Now that the hoopla surrounding Macworld San Francisco is starting
to die down, we can take a more objective look back at the events of
last week. Here is my two cents worth on the highlights:
New PowerBooks
Two new PowerBook G4s were introduced: a 12" model, which is
smaller than any PowerBook model ever, including the old Duo series,
and a 17" model,
which has the largest notebook screen on the planet.
The 17" model has been greeted with almost universal acclaim. It has
been hailed as a portable that will allow even graphic professionals to
forsake a desktop Mac. I agree wholeheartedly with this assessment.
With top-end G4 power, a 17" LCD screen, FireWire 800, Bluetooth,
AirPort Extreme, a 60 GB hard drive, 512 MB of RAM, and an Nvidia
GeForce4 440 Go with 64 MB of DDR SDRAM all standard, this is a
no-compromise Mac. The fact that it is a notebook is gravy.
I am not sure I would characterize the 17" PB as a portable,
however. Rather, it is more of a transportable. In other words, you
won't be using this PB on the flight to San Francisco. It is far too
large. The main way I envision it used is being carried from place to
place and set up at the destination.
Even the 15" PB
is barely useable as a portable. It overlaps many airline tray tables.
My wife packed hers to take to school not long ago, and we discovered
it does not fit in a standard notebook bag very well. However, I
consider this a fair trade for the extraordinary amount of screen real
estate on both the 15" and 17" models.
The 12" PowerBook, on the other hand, has received a lukewarm
response. However, this is the hardware product about which I am most
enthusiastic. Personally, I want a PowerBook for the G4 processor; I
don't especially care about the screen size. Portability and the
ability to use the notebook on planes, trains, buses and various and
sundry locations along the way is of paramount importance to me. The G4
processor is a close second in importance.
I am also pleased to see that the SuperDrive is a build-to-order
option on the 12" PB. The introduction of this notebook at $1,799
almost makes me regret my recent iBook purchase. The 12" PB is probably
not for everyone, but I believe it fills a niche in the Apple product
line. I hope sales of this model will be sufficient to warrant its
continuation, and I am optimistic about its future.
Safari
Safari is an
(almost) built-from-scratch Apple Web browser. I love it and have
already made it my primary browser. So far I have only encountered one
site which caused problems. I was able to click one button and report
the problem to Apple.
Safari is noticeably faster than any other browser I generally use
(these being primarily Internet Explorer, Netscape, and iCab; Opera has
not made it into my repertoire yet, and it has been quite a while since
I used OmniWeb). It still needs tabbed browsing, though.
While I like the fact that it does not have a screen border at the
bottom, thus maximizing display space, I do miss being able to hover
the mouse on a link and see that link at the bottom of the window. The
link may actually appear somewhere else; to be honest, I have not
checked that closely.
In my evaluation, I was primarily interested in loading as many
different sites as humanly possible in order to check out its rendering
ability. Other bugs/irritations I have noticed are:
- The password manager does not work on all password dialog
boxes.
- If there is a form fill feature, I have not found it.
All in all, this is an incredible first effort. To roll out a brand
new product that is at 97% of where it needs to be right out of the
gate is unheard of these days. Outstanding effort, Apple.
Final Cut Express
I have not evaluated Final Cut Express,
but there is no doubt it is a much-needed program. I predict good sales
to those whose needs cannot justify the hefty price tag of Final Cut
Pro, but who need more features than are offered in iMovie.
Keynote
I have not yet evaluated Keynote either, but I am
already very excited about it. From all accounts it is a PowerPoint
killer. Can Word and Excel killers be far behind? I don't think so. No
one seriously doubts that Apple programmers are even now hard at work
producing their own versions of these Microsoft programs.
That is probably why we have not seen a major update to AppleWorks -
a replacement is on the way. I can't wait.
AirPort Extreme
54 Mbps 801.11g, backwards compatible with AirPort 802.11b, and a
price reduction. Everything we could have hoped for and more.
Bluetooth and Rendezvous
Bluetooth is low-range (25 feet or so) wireless technology that
promises to deliver low-cost wireless keyboards, mice, printers, and a
host of other peripherals. It is already built into a few cellular
telephones, allowing them to sync with your Mac address book.
Rendezvous is a technology that allows computers, printers, and other
peripherals to automatically discover and configure network resources.
The combination of these two technologies will allow us to do what we
have dreamed of since the earliest days of the Apple II and IBM PC:
- Unbox your printer.
- Plug it into an electrical outlet.
- Start using it.
A few printers are already Rendezvous-enabled, and some also have
Bluetooth. Currently, none have both. However, this will change any day
now. In a matter of weeks, the scenario above will be reality. As is
typical of any computing innovation, Apple is leading the way on this
one.
This is not an exhaustive list of all the new products and
innovations Apple introduced last week. For the full story, visit
Apple.com and browse around. These are exciting times in which we live.
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