RE: [OT] apple keynote

["Don McAllister" <donmc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Yep, very impressive.  Interesting to see even the super stable Apple
had
> to  switch to a backup system after some sort of lockup ;)

:-) To be honest I'm not sure if it was a lockup - it seemed to launch the
picture into full screen mode which Jobs appeared to be surprised with and
possibly didn't know how to get out of. What was impressive was that they
had the backup system ready to rock and roll at the push of a button - very
smooth.

Compare this keynote with Gates rather embarrassing session with Conan at
DES and Jobs blew him away!

Interesting to see Jobs point out that Apple had 3 of the top 4 best
selling
Consumer Electronic Products on Amazon!

> I was really taken by the software.  The "Dashboard" thing
looked nice and
> the DVD authoring stuff looked simple and powerful - as long as you
use
> the Apple templates.
>

Agreed - although you have to up the spec of the Mac mini to a decent
amount
of RAM and a Superdrive. The standard config includes a Combo drive only
not
a DVD writer but the software did look good. I was surprised at how much
time he spent showing some of the relatively minor points of the software.
He probably spent more time demoing the new search facility in Tiger than
he
did on the Mac mini! I think it might be dangerous to view all the software
demoed in the context of the Mac Mini as some people might - I'm sure you'd
really need a high spec Mac to do a lot of the video editing stuff although
the Mac mini does come with iDVD as part of iLife.

> The little Books that you can order with your own photos in them seem
a
> great idea.  I presume you can only do this on a Mac??

Looked cool - I like to see the quality of the final printed books - Never
heard of this being available before. I imagine it will be Mac only - At
least he said available worldwide from Day 1!

> I really can honestly say this is the first time in my life I have
> considered owning a Mac.  I'm worried that I may have a sudden urge to
do
> a Hair Dressers course at my local night Tech soon ;)

Oh good - it's not just me then! But I think I'll pass on the hairdressers
course :-)

I know the Mac Mini is a relatively low spec PC but I'd be interested in
getting one just to see what all the fuss was about. Think there would be
something refreshing in seeing how a whole new OS would fit in with my
usual
daily activities and not be heavily laden with antivirus, anti spyware,
etc!

One thing I didn't mention was the seemingly big time adoption of HD Video
-
both in editing and playback - looks good. I want one of those Sony FH
camcorders NOW!

Cheers
Don