Can Macworld 2008 Top Last Year’s Show?

Steve Jobs’ much-anticipated Macworld keynote is just a day away and naturally, due to Apple’s hyper-secretive nature, speculation of ultra-portable MacBooks, iPhone upgrades, and solid-state drives. While we won’t know for certain what will be unveiled at the show until Jobs makes his appearance–LAPTOP Editor in Chief Mark Spoonauer will be providing live coverage–we can’t help but to wonder if this year’s Macworld will make as big an impact as last year’s convention if the rumor-mill proves itself true. At MacWorld 2007, Jobs and company unveiled the almighty iPhone, which pioneered a new method of cell phone interaction with its excellent Visual Voicemail and revolutionary Multi-Touch interface. The iPhone was Macworld 2007′s true legacy as it went on to become one of the hottest cell phones of the year. Does anyone even remember that AppleTV and an 802.11n-compatible AirPort Extreme also were unveiled at the show? While it may be difficult for Apple to replicate the hype of the iPhone (at this point, would the inevitable iPhone/iPod iPod refresh get anyone super-pumped?), the feature set of the rumored MacBook Air sounds like something that could revolutionize computing if it brings over the iPhone’s Multi-Touch control scheme. Imagine navigating your iPhoto library or browsing iTunes with just a fingertip-that’s the type of functionality that would shake up the notebook industry and make Macworld 2008 a show that’ll be hard to one up..