about the most rant-inspiring bit of AT&T news - no upgrade pricing for iPhone owners who bought 3Gs and have been sending a lot of money AT&T’s way - they’re dropping the ball here. Apple has brought them many, many new customers; excited, upgrade-happy customers with expensive plans. It’s disingenuous for AT&T to argue that their network is so overloaded they’re struggling to support MMS & tethering. (n.b. these are features long in the tooth and they’re available, like, everywhere else, including my birth country of Croatia - you know, the place that went through a war not long ago?)
What the heck has AT&T been doing with their earnings, if not putting them into maintaining and upgrading the network?
Downloading movies on the iPhone
You can now purchase and rent movies and TV shows on your iPhone or iPod touch. I downloaded a 104-minute movie (The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, the original) over the WWDC WiFi network. The purchase process was fast and sweet; the download took 45 minutes. This won’t really work for the mythical scenario of waiting to board the plane, but it’s cool.
WebKit and Safari
WIth the NDA in full effect I can’t really go into great detail, but I’ll say this much: whatever browser you like for its user-level features, you can’t really help being wowed by WebKit as an engine. Its speed and ever-growing list of standards-based, wisely planned features are almost painful to behold. The pain comes from wishing Gecko and That Other Browser supported as much and as well; it would be like upgrading the playground that is the Web from rusty swings and cracked concrete to a fully functional space station.
iPhone vs. Mac
The tension was more noticeable this year than the last. I really hope the divide between Mac-only developers and those who have newly arrived to the OS X platform via iPhone doesn’t become a troubling community issue. I understand why a desktop-centric veteran of Mac OS would be annoyed by a building covered with naught but iPhone app icons. I also understand why Apple is focusing on this new product so much: it’s popular, it’s ripe with potential, it’s a great mix of the accessible and the technologically impressive. Who knows how one should properly think about this. I just wish mom and dad would stop fighting, you know?
Palm Pre
I got to play with one of these shiny black pebbles several times last week. The UI is impressive, with some really pretty icons and effects that outsex the iPhone. That 600 MHz CPU makes for very speedy scrolling and transitions; I can’t wait to see how the new iPhone does with a similar processor. Some of the gestures are great once you know them, but there’s virtually no way to discover them yourself. (e.g. where the iPhone uses a left-arrow back-button in the top-left of the screen, on the Pre you swipe across the “invisible touch area” below the screen to go back a step. No one I showed it to figured it out on their own.)
The disappointment, for me, is that the keyboard is complete horse balls. It’s got a weird tactile quality, it’s frustrating to use, and you can completely forget one-handed operation. This wouldn’t be so bad if part of the appeal of the Pre wasn’t its ultracompact nature: the iPhone-dimension 320 x 480 screen looks way cuter when it’s 2/3 of the size. Add a bigger keyboard and the phone will look weird; add a touch keyboard and the keys will be too small; make the screen bigger and it looks less crisp, plus the device is big again.
These aren’t unsolvable problems, but it will be unfortunate if Palm has to rethink such a basic part of their savior product so soon. Maybe I’m just knee-jerking and the keyboard isn’t so bad once you get used to it.
Food
Boquerones fritos from Picaro
I’m very food-aware wherever I go, but I sure heard a lot of talk about where to eat what to eat how to eat it around the conference. Here’s what my experience has taught me:
- The Moscone food is safe for human consumption, and not much more than that. The breakfast pastries are a joke, but there’s free Odwalla.
- The Metreon food court is ok.
- The Westfield food court seems to include some gems; it’s a bit pricey, though.
- ‘Wichcraft is excellent. Try the anchovies.
- We randomly ended up at Picaro, a tapas place near 16th and Mission. Recommended!
- Pizzeria Delfina was pretty great.
- Blue Bottle had coffee even I, a coffee nonficionado, liked.
It was great catching up with people I don’t see nearly often enough. You’re all superstars and I’ll be the first to buy your tell-all memoirs. See you next year, if not sooner.
