Last week I reported (somewhat breathlessly, I’ll admit) on what turned out to be an advanced preview of Apple’s long-awaited iPhone during Steve Jobs’ Macworld keynote address. I call it an “advanced preview” because the much-fawned-over “techie talisman” won’t be available until sometime in June. And, no, you can’t even plunk down any hard-earned dinero to reserve a spot to be among the first to let your “fingers do the walking” through your music, movies, voicemail, email, and browser bookmarks. No waiting lists, no firm dates. Just lots of talk and conjecture.

So why did Apple trot out the iPhone almost half a year before the inevitable lines begin to form outside of Apple and Cingular (by then changed back to AT&T again) retail outlets? Seems the iPhone must still be “authorized” by the FCC, and that is a lengthy governmental bureaucratic process. And, it’s a process that requires public disclosure. Given Apple’s penchant for secrecy, it’s totally within character for Steve Jobs to want to reveal the iPhone on the tech world stage himself, rather than having the FCC do it for him. Somehow I don’t think an FCC announcement would make quite the same splash.

Jobs’ iPhone announcement certainly made a big splash – more of a full-fledged tsunami, really – with powerful waves felt as far inland as Las Vegas. Why Las Vegas, you ask? That’s where the rest of the world’s consumer electronic junkies (hundreds of thousands of them) were gathered, milling around looking at high definition TVs and gaming boxes at the fortieth annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

You didn’t know CES was going on? My point made, exactly. The “oohs and ahhs” emanating from Macworld’s Moscone Center in San Francisco completely drowned out the collective yawns engendered by the “world’s biggest consumer electronics show”. I guess what goes on in Vegas really does stay in Vegas - at least when it comes to tech news.

Wait. That’s not fair. There were some big announcements at CES. On the Sunday evening before Tuesday’s Macworld keynote (I guess to get a head start and not conflict with Jobs), Microsoft’s Bill Gates took the CES stage for his keynote address. He extolled the virtues of Windows Vista, coming soon to a PC near you.

Not your PC, of course. Yours will need a RAM upgrade and a new video card to experience Vista’s “Aero” eye candy, a load of new features seemingly “borrowed” from Mac OS X “Tiger”, and layers of security that, while possibly effective, seem to get in your way at every turn. But, I digress.

Gates’ keynote moved on to a very practical “next big thing” in home computing – the home server. The idea is quite simple - a dedicated computer designed to store, and provide fast, easy access to, the gigabytes-upon-gigabytes of digital data the connected home of the future will acquire.
Next up: Ford automobiles with “Microsoft Inside”. Seamless integration between your car’s information and entertainment systems, your Bluetooth Windows mobile-based smartphone, and your Zune (or even iPod). Hands-free voice commands to make phone calls, and your incoming text messages read aloud through text-to-speech technology. Will this spark a retooling of the old “What does F-O-R-D stand for?” Will it now mean “Fix Or REBOOT Daily”? Will “MPG” come to stand for “miles per gigabyte”? Enquiring minds want to know.

So, are you wondering which lucky tech giant got the short straw and was scheduled for their CES keynote address at the same time Steve Jobs was debuting the iPhone? None other than Michael Dell, who once suggested Apple fold up their tent and give the money to the shareholders. Right, Michael. Right.

© 2007 Peter F. Zimowski