My First Impressions

ByDon

It just was not the same to see a Macworld Keynote without Steve Jobs, but I thought that Phil Schiller did an admirable job of showing off the latest from Apple.

The top four innovations from my point of view were:

  1. iPhoto – the changes to iPhoto are simply astounding. It is the most advanced photo management system for consumers ever conceived. It will make your photo library more accessible, more manageable and more useful than ever before. iPhoto is reason enough all by itself to buy a Mac!
  2. iMovie – the new features in iMovie have me thinking about taking a video camera with my on my upcoming safari to Tanzania. The ability to manipulate your videos and the new tools introduced make video editing even within my capabilities.
  3. The Mac Box Set – The new package @ $169 of iWork, iLife and Leopard is a great way to get folks stuck back with Tiger finally into the modern age!
  4. DRM-free iTunes – YES, this will make managing your music library as easy as managing your photo library. It is a credit to Apple that the record labels have finally seen the light and dropped the requirement for DRM on music. Apple has demonstrated that they have the market for music no one else can touch.

Plus, I like a lot of the features in the new MacBook Pro 17-inch, especially the new battery. While I know some will complain about the non-removable battery, I am sure that it can be replaced by Apple Service Providers and with a 1000-cycle life and up to 8-hours on a charge, you do not have to carry a spare battery just to get through the day!

I was surprised to see Tony Bennett as the musical star at the end of the keynote but Artie was enraptured and applauded wildly.

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  • _Dear Friends,_

    I am writing from my hotel room in San Francisco at Macworld. I just came back from the nearest Starbucks for a grande black eye before I get on the plane to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show. I walked outside and everyone seemed to be all bundled up with down coats, gloves, etc. It was 50 degrees out! I was proud of my tough Green Mountain blood in my t-shirt.

    This has been a very productive Macworld, although I only had about an hour to look on the show floor. I have been in meetings, one after another, every day. It is these one-on-one meetings, the dinners and social events where business takes place that I will miss with the absence of Apple’s presence at Macworld.

    There was a lot of reminiscing and talk about how we will preserve this personal contact in an increasingly impersonal business world. Everyone seems to be very concerned (and rightfully so) about the economy, and I must have heard someone say they are just “biding time” about a hundred times.

    I am very excited about the iLife ’09 and the great bargain that the Mac Box Set represents. I was able to take a look at the new iPhoto and had a chance to talk to the designer/engineer from Apple. I had an important question: would the new facial recognition feature, Faces, work for dogs? Unfortunately, the answer was “no,” but he said that it was the most asked question thus far!

    I’ll give you a short report from the CES show next week as Geoff and I search the floor for some new products. We have a whole new set of meetings before I fly back home on Sunday.

  • SPECIALS | 01/09/09 – 01/16/09

    View specials while on-hand supplies last. Please note that some specials may not be available in our retail stores; check for availability.

    Over 200 total specials are featured online on our Specials page. “Check them out here!”:http://www.smalldog.com/specials

  • iLife '09 Update: iWeb, iDVD

    iWeb also received minor updates for Macworld. In iWeb, it’s now easier to upload websites and website changes to MobileMe or to your own server via FTP with a single click. Like iWeb ’08, iWeb ’09 uploads only your changes when you publish, so you’ll enjoy quick site updates.

    iWeb will now notify your Facebook friends when you update your site. Simply link any iWeb site to your Facebook account. Following an update, iWeb adds the changes to your profile, alerting your friends and providing them with a handy link. It’s now also easier to add web widgets to your site that update automatically.

    iDVD didn’t appear to get any new features beyond performance and stability improvements. iMovie once again supports DVD chapter makers and titles for use with iDVD ’09, which is very welcome news.

    “Learn more and pre-order iLife ’09 here.”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/72885

  • iLife '09 Update: iPhoto

    iPhoto has gotten many updates in the iLife ’09 edition. iPhoto is arguably the most-used application in the iLife suite, behind iTunes.

    For starters, there are now three ways to sort your photos:

    * Events
    * Faces
    * Places

    Events was a new way to view and sort photos with the last iLife release, but both Faces and Places are new.

    Faces relies on face recognition, and assists in tagging photos. Amazingly, it will find a face and ask in other photos if it is the same person… I guess we’ll see! There’s also integration with Facebook and Flickr.

    Places works with Google Maps to zoom in on a location. It uses latitude and longitude, and will automatically add a location to your photos. This is great because you’ll be able to ‘geotag’ your entire set of photos. Phil uses the example of “Yosemite” in that if you have just taken a vacation there, it will geotag all of your photos from the trip!

    I’m really excited to check iPhoto ’09 out, especially the tagging and face recognition features. As Don mused, “will it be able to recognize dog’s faces, too?” Unfortunately, apparently not, but we’ll be reporting more on iPhoto’s features in future issues of Kibbles & Bytes!

    “Learn more and pre-order iLife ’09 here.”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/72885

  • iWork '09: Keynote

    Featured updates:

    * Easily create sophisticated animations with *Magic Move.*
    * Add dramatic object and text transitions using *new visual effects.*
    * Visualize your data with *new styles and animations* for 3D charts.
    * Dramatically *reduce file size* without compromising quality.
    * Create dynamic flowcharts and diagrams using *connection lines.*
    * Choose from *eight new Apple-designed themes* (44 total).
    * *Open, save, and email Microsoft PowerPoint files* from within Keynote.

  • iLife '09 Update: GarageBand

    At Macworld, Phil Schiller introduced a new version of GarageBand. The biggest new feature is called “Learn to Play.” It is designed to teach people to play instruments such as guitar and keyboards. You see the a representation of the instrument on the screen with a video of the instructor facing you.

    Celebrity instructors include Sting, Sarah McLachlan, John Fogerty, and more. Apple says “learn to play a hit song from the artist who made it famous,” which I think sounds pretty cool. Additional video lessons can be purchased from the new GarageBand store for $4.99.