We here at DVICE were all over MacWorld this week. But we weren't the only ones. While there are some writers (and many commenters) who are vehemently positive about every announcement Apple makes, the general consensus about Steve Jobs's Keynote this week is that it was a mixed bag. While there were some exciting announcements, there were also plenty of caveats that bothered even some of the company's most loyal enthusiasts.

Click Continue to read views about elements of the keynote from around the web.

Keynote Notes

Not the best keynote ever
"'Jobs' performance seemed a little off,' said Mr. King [host of the Your Mac Life radio show]... Mr. King said he felt like Jobs 'gave and took away' with some of the announcements. For example, Apple updated the iPod touch but will charge $20, and announced movie rentals but won't provide them until 30 days after the DVD release." — Ricky Spero, The Mac Observer

Jobs left out desktop towers completely
When Jobs' attention wanders, will the products they love suffer? [Newton] Munson, for example, is concerned that Apple's server and hard-core desktop products got short-shrift during Jobs' keynote. 'If Steve Jobs isn't interested in it, it might not survive,' Munson says." — Brian Caulfield, Forbes.com

Where was the DRM news? Jobs tiptoed around the fact that Amazon is allowed to sell big label songs without DRM, but Apple is not
"The big record labels, however, still seem to be stiffing iTunes when it comes to offering their music without "digital rights management" restrictions--as they already do on Amazon's MP3 store; Jobs didn't even mention Apple's iTunes Plus no-"DRM" downloads during the hour-and-a-half keynote." — Rob Pegoraro, The Washington Post

On the "new" Apple TV

The author answers this Apple TV question by saying "lots." We disagree. But it's a good question
"What Jobs didn’t mention during his “Delusions of Grandeur” speech was whether or not the Apple TV has some viability going forward. After all, how much faith do people really have in Apple to make its new offering a success when the product was relegated to the shadows and generally ignored over the past year?" — Don Reisinger, NewTeeVee

Online movie rentals are an old, weak business
"Apple TV 2.0 strikes me as a Hail Mary pass. The original product has not sold all that well and that isn't even Apple's fault. I'm glad Apple finally convinced major movie studios to make their films available for purchase and rent via iTunes, but this is not a new business. CinemaNow and MovieLink have been at it for years— and with only marginal success." — Lance Ulanoff, PC Mag

Plus, Apple TV's HD support isn't so supportive
"Is anyone getting the same eye-rolling reaction that I get when I hear Apple touting the ATV's HD support? 720p @ a 5Mbps max shitrate, 4 gig max file size will look like a bad DivX with upped resolution. No surround sound. People would be way better off spending their money on a Blu-Ray player and a Netflix subscription" — commenter "Ty," Engadget

On that funny, skinny computer

Even Fanboys were confused
Apple's fan base usually hits the Web en masse to flame any criticism of Apple for its strange disconnectedness with users. But this offering seems to be different, with some Mac lovers calling Apple on it succinctly: 'Like, the product doesn't make any sense!'"— Mike Barton, PC World

And David Pogue, a notorious Mac lover, had reservations as well
"Instead of burning music CDs for the car, Apple says you should get an iPod. Instead of playing movie DVDs, you should download movies from Apple. Instead of backing up onto CDs, you should use Apple’s new Time Capsule service. Obviously, these arguments aren’t exactly convincing, especially since so many of them involve buying more Apple stuff." — David Pogue, The New York Times

But people love it anyway
"Verdict? Ultra light, ultra awesome." — Jason Chen, Gizmodo

— S.E. Kramer

Last Week: 8 Trends that ruled CES 2008