Mountain View Computer Users Group

(This article was originally published in the January 2003 issue of Citrus Macintosh Users Group Magazine.)

At last year's MacWorld San Francisco Expo new G4 iMacs were introduced. Since then, the eMacs have been unveiled--first for the educational market and then for general consumers--iBooks and PowerBooks have been upgraded, and PowerMacs have been revised.

Except for one additional model with a larger flat panel display, nothing has changed on the G4 iMacs. One might have expected that this was the part of the Macintosh line where new features and models would be announced at the MWSF this year. But in his January 7 Keynote Address, Apple CEO Steve Jobs had nothing to say about revised iMacs, or about any changes in eMacs or iBooks.

Jobs spoke to a great degree about software, about the success of OS X, especially since the introduction of OS X, version 10.2 or Jaguar. He said that over five million people are now using the new operating system.

What Jobs said by implication is that "We already have a good line of computers, both professional and consumer models. What is most needed now is to offer such a bang up set of software that those Window users will come over to the Mac."

To do that, he offered much more in the way of new software than hardware. Two new programs flew right in the face of Microsoft. These were a web browser and a presentation application.

Apple's new Safari browser was touted as zipping right past Microsoft's Internet Explorer, with a start up that is 40% faster. In downloading web pages, Safari was three times faster than Internet Explorer 5.2.2. He said Safari was a lean program that completely revised the way bookmarks are stored and accessed. Safari is now in a free beta version and is available for downloading from Apple.com.

Jobs also announced a new presentation application, Keynote. Though he didn't mention it, Keynote will directly compete with Microsoft's PowerPoint, currently the standard Mac presentation program, and one of four applications that make up Microsoft Office for the Mac.

"Using Keynote is like having a professional graphics department to create your slides," Jobs said. "This is the application to use when your presentation really counts." He said he had been using it for each of his recent Keynotes. The program is immediately available for $99.

Another software announcement was the combination of four "digital hub" programs into a new package dubbed "iLife." The new revisions of these programs are iTunes 3, iPhoto 2, iMovie 3, and iDVD 3. The primary purpose of this package is to get the programs to work together seamlessly.

The iLife package will allow users to combine their music, pictures and movies creatively, and then to burn them onto a DVD, send them out as email, or post them on the web. Enhancing photographs in iPhoto has been improved, and iMovie includes new special effects. One of these is to add action to a still photograph by panning it in the manner of Ken Burns, producer of award-winning documentaries.

While the upgrades to iTunes, iPhoto, and iMovie can be downloaded from Apple.com for free, the iLife package, including iDVD, will cost $49. Jobs said it was just too big for a download.

The only new computers Jobs announced were PowerBooks. He said, "This will be the year of the notebook for Apple," He expected this segment to move from the current 35% of Apple's computer sales to 50%. To expand this Apple line, he introduced both a bigger PowerBook with a 17" display and a smaller PowerBook with a 12" screen. Currently the PowerBook displays are 15".

The smaller PowerBook weighs only 4.6 lbs. and has fewer cubic inches than the iBook. It has a combo drive that enables it to read both CDs and DVDs, and to burn CDs. This model will be available in two weeks for a price of $1799. A built-to-order version that adds DVD burning capabilities will cost $1999.

The 17" version, Jobs said, has the largest display of any notebook in the world. It comes equipped with the SuperDrive that burns both CDs and DVDs, and will retail for $3299.

For those of us who hoped that the eMac and the iMac lines would be revised with upgraded functions and perhaps lower prices should not despair. Many knowledgeable observers have predicted that these are coming. The revisions were not announced at this time because the holiday sales were less than expected and too many of the existing models are still in stock. We'll just have to wait and see.

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