Last year, it was Keynote and the 17-inch Powerbook.
This year? It’s just plain evil, again.
That said…
For me, it has been a great year since the last Macworld.
I still have the trusty blue iBook for those on the road reports. But there have been erstwhile additions in the form of a 10 gig iPod, and a shiny (new to me) G4 with over 80 gig of storage. Running on the new Panther operating system… well, I’m one happy camper.
But enough about me and my Mac’s.
Recalling last years columns on the same subject, I was not all that surprised by the 2004 Mac World Expo. Sure, there are new gadgets and software upgrades or new products. And as I somewhat expected, the entire event could have been set up in Moscone’s South Hall. There was one heck of a lot of unused space hiding behind the curtains. And more than a few empty carpeted spaces on the show floor were obvious.
So why did all the people make the effort to be here? It boils down to belief in a product line, on both the selling and buying side of the proverbial coin. That is the something that seems to keep folks coming back for more on the Apple platform. It is the kind of brand loyalty that companies dream about. (And it is one of the things that Disney seems to have forgotten throughout all of its divisions. Or have we heard this before?)
But keeping to the subject at hand, there was something shown by Apple that may become the next “must have” or “killer” application. That is GarageBand. Part of the iLife suite, it should take everyone who ever had a musical inkling and make them masters. Available January 16, it will be a must have for only forty-nine bucks. Steve Jobs used part of the keynote address for the event to show off this little gem. Using pre-recorded loops of various instruments and musical styles, he had a short little selection ready in minutes. If you were ever a band geek, wanna-be or bugged your parents with that guitar, this will be one for you. As someone with enough of that in my past, I foresee way too many hours spent with it in my future…
Sorry for the brief on the fly, back with a bit more next week!
As usual, if you’d like to toss a couple of dollars in Roger’s Paypal Donation Box, he’d appreciate it. Really.