With Steve's MacWorld keynote looming on the horizon speculation is once again running rampant.
What new computers and notebooks and phones and pods are we going to get? What new software? What updates?
And how many "booms"?
But from my perspective, it might be much more illuminating to speculate on "who" will be there, instead of what.
So how does a lineup of AT&T, Amazon, Google, Fox, Warner, Starbucks, and Microsoft strike you?
A few of these are obvious, of course.
AT&T will bask in the glory and radiance that is iPhone, congratulate itself on its foresight and in its participation, and will share in the announcement of 5 million phones served... and counting.
Microsoft, because Office 2008 will officially begin shipping on the 15th, and because one must give credit where credit is due. iWork may be nibbling at Office's heels, but it's only nibbles, and for the Mac to be taken seriously in the business world —or anywhere, for that matter— it has to have Office.
And the Macintosh version of Office still generates a nice chunk of change for Microsoft.
Symbiosis at its best.
Fox and Warner will of course be on hand for iTunes rentals, the expanded movie store, iPhone video downloads, and the latest happenings with Apple TV.
With DVD sales declining and HD sales yet to reach any significant penetration levels, studio heads are scrambling to maintain revenues.
And while they may be leery of granting Apple the same level of power in the video marketplace as it has in the music world, Apple has in fact demonstrated that they can sell content.
And content, in turn, sells hardware.
Another symbiotic relationship.
Oh, and stay tuned [sic] for an announcement or three in the music aisle.
Sony has a possibility of being on hand, but I doubt they'll want to share the stage with Apple, even with Blu-Ray finally making its long-awaited appearance.
The final three are a bit more of a gamble, but here goes...
Google CEO Eric Schmidt has been on Apple's board for a while now, but other than some talk here and there we've yet to see anything significant come of it.
And I think that's about to change. From Google taking serious advantage of the new iPhone development API, to their upcoming involvement in content delivery and distribution, Google and Apple and about to combine forces in a big way.
There's even one chance in five that it will spread all of the way to .Mac.
Next is Starbucks. I know, I know, isn't downloading the Starbuck's tune-of-the-day last year's news? Perhaps. Then again, let's just say that Google isn't the only one who's going to be using the iPhone's new SDK.
And last, but not least, is Amazon.
I can't be too specific here either, but let's just say that there's more to media than music and movies, and that a new toy from Apple could be just the ticket in finally getting us there.
Now, I know that some of these "predictions" are a bit tongue-in-cheek..
But as in anything, there's a large element of truth to the story as well.
Apple, as a company, is expanding outwards into new markets and facing new challenges. And as big as it is, and as successful as its become, it can only go so far on its own.
These new content and infrastructure and retail alliances are critical for growth, and necessary in order to take us even further down the road of digital convergence.
And Apple, to Steve's credit, has finally begun to realize that.
It's going to be a great MacWorld.
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