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Macintosh
by John Willner, willner@earthlink.net - February 18, 2002 at 19:26:26:
Our meeting was devoted mainly to the January 2002 MacWorld Exposition held in San Francisco and booty brought back for the benefit of members.Muskonie Center was not as completely filled with vendor booths as last year, much the same as for other large computer shows such as Comdex. On Tuesday the crowd was also not very large, mainly due to snowstorms in the East and more difficulties with airline schedules for attendees flying in. However, by Wednesday one had difficulty walking down the aisles because of the huge crowds. The new iMacs were very impressive. While a few skeptical articles appeared after the show, the widespread opinion was that this Mac would sell. In fact over150,000 orders were placed in January, and orders are increasing. Rumor has it that Apple placed orders for 100,000 flat screen displays per month. The two Orange County Apple stores in Fashion Island and South Coast Plaza report that 40% of purchases are being made by former Windows users. That might eventually get someone’s attention in both the computer and investment arenas.
The iMac, ranging in price from $1299 to $1799, has such advanced features that questions naturally arose about the desktop G4 computer line. Some of those questions were answered just before the meeting with Apple announcing new computers with dual 1- gigabyte processors and $500 reductions in the price of former top of the line models. After all, an iMac for consumers (as opposed to professionals) with 800 MHz G4 processor and velocity engine (digital signal processor), a 15" active matrix display, 256 MB of RAM, a 60GB hard drive, USB and Firewire installed, and Super drive that can burn and read CD-RW/DVD ROM disks pushes the limits of most desktop computers of any make or model.
A large number of media packages were collected at the show and distributed at our meeting. These kits were from both software and hardware vendors, with emphasis being placed on OS X. All current MacIntoshes are being shipped with OS X installed. This means an already adequate number of software packages are now available for this advanced operating system, and more are coming rapidly. One key offering available at the show was Microsoft Office for OS X, with four individual programs, the most advanced set of software applications that Microsoft offers. Whatever the deal made between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates,MacIntoshes appear to be getting the new programs first.
The emphasis at the show was on what Mac users are doing with their computers today. iMovie and iPhoto are free to Mac users, and these are more advanced programs than most computer users might realize. The iPod device, at $299 for holding up to 1000 music compositions, was prominently displayed. Thus, movie making, multi-media presentations, digital photography, and data storage of large photo and movie files were addressed. Also, numerous software development systems for OS X were in evidence. The handouts included packets from many of these companies. We also had the usual supply of ball point pens, flashing badges, Easter eggs containing silly putty and caps. We’ve already received so many T-shirts that they were mainly overlooked.
Incidentally, purchases of new computers through the Apple MUG Store get points for NOCCC that can be applied to prizes for our SIG. This quarter’s login is "iPod" and the password is "music".
At next month’s meeting the new Microsoft Office for OS X will be demonstrated using a laptop computer and LCD display. Programs include Word, Excel, Power Point and Entourage.
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