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Macintosh
by By John Willner, willner@earthlink.net - February 22, 2001 at 15:27:14:
Both Claire and I are back from MacWorld with lots of goodies. We have literature, games, sample software, telephone cable shorteners, CDs, data sheets, Iomega bags, Palm Pilot bags, mouse pads, and a T-shirt that Bob K. Won. We spent quite a bit of time talking about the MUG lounge, the Pressroom lounge, and the discounts available on the floor and the new products.Ah, the new products. What probably was the biggest hit of the show was the new Titanium Power Book. Two versions sell for $2500 and $3500. It is comparatively light (5.1 pounds), has a huge 15.2” screen, is one-inch thick, has a five -hour battery, interfaces to USB, Firewire and Ethernet, packs a G4 processor, and the speedier one has a 733 Megahertz clock. Comparison tests (Apple’s) indicate that it beats the fastest notebooks available with Intel processors. Brushed titanium gives it an elegant look, and it is as strong as steel in a lighter weight. Small businesses were placing orders for 20 to 50 at a clip on the floor.
The other new product that received lots of attention was the new top of the line G4 desktop computer with built in DVD burner at $3500. Most separate DVD burners start around $10,000. Hence, this is quite an accomplishment. One can now burn an hour-long movie on a CD costing about $10 apiece at the show. Together with several new movie making software packages, and a digital movie camera, this really allows the user to create professional level films.
Displays on the floor catered to Sorenson compression software, iMovie, PrimeTime, Director, MP3 sound systems, and many other professional packages now within reach from a cost standpoint. The all out focus is on multimedia in every form. The only slightly negative note was the fact that availability was only for single G4 processor units, which are in short supply. Apple’s idea appears to be to sell as many single processor G4 computers as possible until the supply catches up. Of course, the primary reason for switching to OS X when it becomes available is to take advantage of its dual processor capabilities and the new hyperspeed software that is rapidly being written. If you have not seen a demonstration, then you are in for a treat. Former separate applications, such as in the Adobe scheme of things, are merged. You have the capabilities of half a dozen applications at once in a single product. They all operate with amazing speed.
Claire demonstrated the new Palm Pilot hand held computer she bought at the show. It has quite a large number of features that she can use now.
We showed movies with clips from Steve Job’s address, the product manager of the new titanium notebook, the product manager of the new DVD G4 desktop, and other scenes from the show. I was impressed on seeing them again.
[See also MacWorld San Francisco 2001 article on page 8]
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