I don’t know what Steve Jobs will unveil at the MacWworld keynote on Tuesday morning. Nobody else knows either, but there are plenty of predictions. It’s a fun game. Will he roll out a subnotebook? Will a successor to the ill-famed Newton appear? What’s all this “Air” business about? Will iTunes be free, like air? Will all Apple products now have wireless connectivity using a new protocol that also generates free energy and scrubs the air of harmful pollutants?

The Macworld prediction game has become a mainstream spectator sport. CNN/Money, Wired, and other mass market publications have made their guesses. A million eyeballs will watch the streaming video of Jobs unveiling the latest and greatest Apple wares, and expectations are high. Headlines wonder, “How Will Jobs Top the iPhone?” It would be enough to give a less seasoned showman a case of stage fright.

I doubt whatever wonders are unveiled at Macworld will have the impact of the iPhone. After all, Apple’s entry into a completely new market was such a profound break from the past that the shockwave of its arrival is still being felt in the mobile phone industry. This time around we’ll likely see some innovative, clever, and well-designed products from a company that is taking advantage of the momentum it has built over the past few years. We’ll also see spiffy products from Mac hardware and software vendors. Most importantly, we’ll see a healthy, vibrant Mac community that just keeps growing. That may not be as earth-shattering as the iPhone unveiling, but it’s great news for Mac users.

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