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Apple WWDC 2012 Conference Review And Thoughts
If you’re an Apple fan then you probably have been pretty excited about the WWDC2012 that just happened. You had probably spent many months speculating and scouring the internet to pick through all the many Apple rumors that are out there.
Everyone is always looking for answers and trying to predict the next big change to any of Apple’s products. It’s just part of what makes us love Apple and part of what makes being an Apple fan a lot of fun. You just really never know what they will come up with next.
What is WWDC2012?
WWDC2012 is short for World Wide Developers Conference. A long time ago Apple would hold yearly events known as Macworld. These events were like rock concerts back during the days of Steve Jobs. Tickets were always wildly sought after and if you ever got the chance to witness a Steve Jobs’ keynote speech; then you were truly witnessing something amazing.
So basically the World Wide Developers Conference is what we get now that Apple stopped doing Macworld events. It’s were all the software and hardware developers meet in California for a week to view, discuss, and explore all the new and exciting things that are going on with Apple from every level. This is also when Apple always puts on their famous keynote speeches and unveils the latest and greatest product updates. So like most; I was naturally wide eyed and ready to be blown away by this event. After all, they had really never failed to do that before. Why should I expect anything less right?
Keynote Review:
Yes, I knew going in that there would be no Steve Jobs at this event. It’s just a sad truth that all Apple fans have to get over and realize. With that being said, it definitely loses something each and every time they’ve tried to fill his shoes. It would be kind of like if The Beatles would have gone on to be a band after the death of John Lennon and gotten a replacement for John. Some things are just simply too great to be replaced or replicated.
So from the very start of the keynote I knew something just was off. The introduction featured a video of Siri speaking to the crowd. Siri is Apple’s voice recognition software that is in the latest iPhone devices. So Siri cracks a few rather lame jokes to the audience making fun of Android and a few other things. In my opinion it wasn’t the greatest of introductions.Then Tim Cook came out and said a very short little bit about Apple and how glad he was to be there and that was that. It just really didn’t get me revved up or as excited as I thought it would.
OS X Mountain Lion: 
One of the big events happening at WWDC2012 this year is the unveiling of Apple’s latest desktop operating system. OS X Mountain Lion. Just about every year Apple has come out with a version of it’s fantastic operating system. They are just about always named after some type of exotic cat.
Mountain Lion has a lot of new features that I am not going to go through in this article. If you want to check out more information about all the neat new features then you can find them by clicking here on this link:
Apple OSX Mountain Lion Information
Mountain Lion is again taking things from Apple’s IOS software and merging them in to the desktop experience. IOS is the name of Apple’s mobile software. So if you’ve ever played around on an iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad then you have already worked in IOS and chances are you found it very simple and easy to use.
However with that being said, I don’t really need them to merge as much as they seem to be doing. Don’t get me wrong there are some features that I do believe I will use and like but they definitely are few and far between and I believe they are also just added bells and whistles to an operating system that in my opinion was pretty close to flawless already. I hope that the new additions do not bog down the system and make it feel cluttered.
One of the coolest things about Mountain Lion however is the price and the fact that you will be able to buy just one copy and put that copy across all of your Macs. At only $19.99. That’s pretty awesome!
Look for Apple OS X Mountain Lion to be released in July.
MacBook Pro with Retina Display: 
The next big thing came in the update to Apple’s top of the line laptop product also known as the MacBook Pro. I wrote an article previously where I broke down all of Apple’s computer products in detail. You can check that article out by clicking this link:
The new MacBook Pro was unveiled and it looks unbelievable. Without boring you with all the specs on this thing. I’ll just tell you that if anyone ever mentions that you’re looking at a Retina display. Then you will know you’re looking at something amazingly crisp and beautiful.
These things have better image quality than your HD TV does. You can see it in every detail of the screen. If you have checked out Apple’s latest iPad then you know just how beautiful this display is.
Another added bonus is that these computers are only using SSD drives. An SSD drive stands for Solid State Drive. That means that there are no moving parts on the computer’s hard drive. This makes for an extremely fast system.
The one problem I do see with this computer is the inside architecture. It’s true that it is very innovative but the fact that these things are so tightly wound and have so many parts that are glued together. This is going to make it very hard for third party manufacturers and technology workers to repair any of these computers.
Much like the iPhone the battery is irreplaceable. Apple even redesigned their little metal screws so that anyone looking to get inside one of these things will have to have that exact special type of screwdriver that I’m thinking isn’t going to be easy to get your hands on.
The new Macbook Pro with Retina display starts at a high price point of $2,199 and is available now.
IOS 6:
The last big announcement from WWDC2012 was the update to Apple’s mobile software IOS. Since it’s beginning Apple has released new versions of this software each year. This year was no exception. IOS 6 is coming very soon and it looks awesome. The keynote featured many of the new important features that are coming in this update. Here is a very quick list of what to expect from IOS 6.
- Updated Siri – Siri has gotten smarter and started enjoying sports too. The new IOS 6 will feature Siri’s new ability to find sports scores and many other new information smoother and faster than ever before.
- Apple Maps – Apple has long been wanting to create their own map system and they have finally done it. No more using Google Maps if you don’t want to. Now Apple’s new map system is going to be integrated in to every IOS 6 device and it looks amazing. Apple Maps will also feature turn by turn navigation that will definitely help out when you’re trying to find those tough places while you’re out and about.
- Passbook – Passbook is an all new feature that looks very cool for the person on the go. This may be one of those things that you have to see to believe but think of it as your own digital wallet. Passbook is going to be a way to have digital credit from many different companies and use this app to purchase things quickly. For example if you’re in line at Starbucks waiting for your morning coffee. Pull up your Passbook and navigate to your Starbucks card within that app. When you get up to the register. They can scan it right off your phone and boom you’re done. Pretty neat right?
- Accessibility – This is a feature that allows for your children to play games and things of that nature without ever leaving the application by pushing a wrong section on the screen or the home button. It’s not only for children however. It can be set to allow individual access to individual apps and no access to others. So if you’re a teacher and you are using iPads to administer test to your students. You can set this app to not allow anyone to navigate out of the test and look up the answers.
There are many other new features to IOS 6. These are just some of the main ones that I have highlighted here. For more information on IOS 6 please check out the link below.
Final Thoughts:
I’m afraid that the problem with reaching the top is that you either stay there or you start heading back down. I believe that Apple’s biggest innovations could possibly be behind them. I hope I’m wrong about that. We really don’t know because they are still banking of products that Steve Jobs had a hand in creating. They haven’t come out with anything post Jobs that has taken the world by storm in the way that Apple did during their rise. I wish them luck.
Technology is definitely a hard place to compete and the competition between all the top companies is getting more and more heated each day. Competition in the market place is good. It keeps these amazing companies on their toes and makes consumer products better. No one wants to see a great company become stagnant and I believe with so much competition out there if you are stagnant; then you’re gone.
