The blogosphere (and nerdosphere, while we're at it), has been in a frenzy the past few days. Why's that? 'Cause today was MacWorld.
Yes, MacWorld, the forum for major Apple announcements that are sure to send the 5% of PC users that actually own Macs into a mega-buying frenzy.
So what were the major announcements, for those of you who actually care about this stuff?
[Side note: Since this is going from the beginning of the announcements to the end of the show, it gets bigger as this goes along. Bear with me.]
- Tons of support for HD video, which makes sense, since there was some sort of legal requirement to move all TV over to High Definition this year, anyway. For the consumer, this means that the technology for viewing, filming, and editing video (at least in Macs) will be up to standards before the rest of us catch up.
- Greater integration for mp4 video technology, which is a very good thing. mp4s are tiny video files, and could do for online video what mp3s did for online music. The alternative, watching videos in Flash, is crap.
- New Quicktime, the "biggest update in a decade." The big news here is that you'll be able to scale your quicktime movie viewer larger and smaller with NO LOSS OF QUALITY. That's pretty awesome.
- John Mayer introduced the new Garage Band! He's dreamy!
[Side Note: I'd love it if Apple could figure out some way of integrating John Mayer with OSX. That would be a seriously sexy upgrade.]
- iPhoto prices for printing photos down to 19 cents a print, which is great. I used this for the g-friend a couple of weeks ago, took a picture she had taken, put it into iPhoto, cropped it, reduced the red-eye (actually switched pupils, which was pretty hilarious), and then clicked, literally, two buttons to order several regular sized prints of the photos. AND, the photos looked great. If I liked photography, I would use this service more often.
- iWork replaces ol' Appleworks program, with integration in OSX and the iLife software. The big news with this is that Apple is trying to replace Microsoft Office, which is pretty much essential to using your Mac. Good luck with that, Apple!
[Side Note: My PC here at work is telling me I should update my windows software RIGHT NOW. It's obviously suffering from all the attention I'm lavishing on Apple. That's cause you suck, PC I'm typing on right now.]
- Mac Mini. Holy crap, this is awesome. 3" tall computer, with all the connectors you need (ethernet, video, usb, firewire!). No monitor, obviously, but the goddamn computer FITS IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND! You can use your current keyboard, mouse, monitor, etc, and just hook it up to the world's teeniest little powerhorse. Yeah, I said powerhorse. And, it starts at $500, which is ridiculously reasonable. In stores, January 22. Dude, you're trashing your Dell.
- Over 10 million iPods sold, and will probably reach over 1 billion songs sold on iTunes this year. I want to point out it just started snowing because, you know, its Christmas.
- Motorla is making an iTunes phone. I mean, I'll buy that.
- iPod Shuffle. What is it? It's an iPod, smaller than a pack of gum, has no screen, weighs under 1 oz, 12 hour battery. Basically a teeny little flash drive, that coordinates with iTunes. You make the playlist in iTunes, and then upload it to your Shuffle. It has the standard iPod click wheel, but basically, suprises you with crazy music at every turn!
Yes, the name is silly, and yes, its weird that its just on shuffle. BUT. I basically have my iPod set on shuffle anyway, cause really, I just have songs I want to hear anyway. And here's the best part: 512MB for $99 and 1GB for $149.99. That's cheap. I mean, real cheap. I hesitated when I first heard about this, but getting a 1GB iPod for $150 is, I think more attractive to the average consumer than anything that costs over $300 (which the rest of the iPod line basically does).
And, it also works as a standard USB Flash drive, which means it's a disk you can plug into any computer, anywhere, and use as a disk drive. I have an iPod, and I still might buy this.
The best part? You can buy it TODAY.
Cheers to you, Apple, you've forced me to buy two tiny appliances.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
MacWorld
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2 comments:
Do you think this will make their current laptop prices go down a bit?
Ummm... Probably not. But the long rumored G5 Powerbooks should actually be coming out sometime this year, and that WILL drive their laptop prices down.
You may not want to wait for that, though.
On a seperate note, after a day of reflection, here's my thoughts on Mac Mini & iPod Shuffle:
iPod Shuffle: If you're going to get a USB flashkey anyway, why not get one that's also an iPod, at an excellent price point. The 1GB for $149 is excellent. Or, if you're a runner, this would be a great product to have while you work out. Otherwise, get a regular iPod.
Mac Mini: Not as revolutionary as I first thought, but still, what a great product. Not powerful enough to make me ditch my laptop, or even current computer. But if I DIDN'T have a mac laptop, I'd probably be picking up one of these babies.
Also, I can see the Mac Mini having TONS of different applications, from being able to run a show off it, to being a digital hub for your home entertainment system, to (as one site suggested) sticking it in the slot for your car stereo (as its EXACTLY the same size), and running anything you want off a computer that you stuck in your car.
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