Meanwhile, over at the MacJury, I participated in a panel discussing AT&T’s new data plans, and give them them a lot (perhaps too much) credit for devising a way to expand their user base in a highly saturated universe while ensuring they don’t take a proportional hit on their infrastructure. Whew, that’s a lot of marketing jargon, even for me.

I also spoke at the Conference, delivering a session called on keyboard shortcuts called “Look Ma, No Mouse!” If you attended the conference, you already know where to find the slides. IDG, the show’s organizer, will be sending out more information on that soon as well.

On the show floor, I was lucky enough to be asked to participate in MacJury Live – a session of Chuck Joiner’s excellent podcast done in front of a live audience. It was great fun talking about the show with Chuck and fellow jurors Jeff Gamet, Tanya Engst and Ted Landau — some of the smartest people in the Mac community. As soon as the show is posted (in video, no less!) I’ll put a link to it here.

Between the Mac Observer article and the MacJury podcast, I’ve said pretty much all I have to say on the topic, other than to reiterate that it was a great show, ironically made perhaps even better by Apple’s absence.

Give it a read. There’s only a few hours to wait to see how prescient — or off-base — I really am.

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“One Thing’s for Sure: Apple Won’t Unveil a ‘Tablet Computer’ on Wednesday” on the Mac Observer

One of the best things I’ve found about the iPhone is that it’s not really a separate device at all – it acts as an extension of not just my Mac at home, but of the accumulated knowledge of the human race. OK, that’s a bit hyperbolic, but that’s the way it feels. Before the iPhone came out, I wrote about the need for a “convergence device” – one that could be used away from my home Mac, but allowed me to access its power and functionality. The iPhone has very much become that convergence device for me. And that convergence has, well, converged even more over time, thanks in large part to the over-the-air synching capabilities rolled out via MobileMe and the speed of 3G networking.

The full article is on The Mac Observer — Don’t forget to read parts 1 and 2 for some insights from more “regular” staffers like Dave Hamilton, Bryan Chaffin, Bob LeVitus, Jeff Gamet and others.

You can watch the interview below or on Chuck’s MacVoices website.

It’s a lively hour’s worth of talk about what’s in the update, what’s not and a little digging into what’s important and why. Panels this large can tend to get a little unwieldy, but thanks to Chuck Joiner’s expert choreography and the terrific panelists, the result is a spirited, friendly and fun discussion.

If you don’t already subscribe to the MacJury podcast, you should. It’s a consistently relevant, interesting and entertaining look at the issues surrounding Apple and the Macintosh.

Here are a few of the things I’ll be looking for:

1. Copy and paste. (Duh.) Seriously, though, if this one doesn’t finally happen — or if it doesn’t happen without a good explanation of why it can’t — I’ll be dumbfounded. It’s a feature so integral to using a computing device it’s just astounding that it hasn’t happened yet. Don’t get me started.
2. Flash. Please? There are just too many Flash sites out there for this issue to continue to be left unaddressed. Other phones are starting to get it (do any already have it?), and it’s ubiquitous enough that you can’t really make the claim that you get the “whole Internet” without it. I do, however, wonder about the implications and whether or not it’s those implications, rather than technical limitations that are holding this up. Would Hulu work, for example? It seems that with Flash enabled, Apple would have much less control about what the iPhone could and could not do.
3. Video recording/streaming. In addition to the recording aspect, I’d still love to see video conferencing work, at least in iChat if not Skype. The Flash question again, though: with Flash enabled, could these video recording/conferencing solution work even without Apple’s sanction or support?
4. More robust iApps. Mail and Address Book come quickly to mind, but most of Apple’s built-in apps are in much need of updates. Even the Apple Remote app seems unnecessarily hobbled compared to the physical version.
5. Better application management. One of the best arguments for the case that Apple never really intended to allow third-party app development can be seen in the iPhone’s launcher. The number of apps is limited (to nine screens, I believe); it’s ridiculously hard to move apps and completely impossible to group, sort or otherwise organize them.
6. Performance. I know, I know, it’s a phone and I should be (and am) grateful for all the wonderful things it can do, but the iPhone is still dog-slow at lots of processing tasks, with interminable user interface delays and hangups with no feedback as to what if anything is happening.
7. Background process management. Apple had good arguments for not including this capability, but its seemingly terrific compromise (the “push server”) never materialized. Lots of apps need to do things in the background to be useful, and hopefully Apple has now figured out how to accomplish this without tradeoffs in battery life, performance or security.

I have one more hope, and it’s admittedly a big (and selfish) one. I want all these new features to work on my first generation iPhone. That happened with the 2.0 update and I’m hoping that Apple feels it has enough of those devices still in the field to make that a non-negotiable. The fact that, other than GPS and 3G networking, the second-generation iPhone still has the same specs makes me optimistic: it seems unlikely to me that Apple will announce new software that instantly renders every iPhone in the field obsolete.

I don’t expect to get away without having to pay for this update, though. The software will be announced tomorrow, but don’t expect it to ship then. My guess is late July or early August, just after the original iPhones slip past the two-year subscription period Apple uses for accounting purposes. I think the iPhone 3G users will get this one as a freebie, but I’m expecting to have to pay for it. I’d love to get off with a $20 hit, but my guess is it will be closer to $40 for those who bought early.

How far off am I with all these predictions? We only have to wait a day to find out.

According to Silicon Valley Insider, Jobs sent an internal email to Apple employees informing them of the decision:

Team,

I am sure all of you saw my letter last week sharing something very personal with the Apple community. Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well. In addition, during the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought.

In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health, and to allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary products, I have decided to take a medical leave of absence until the end of June.

I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for Apple’s day to day operations, and I know he and the rest of the executive management team will do a great job. As CEO, I plan to remain involved in major strategic decisions while I am out. Our board of directors fully supports this plan.

I look forward to seeing all of you this summer.

Steve

Trading on Apple stock was briefly suspended today on the news, and is scheduled to resume in about five minutes (in after-hours trading) as I write this. According to Yahoo, Apple is currently selling at $85.33.

This should be some ride.

(Hat tip to Shawn King for the news.)

I like the video format and I think Chuck Joiner’s onto something here. Video’s bound to have a different set of obstacles, especially once the panelists are no longer in the same location, but the production values so far have been pretty good and improving. While podcasts are likely to remain a commuting activity (and therefore audio-only) for me, seeing the panel is a lot more compelling than just hearing them. It will be interesting to see how the format works over Skype, but given Chuck’s track record, I’m optimistic that he’s got another hit on his hands. For the video-resistant, the show is also available in an audio-only version through the MacJury feed.