Story by Jenna Wortham; photos by Jon Snyder
SAN FRANCISCO -- What do Macheads really want? Every year, tens of thousands of Apple devotees make the trek to Macworld to see what Steve Jobs and company has to offer.
Wired News hit the showroom floor to talk to 11 attendees about Apple's hits and misses for Macworld 2008. We asked what products they were pre-ordering and what they wished Apple would roll out in 2009 and beyond.
Check out the profiles and wish lists of some of Apple's biggest fans, after the jump.
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Machead:__ Rachael Fountain
From: Britain and San Francisco
Age: 28
Occupation: Teacher, product promoter
Macworld count: First year
Show highlights: "I've just heard about the Apple Air. It looks amazing and I'm scared because it's just halved the (value) of my computer."
Dream Apple product: "Something that would make travel easier. Like a beam-me-up-Scotty device ... or some sort of a saucy sex toy. They could (make) a hologram of man appear."
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Machead:__ Kenoli Oleari
From: Berkeley, California
Age: 63
Occupation: Nonprofit consultant
Macworld count: Six
__Show highlights: __"I'm interested in the independent developers. And unfortunately, they've had less and less of those.... I wish Mac was still Apple Computer and not Apple Incorporated. I'm a little dismayed by the focus on consumer (products)."
Dream Apple product: "I would like (software) that makes real web development more accessible to people ... so you don't have to learn an arcane programming language. I'm not too impressed with ... Filemaker and Dreamweaver, which are getting to be exorbitantly expensive."
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Macheads:__ Harrison Gilman, Emalani Artiss and Zev Troxler
From: Santa Barbara, California
Age: 12, 12, 13
Occupations: Students, reporters from the Santa Barbara Middle School Teen Press
Macworld counts: First time
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Show highlights:__ Harrison: "I thought that Steve Jobs gave a very good speech. I was blown away by the new Touch and iPhone features.... We're doing video podcasts and video blogs at Macworld for our (school's online news site.)"
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Dream Apple products:__
Zev: "There was a Mac rumor about the Squidget, which was kind of like a Sidekick. It was awesome, I'm kind of disappointed they didn't come out with it."
Harrison: "An Apple camera with a touch screen, that you could use to edit the photos with on the spot."
Emalani: "We've been asking everyone that too ... what's their iDream ... so I haven't thought about it."
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Machead:__ Terri Creswell
From: Peninsula, California
Age: "I never tell because I'm from the South."
Occupation: Freelance photographer
Macworld count: 10 to 15
Show highlights: "It's the adult Disney World.... I like the new photo programs like iLife; I want to see what the new changes are."
Dream Apple product: "I would like more gizmos on my iPod Touch. I'd like (Jobs) to put some of the iPhone features, like a browser, on the Touch."
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Machead:__ David Becerra
From: Los Angeles
Age: 25
Occupation: Software developer
Macworld count: First year
Show highlights: "I really like the eyeTV hybrid ... and the Air was really cool."
Dream Apple product: "Something that incorporates all your media into your computer. You could watch your TV and access contacts from it."
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Macheads:__ Riga Grewal and Suhasini Chandramorli
From: Santa Clara, California, and San Francisco
Age: 22 and 20
Occupations: Finance associates at Apple
Macworld counts: First time
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Show highlights:__ "We're looking forward to the new Office. We want to see the new Excel. We're nerdy!"
__Dream Apple products: __
Chandramorli: "I would say a TV."
Grewal: "A touch-screen monitor."
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Machead:__ Martti Delabarre
From: Ontario, Canada
Age: 61
Occupation: Apple reseller
Macworld Count: 20
Show highlights: "Too soon to know yet."
Dream Apple product: "When they made the Apple TV, they should have made a built-in tuner. I think they left a step out."
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Machead:__ Josiah Wiebe
From: Manitoba, Canada
Age: 16
Occupation: Student, website developer
Macworld count: First year
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Show highlights:__ "The Air.... (Macworld's) amazing. I love it -- I'll be coming again."
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Dream Apple product:__ "That's difficult -- they've created everything I want already.... Maybe a vehicle with everything already integrated into it."
