Wrong ’em Bono

Apple Watch

Well, Apple’s media event has come and gone, including a performance by U2 (yawn) and while there was a lot to like about it, my predictions were pretty far off. Here’s the follow-up to my wacky ideas:

  1. There will be a watch, but it won’t be called iWatch. There will be multiple sizes and prices. The entry level price point will be $299.
    Mostly true. The watch is called AppleWatch (Watch), and there are two sizes, and multiple price points. I was too aggressive in my call for a sub $300 price point, but $349 isn’t too far off. 
  2. There will be another, more affordable wearable of some kind, maybe like a FitBit, or Care Predict Tempo. This would not have all the features of the watch, but would be more of a health and/or fitness device.
    Nope. 
  3. The wearable(s) will be branded Beats instead of, or in addition to, Apple.
    Nope. 
  4. There will be at least one woman on stage during the event, which is notable because these things are usually sausage-fests. Maybe Angela Ahrendts?
    Nope. 
  5. Siri will be featured and a major highlight of the new watch/wearable(s). I think the “Wish We Could Say More” text on the media invitation alludes to this, though I haven’t seen anyone else pick up on it.
    Not really. You can use Siri with the watch, but it wasn’t a highlighted part of the keynote the way I expected. 
  6. Apple will announce a mobile payments system and it will allow payments from the watch without carrying your phone.
    Partial credit. Yes they announced a mobile payments system, but that was widely expected. And yes you can use it with your watch, but all signs point to requiring communication with your phone to complete a transaction. 
  7. In the wake of the celebrity picture hacking scandal, Tim Cook will discuss upcoming iCloud security measures.
    Nope. 
  8. CarPlay will not be discussed
    A qualified “true”. Tim did mention CarPlay in the context of all the cool stuff coming soon from Apple, but nothing more than that.

So, that was fun but ultimately I won’t quit my day job to become a professional Apple-prognosticator. Maybe I’ll try something similar for the expected-though-not-yet-confirmed iPad/Mac/Yosemite event in October. In the meantime I’m gong to spend some intimate time with this gif of a certain special wrist-based-phone-interface.

Clasp

 

Predictions for Tomorrow’s Apple Event

So Apple is holding a big media event tomorrow and word on the street is that this will be a real humdinger, with all signs pointing to new iPhones, the imminent release of iOS 8, and a new “wearable” product category, probably a watch.

As a longtime professional Macadmin, I am contractually obligated to follow the media frenzy in the runup to this event, and to watch the presentation itself. Unlike a couple of my fancy-colleagues who scored tickets to see it live in Cupertino, I will be with the other plebes at work, coffee in hand, streaming the show to a conference room. The morning will be full of rampant speculation, oohs and  ahs, nods of approval, headshakes, gasps of disbelief, general mockery, and live-tweets galore, and the joke’s on those other guys, because at least I don’t have to wake up at 5:00 am to get to Cupertino!

Anyway, I won’t rehash the all-but-certain rumors that have been making their rounds for weeks now. Instead I’ll lay out a handful of my own out-there predictions for you to digest.

  1. There will be a watch, but it won’t be called iWatch. There will be multiple sizes and prices. The entry level price point will be $299.
  2. There will be another, more affordable wearable of some kind, maybe like a FitBit, or Care Predict Tempo. This would not have all the features of the watch, but would be more of a health and/or fitness device.
  3. The wearable(s) will be branded Beats instead of, or in addition to, Apple.
  4. There will be at least one woman on stage during the event, which is notable because these things are usually sausage-fests. Maybe Angela Ahrendts?
  5. Siri will be featured and a major highlight of the new watch/wearable(s). I think the “Wish We Could Say More” text on the media invitation alludes to this, though I haven’t seen anyone else pick up on it.
  6. Apple will announce a mobile payments system and it will allow payments from the watch without carrying your phone.
  7. In the wake of the celebrity picture hacking scandal, Tim Cook will discuss upcoming iCloud security measures.
  8. CarPlay will not be discussed

Okay, that’s all I got. I’ll see you and the rest of the Internet tomorrow at 10:00 am PDT to see how I did. Even if I’m wrong about everything, I expect to come out of it pleased!

Operation Pancake

For several weeks our friend Adi has been talking up the pancake breakfasts at the West Point Inn. It took awhile, but we finally were able to coordinate to go today. Also joining us were Mike, Liz, The Diaper Hiker, and Baby H.

It’s an easy two-mile hike to get to the Inn, but with 30 pounds of toddler in addition to camera gear, and 20 pounds of my own extra baggage I struggled more than I care to admit.

The pancakes were great, and it was fun catching up with our friends. I took a lot of pictures, a few of which are in my Instagram feed, but for now the only one I’ll include is the one below: five adults, four kids, 21 pancakes, several sausages, and a jug of Log Cabin syrup.

Good times.

pancakes

Steam Train

We spent part of the day with our pal Gabe at the Tilden Steam Train. Gabe grew up in Berkeley so he had been “riding the rails” since he was a kid, and our kids had visited once before with our nanny, but BJ and I had not ever been, and were looking forward to it.

The ride is longer, and more polished than I had expected, and the wait, even on a Saturday, wasn’t as bad as I feared. The kids loved it, and begged for more. Instead we had a picnic lunch and spent some time taking silly pictures in the nearby woods.

All in all it was a swell time.

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