Linkstew

The MacWorld SF Keynote today, and it really was a doozy of announcements. I watched the whole keynote, and enjoyed it pretty well, and I just can't stop thinking about some of the announcements. Since there's no way I'm going to be able to afford any of that stuff at the moment, I really just need to do a brain dump of my thoughts on the thing, so I can get on with my life in the mean time. Plus, posts like this one are always amusing for me to read a year from now.

• Obviously my favorite announcement was the Burton AMP iPod/Snowboard jacket. In an IM conversation, Keith said "I heard the promo for the jacket and I thought 'who the heck would buy that??' then thought 'benjy seems to be the target demographic.'" Heh, so true.
• Of course, $499 is way too much for a snowboard jacket (it's so expensive because it's some sort of exclusive limited release for this season available only through the Apple store online. In the keynote, Jobs claimed it'd be more generally released next season, so it should be cheaper then, too). Damnit, I still need to call Apple and see if they'll replace my iPod battery.


• I don't have a lot to say about iLife or Final Cut Express, really. I think they look good for what they are, but I have no use for almost any of them. The iPhoto updates will be nice, but I'd really like to see more iTunes features, since that's the only app of the lot I use regularly.


• Keynote also looks really nice, and seems like the obvious first step towards Apple trying to become even more independent of Microsoft. I don't have much use for a presentation app (hell, I only made my first PowerPoint presentation last month), but it looks good for what it is, and I look forward to Apple's answers to the rest of MS Office.


• Safari is Apple's new web browser, and so far I really like it. I've been running it since I downloaded it this afternoon, and for a beta, it's really nice. It hasn't crashed (though OmniWeb crashed about 5 minutes after I launched Safari).
• There are a lot of features I'd like to see still (and I might post a list later), but it's already got me considering switching over from OmniWeb. For a beta, that's pretty impressive.
• And I like the name a lot. It's pretty clever. But what's in a name, you ask? Well, Safari is way better than Apple's last web browser, Cyberdog, which (embarrassing admission time) I used for more than a year as my primary web browser / email program / etc back in the day. I mean, Safari is *way* better than Cyberdog ever was. Hm, not that it would take much...


• As far as the new PowerBooks, well, of course they're sexy, but I'm doing my best to not desire them too much.
• There's not a lot in the 12" PowerBook that I really want. The size will be good for some people, but my 15" Ti is good for me.
• The new 17" Monstrosity, on the other hand, has a lot I want in it. I don't actually want the 17" screen -- once again, my 15" Ti is just the right size.
• What I do want is the new Airport Extreme (Maybe I'll get lucky and when I call Apple about my busted basestation, they'll send me a new Airport Extreme Basestation) ;-). I want Firewire 800, and I want built in Bluetooth. I also wouldn't mind a SuperDrive, but that was a choice I already made.
• As for the new backlit keyboard in the 17" PowerBook, well, I already talked about that more than two years ago.
• My last note on the PowerBooks: Even if you're on a modem, you must take the time to download this commercial. It's the funniest thing I've seen since Apple's Hal Y2k commercial.


• I was amused by Jobs saying "the rumor sites were saying this was going to be a really boring keynote. Well, I hope you don't believe everything you read." I almost felt like releasing the minor TiBook revision back in November was to completely cloak the new PowerBook announcements. No one expected new PowerBooks at all after they were just updated. I still don't regret buying the model I did when I did, though, because they didn't update the 15" model at all.
• I was also amused by this Jobs quote. "Some people have a problem with open source. We think it's great." Between comments like that, the Safari announcement, and the Keynote announcement, I really felt like Apple was moving into a more aggressive posture with regard to Microsoft. It'll be interesting to see where that goes in the next year or two.

My final thought on the keynote? Damnit, now I want to work at Apple! Oh, hey, look at that, I just graduated... Fancy that.