Macworld: The Best Is Yet To Come

by Chris Seibold Jan 08, 2004

imageYou sat through what was a very boring Macworld Keynote 2004 SF you probably picked up on a few things. But did you catch the important stuff? Lets find out with a little Keynote Kwiz (alliteration is my life):

1) GarageBand is to SoundTrack as iMovie is to:
a) Final Cut Pro
b) 40 bucks
c) Lord of The Rings
d) Something you could make really cool stuff with if all you had was time

2) People whining about paying 40 bucks for iLife _________
a) should simply use the previous version of iLife
b) should refuse to use iLife altogether
c) should switch to Windows and see what the 40 bucks would get them
d) should be shot

3) If the mini pod is fifty dollars better than a flash player, how many dollars better is the 15 GB iPod than the iPod mini?
a) the iPod is worse, too much space hurts my head
b) Steve says fifty bucks, I say fifty bucks
c) $146.67
d) you cant put a price on color

4) The 20th anniversary Mac poster is:
a) cool enough
b) a fitting tribute to the most imitated computer of all time
c) slightly less stupid than the 1984 commercial featuring an iPod
d) worth what people paid for it

5) Steves main take away message was:
a) Apple is number 1 in online music sales
b) Apple is number 1 in mp3 player sales
c) iLife is like Microsoft Office for the times youre not at the office
d) All of the above, Steve lacked focus

Answers: a, d, c, d, d

After MacWorld whining is par for the course, everyone does it and obviously Im no exception, after all its fun and cathartic. We hard core Mac folks whip ourselves into a near frenzy over the yearly San Fran happening, some of us are mere steps away from dressing up and making the whole thing into some bizarre trek-like convention, so a little venting is good.

Whining aside there are a lot of things to like about the most recent MacWorld. GarageBand does look pretty cool and the iPod mini is very slick. At the moment the main criticism of the iPod mini seems to be the price. That complaint stems from the way Apple positioned the product as a flash mp3 player killer. Doing some field research today (I went to Target) I found the flash based mp3 players to be much cheaper than 199 figure touted by his Steveness. Sure they were all pretty cheaply made and lacked any form of understandable interface but they had the low price thing down. The iPod mini does fail on the low price issue but it excels in a few other areas. Its undeniably cool, I imagine more than a few iPod owners will get an iPod mini and for some folks its plenty large enough. Take, for example, me. The iPod mini would hold my complete music collection a few times over, its small enough my toddler could easily flush it down the toilet and I could strap it to my arm, sit on a bench and pretend I had been jogging. The iPod mini would be a personal must have if I wasnt so certain the toddler would, in fact, send it the way of Knoxville sanitation.

The iPod mini isnt the best thing about MacWorld 04, not by a long shot. The best thing about this MacWorld isnt the stuff that showed up, its the stuff that didnt make it. In years past we would have been treated to the G5 introduction, the redesigned 15-inch PowerBook and the G4 iBook. This year all those things were released prior to MacWorld, which is nice, no artificially long waits before users get the stuff (how long was the 12 powerbook ready before release?) and no long periods between announcing a product and getting it in the users hands. So I believe Steve when he says Apple is going to make a lot of groundbreaking stuff in 04 and I am thankful I wont have to wait until MacWorld 05 to see it.

Comments

  • Here is a clip from Amazon.com for the iRiver flash based mp3 (rated #1 flash player from CNET and others):

    iRiver iFP-190T 256 MB Digital Audio Player
    List Price: $199.99
    Buy new: $156.94

    That price is for an _unexpandable_ 256MB

    Other players that have expandability will need to buy a 512MB flash memory card for an Amazon price of $150 on top of the player’s price.

    We can start to see where Apple got their figures from, and why the iPod Mini is so compelling for buyers in that market.

    Nathan had this to say on Jan 08, 2004 Posts: 219
  • I think you’re asking a lot of the consumer to do the math and figure out the better value. You need stand alone compelling reasons to buy something, the ipod mini may be compelling just out of sheer coolness, but expecting folks to realize it’s a better value is asking too much. (Especially if expect them not to realize the 15 GB is an even better value)

    chrisseibold had this to say on Jan 08, 2004 Posts: 48
  • I agree. 2004 will be an awesome here for Apple. Here’s my predictions about what’s going to happen in 2004.

    Late January: PowerMac G5s get speed bumps. The 3 models will be dual 1.8 Ghz, dual 2.0 GHz, and dual 2.4 GHz.

    February: In another huge surprise, Apple unveils the PowerBook G5 months before people expected it. Speeds range from 1.6 Ghz to 1.8 Ghz. Overnight, more than 100,000 orders are placed at the Apple Store.

    March: Apple updates the iMac line to the G5 processor along with a totally new industrial design. eMac gets faster G4s.

    April: Apple dubuts iPod, 4th generation on the first anniversary of the iTunes Music Store. The new iPod now has a color screen and autosyncs with your iPhoto library. It won’t be able to play video, however, but the upgrades send consumers into a new round of buying frenzy. The price remains at $299, $399, and $499.

    Apple also updates the iPod mini line, although the mini remains the same device. The 4 GB version now costs $199, and a new 8 GB version costs $249. The mini line has proven to be a great seller, but with a $199 price tag, many iPod owners opt to get a “companion” version.

    Apple also announces the iTMS has sold 150 million songs and the rate is now 3 million songs a week.
    BuyMusic.com announces that is has shut down because less than 1000 people are visiting the site each week.

    May: Apple introduces the iBook G5 at the WWDC.

    June: Xserve G5s receive a speed bump.

    July: eMac goes G5. Goodbye G4, Motorola.

    August: Apple unveils dual 3.0 Ghz PowerMac G5s. PowerBooks also receive a speed bump to 2.0 GHz in August, in time for back-to-school.

    September: I have no idea.

    October: iPod line is refreshed. iTunes 5 is unveiled.

    November: iBook, eMac, iMac all get refreshed, in time for the holidays.

    December: Apple rakes in sales and announces yearly revenues have hit $10 billion. 2004 has been a great year for the company. tongue laugh

    Paul had this to say on Jan 08, 2004 Posts: 31
  • Question 1 is a little off. SoundTrack is not really a more advanced version of GarageBand—it’s designed to do a completely different thing. Sure, both programs allow you record audio and MIDI data, but that’s really where the similarities end.

    SoundTrack enables non-musicians to create polished, commercially viable music by assembling loops. It’s not a ProTools or Digital Performer competitor (like Final Cut Pro IS a Premier and Avid competitor). GarageBand allows the loop-building, but the emphasis is on playing the virtual instruments through the keyboard, recording your own stuff. It may be too bold to say that GarageBand encourages creativity while SoundTrack eliminates the need for it.

    jazer had this to say on Jan 13, 2004 Posts: 2
  • Page 1 of 1 pages
You need log in, or register, in order to comment