COMMENTARY: 1.08.08-- It's now T-7 days to the official kick-off to Macworld Expo 2008 and what do we have to look forward to? Lots. At the same time, we don't have a whole lot to go on this year like we did last year. What could top, the iPhone, the iPhone, and the iPhone? Oh yeah, and the [Apple]TV--not really--Mac OS X Leopard, the new iMacs and iPods?

How about this one. And it's not the unveiling of the new MacBook Pro mini that everyone seems to think will be coming. What about... Steve Jobs announcing his retirement. (Gasp!)

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At Macworld Expo 2007, the rumor mills were abuzz with the following things:

So what's in store for 2007? Will similar heart stopping, ground breaking, history making, earth shaking announcements be made this year that rivals 2002? Only time will tell, and it's only a week away from today. But for those who can't wait...

Here's what various sources all around the web are predicting will be seen next Tuesday:

• Mac OS X, v 10.5 (The other features of the new Mac OS that haven't yet been seen)
• the "iTV" (more details on this new device, what it's final name and design will be)
• the "iPhone" (whether or not it's really true, and like the "iTV" more details on device)
• 8-core Mac Pro (the ultimate desktop Mac... how much more can they cram in there?)
• the "real" video-capable iPod (widescreen with virtual touch screen and bigger HD?)
• new Apple displays (sporting new features like built-in iSight, and a new 15" model)
• 12" MacBook Pro (same as 15" and 17" siblings, but will be lighter and thinner)

What did we get? We got the iPhone, Apple's, "Cingular" sensation which pretty much defined 2007. The only thing we didn't get were the last two on that list, which of the two, the second is the most anticipated thing everyone believes--including myself--will be coming next week.

If you thought the "Panasonic 150-inch Plasma Next to That Tiny 103-incher from Last Year" was a show stopper at this year's Consumer Electronics Show--CES--in Las Vegas (that thing's huge!, or to quote a character from Rob Schneider's movie, oh never mind), just think of the same thing happening in reverse at Macworld 2008 in San Francisco.

The MacBook Pro mini next to that super ultra-portable 12-inch PowerBook G4 from 2003. Five years does make sense to reintroduce an old Apple product, but only better. In fact? It was five years ago to the day yesterday that, "Apple Introduce[d] Its Smallest Notebook Ever."

You know how much of a fan following the ultra-portable has had, especially during its retirement days, with no suitable replacement for the 12-inch PowerBook. Unless you consider the MacBook (non-Pro edition)--as Apple does--its replacement. No one does.

"Oh, you dunt [don't]?" to quote Lucy Ricardo mimicking her husband Ricky.

But, speaking of five years later, what was the reason for speculating the idea of Steve Jobs announcing his retirement (meaning, who then would be his replacement?), making this Macworld an event--albeit, sad/disappointing--to remember? Well, we didn't say it. Fortune magazine did last month in an article by Philip Elmer-DeWitt in their Apple 2.0 blog.

Apple 2.0, "Vista 2.0" (Mac OS X Leopard's nickname by Apple at the WWDC 07 last June), are we getting somewhere yet?

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