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Macinations

Live from MacWorld
iMac puts Polish on Big Apple Expo

By Mike Kaltschnee

 

I'M A MAC FAN, so it was with great excitement that I got up this morning to take the 7 a.m. train to New York City for MacWorld Expo. I attend a lot of trade shows, but none will have the impact of my first: Apple Fest 83,held in Boston. I had just bought an Apple IIe computer, and was totally amazed at the products, the people, and the excitement about computers I saw there.

Steve Jobs unveils the iBook.So even though I'm not a morning person, I left with a spring in my step wondering what interesting things the day would bring.

I usually avoid the keynote speaker, relying instead on the summary that comes out later in the day, and spend the hour or two I've saved more productively on the show floor. This time was different. There was a rumor about Apple launching a new portable computer and maybe even a new Internet portal with Disney. In the past, Steve Jobs has stunned the crowds with amazing new products such as the iMac, deals with Satan, er, Microsoft, and other such surprises, so I had high expectations for today.

The keynote started late, probably due to the huge line of people waiting to get in. The first announcement was for QuickTime TV, a way of viewing content from ABC, Disney, VH1, Fox News, HBO, and many others. The details were sketchy, but I'll be watching this closely- I want to watch E.R. when I want to, and catch up on episodes I miss at my convenience.

The second introduction was for Apple OS 9, scheduled to ship in September. Steve teased us with a comment about 50 new features, but only showed a shopping feature called Sherlock for comparing prices for books, music, and other consumer products. Sherlock is a great technology-you can scan multiple search engines to find the information you're looking for-but although there was a lot of applause, it wasn't what we were waiting for.

Next we were treated to two new product demos. Steve talked about the changing focus at Apple about games, and then Bungie Software showed a new game, Halo. Halo is the most realistic game I've ever seen, even better than the upcoming Quake 3 Arena. We were warned that it was a "live" demo and not a QuickTime movie. I can understand why now. Check it out on the Web at halo.bungie.com.

Next IBM gave a brief demo of ViaVoice for the Mac, a great new voice recognition program. It's good to see Apple and IBM working together again.

Steve next talked about the upcoming one- year anniversary of the iMac. Apple has sold more than 1.9 million iMacs, most of them to new users. The fact that stunned me was that more than 89% of the users were on the Internet. This is a sure sign that Apple has rebounded and is making inroads into the crucial new-user market.

The ibook.Finally Steve showed us the new portable, called the iBook. Expected to ship in September, it is a $1,599 notebook that is designed in a manner similar to the iMac. Available in Blueberry and Tangerine, the latest notebook offers a 300 Mhz processor, 3.2 GB hard drive, 32 MB RAM, 56k modem, and 10/100 Ethernet.

A quick price check of competing PC notebooks showed a price of more than $2,000 for similar features. Apple looks like they've done it again. My only question is why have we (consumers) waited so long for computer companies to realize that we appreciate style and design? When he showed us a slide with the leading PC notebook, the difference in design was stunning.

The final surprise was the lack of cables during the demo. Steve had to use a hula hoop to show that there weren't any-that the big surprise in the new iBook is a new wireless technology called Airport. This involves a wireless hub you connect to your network or modem. The new iBook has a $99 card that enables wireless operation within 150 feet. You can now surf in the kitchen, living room, or even the bathroom. The Airport costs $249 and will also ship in September.

I spent time looking at the rest of the show, and although there were interesting products and demos, nothing beat Apple. Look for PC manufacturers to try and keep up with Apple. The industry can only get better because of Apple. I just hope they get to share in the profits for the major advances they've given us so far.


Mike Kaltschnee is a founder of DeMorgan Industries, the leading developer of Web graphics at www.WebSpice.com. You can reach Mike at: mikek@demorgan.com.

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