So is the future now Ap-tel's?

By Aaron Tersteeg (Intel) (65 posts) on August 15, 2006 at 3:21 pm

As the Mobile Developer Community manager I was invited by the team to attend the Apple WWDC06. Caught up in the euphoria of my new Mac I jumped on the opportunity; naively thinking that I'd go and share all that I learned on this blog; Steve's keynote, photos, demos, conversations with developers and the creative energy that seems to flow from all things Apple. But was quickly grounded after an extended NDA meeting withthe Intel's Team Apple. I had to be cleared to attend the Apple WWDC06. I was on my way to San Franciscoto learn all things Mac; but the standard answer to any question a participantask would be "You'll have to ask Apple." Intel's public comment on all things Apple is err on the conservative side. I understand the motivation. Apple has a tight relationship with it's developers and they are in a very competitive situation with Microsoft's operating system, products and frameworks.

But here is what I can tell you...

I arrived at the conference on Monday at 7:00AM to attend Steve Job's 10:00AM key note. It was suggested that I arrive early since they don't have space for all the attendees in the auditorium. I was shocked to see what looked like 800-1000 people already standing in line. The crowd has a much wider age distribution than I anticipated with what appeared to more than half over 35. It was also interesting to note that it was not as ethnically diverse as I expected, but many in the crowd were speaking European languages. Chatting in line most ofthe people that I met were IT professionals; educational, Non-profit, small business and creative agencies. Not a lot of companies that I recognized.

To get to the key note we were moved in segments around the convention center halls. Many sat down in small groups to get out the laptops and get connected. Moscone offers free WiFi so everyone was online; checking email, blogging, surfing the web" I was in a sea of Apple Mac Books, iBooks, PowerBooks, MacBook Pros. Down the line I did see a Dell and what looked like an HP.

Since I had my ThinkPad with a fresh battery I decided to catch up on some work and reading as well. I was a bit concerned about my minority status with my Windows XP machine. As I sat and booted up I did have a friendly passer-by ask me what it was like to be the only ThinkPad in a sea of Macs. Not jabbing, just curious. All the WWDC people are very friendly, but out of the corner of my eye they do seem to be pointing at my ThinkPad. It is probably just the novelty of the situation.

The key note had all the staging and drama that I expected. Check it out on line at www.apple.com. It is the only time that I've been to a product launch where people Oood and Ahhhd when features were announced. Steve is a real story teller. He creates a world in peoples minds with words and images that make you feel like there is no counter argument to what he is saying. He makes believers out of the crowd more so than any speaker I've heard before.

I did notice one interesting phenomena that I did not expect. The MacBook and MacBook Pro both have cameras built into the screen. The OS comes with an application called photo booth thatlets you take snap shots. Instead of a flash, the screen goes white to illuminate the subject. Screens were going white all over the place with people pointing their laptops to the crowd to take snap shots.

With the close of the keynote the official sessions of the WWDC kicked off. They were less geared to a broad audience and contained more technical information about using Apples software and hardware. I'd love to share the details but refer back to the aforementioned NDA agreement. Sigh. Let's just say that some of the sessions were not announced until after the key note because the keynote contained the first introduction of the feature or tool.

Intel's Team Apple hosted a few sessions and labs to address processor specific tools and information. It was very interesting to see the difference between the Apple engineer's presentation and the Intel engineer's presentation. I can't go into the technical details, but I was very proud of Intel's technical achievement. Intel's chips ROCK! and our tools just pump up the volume. I was impressed with the team's energy and enthusiasm. You could tell that they were very excited and passionate about the information they were sharing, but we just don't seem to have the polish and showmanship that seems to be in everything Apple. It is wrong to wish that your company were cooler?

I would encourage you to visit Apples site to learn more about Mac OS X (Leopard), the new Mac Pro and the new X server. I'm going to install my OS X Leopard Developer Preview right now and check it out for myself.

Categories: Mobility

Comments (2) Comments RSS Feed

By scribe@teleport.com on August 23rd, 2006 at 12:37 am
So, is Ap-tel an indication of Intel's future direction with Apple?

By mad\jvteal on August 24th, 2006 at 12:11 am
I'm positive we totally aren't allowed to say Ap-tel, just the way you'd never catch me saying Win-tel (even though all my friends do it). Corporate would flip. Go aaron!


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