2007, Apple’s Year to Remember

Steve Jobs ended 2006 by proclaiming that, “2007 is likely to be one of the most exciting new product years in Apple’s history.” Needless to say, he wasn’t just blowing smoke. Apple was on fire in 2007 as new and revolutionary products lured droves of consumers to Apple goods and launched Apple’s market capitalization (it more than doubled in ‘07) past tech giants like Hewlett Packard and Intel. As we prepare to say hello to 2008, let’s take a look back at some noteworthy products and news events that made ‘07 Apple’s year to remember. I’ve listed the products in the order of their importance (my opinion).

Noteworthy Apple Products of 2007

iPhone

Like this dude, thousands of people spontaneously renounced personal hygiene for several hot weeks last summer so they could wait in line and be one of the first to own an iPhone. Personally, I thought the product would never live up to the hype that preceded its launch on June 29th. I was mistaken. Perhaps forgoing deodorant and square meals was a small price to pay for an iPhone. The first time I saw the revolutionary multi-touch interface, it blew my mind. The fluidity of navigating via a series of taps, flicks, and pinches was so elegant I thought that Apple must have recovered technology from a crashed alien space craft, or something of that nature. And of course, the iPhone was more than a mobile phone. It was a widescreen iPod, a video player, and an internet/email appliance to boot.

Mac OS X Leopard

Leopard is perhaps the most impressive OS upgrade I’ve ever seen. While I have not enumerated the supposed 300 new features, the addition of features like QuickLook, Cover Flow in Finder, Stacks, and Spaces make this an OS that, unlike Vista, is worth the cost, and the effort, of the upgrade. Perhaps the only shortcoming of Leopard is that Time Machine doesn’t (to my chagrin) actually allow one to travel through time. But, you can make the Time Machine icon look ‘authentic’ by installing this Delorean package.

iPod Touch and iTunes Wi-Fi

Take the multi-touch interface of the iPhone and remove the cellular phone hardware then shrink the form factor and you are left with the iPod Touch. Released on the tails of the iPhone, the iPod Touch was more than a music player. With built in Wi-Fi and Safari, the iPod Touch allows users browse the web and purchase music directly from iTunes’ Wi-Fi Music Store. Now, if Apple would just include a WiMax chip in future versions of these babies and strike a deal with Clearwire to provide high speed internet service, I’d join this dude waiting in line for that device.

Aluminum iMac

My favorite addition to the Apple lineup in 2007 was the new iMac with aluminum enclosures and spunky Intel Core 2 Duo processors. At first, I thought the black edge surrounding the screen was a tacky addition but it has grown on me. It is my opinion that the new iMacs are the most awesome fusion of design and functionality ever to hit the home computer market.

3rd Gen. iPod Nano and the newly named iPod Classic

The 3rd generation iPod Nano brought video capabilities to the Nano family and a new, squat, form factor. This fat body Nano was a major departure from its tall skinny predecessor and, like the new aluminum iMacs, I was at first skeptical of its appeal. But in time I realized that the Apple design team was spot on. The original iPod earned the new iPod Classic designation in 2007 following the introduction of the iPod Touch. Surely the Classic’s days are numbered but until NAND flash memory can replace the 80-160 GB hard drives of these devices, the Classic will have a niche to fill.

iTunes Plus

In May of ‘07, Apple launched iTunes Plus, a library of digital rights management (DRM) free music available for download from the iTunes store. For years, consumers of digitally distributed music have been wondering when the recording labels would see the writing on the wall and stop their fruitless attempts at restricting the post purchase use of digital media. To boot, iTunes Plus songs were encoded in a much higher quality (256 kbps ACC) than other iTunes music. At first iTunes Plus tracks could be purchased for $1.29 and customers could upgrade their previously purchased music to Plus versions (when available) by paying an additional 30 cents per track. Later in the year Apple dropped the price of iTunes Plus tracks to 99 cents, on parity with other tracks in the iTunes library with DRM. Most likely, the price drop was due to pressure from Amazon.com who started offering 89 cent DRM free downloads. I feel sorry for the suckers who upgraded their whole libraries at 30 cents per track before the price drop. Oh wait, I might have been one of them.

Apple TV

In March, Apple began shipping the highly anticipated Apple TV that allowed one to wirelessly stream iTunes content from a PC or Mac to a widescreen TV. It was called, “The DVD player for the internet age.” Later in the year, support for streaming YouTube videos was added. In my opinion, Apple TV is at the bottom of the list because it was a product that had a lot of potential, and definitely recognized that digitally distributed content (music and video) is the future of home entertainment, but it had several shortcomings. Adding key functionality like the ability to record TV broadcasts, direct access to the iTunes store, and HD video rentals might make me reconsider purchasing the AppleTV. Currently, however, why would I buy an Apple TV when I can get a Mac Mini for a few hundred dollars more, fix it up with eyeTV, and have a media server that can serve up my iTunes library, play DVD movies, access the iTunes store, and record live TV.

Honorable Mentions

Below are several 2007 Apple products that didn’t make the above list, but still deserve mentioning.

Safari 3 for Windows

Ultra-Thin Wireless Keyboards

AirPort Extreme with Gigabit Ethernet

iLife ‘08 and iWork ‘08

Noteworthy Apple News Events in 2007

14th Street Apple Store in New York City

This makes the third Apple store to open in New York City. Apple decided to place this store in an area of NY called the Meatpacking district which is home to trendy clubs and restaurants. This store also features a glass staircase (see left) similar to one in the ‘flagship’ 5th Avenue store. Unlike the 5th Avenue store this one unfortunately doesn’t have the giant glass cube reminiscent of a Borg space craft and isn’t located underground. Still cool though.

Beatles Coming to iTunes?

If you remember, the Beatles sued Apple for using the Apple logo in association with iPods and the iTunes music store. This is kind of like when John Fogarty got sued for sounding too much like the lead singer of Creedence Clearwater Revival (i.e, John Fogarty). Apparently, the apple name and a similar apple logo have been associated with the Beatles’ recording label since the 60s. Well, the lawsuit was settled in 2007 (I think the courts finally saw how pathetic the Beatles were being), opening the door for Beatles’ music to find its way into the iTunes catalog. Why are recording labels so damn sue happy? Oh yeah, it is because they are dinosaurs and they can see the asteroid about to impact.

NBC Fails to Renew iTunes Contract

After Apple refused to raise prices, NBC Universal refused to renew its contract to distribute its TV shows via iTunes. This decision followed Universal Music’s decision to deny content for the DRM free iTunes Plus library. When will the big media companies get it through their thick skulls that digital distribution is the future (again with the Dinosaurs)? Well, NBC may have an inkling of understanding. They launched NBC Direct. A service that allows users to download NBC shows and view them (using proprietary software without support for portable media players) for several days before they are automatically deleted. It sucks. On the other hand, NBC’s Hulu.com rocks. It doesn’t allow downloads of shows but works with Safari and Firefox when the latest version of Flash is installed. HD content is coming to Hulu soon, and did I mention that Hulu has Airwolf and The A-Team. How long will it be before someone discovers how to download shows from this service?

ThinkSecret.com To Shut Down

After years of divulging details of Apple products to the public before they officially launched, ThinkSecret.com was sued by Apple for not identifying its sources; most likely the sources are Apple employees. The suit was settled just a few days ago and, as part of the settlement, ThinkSecret.com is shutting down. There is no way that Apple could have won this lawsuit. Media outlets have the right to protect the privacy of their sources. Has Apple heard of the 1st Amendment? Most likely, Apple threw a couple million dollars at the problem and made it go away.