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Apple Reveals Mac OS X 10.2, 17" iMac, Windows iPod
The Address Book is now system-wide, accessible from many applications, and even has Bluetooth integration. Jobs dialed his cell phone via Address Book, and then when someone called him back on that phone, the computer popped up with the caller's name in Address Book. He had the option to pick up the phone or reply with a short text message.
iSync is a new system for synching your contacts and calendars with GPRS cell phones, Palms, and iPods; so Palms and cell phones are now a part of the digital hub. The iSync program shows you connected devices, and allows configuration of what to sync, and when. The demo showed a complete sync of an address book on the computer to the cell phone, again over Bluetooth. iSync will also allow integration with .mac to update your contacts and calendars between multiple computers, and will be available as a free download in September.
The Mail app now has much better searching and spam filtering, and inline QuickTime (no, that won't be abused ...).
Rendezvous will allow such things as automatic accessing of other's playlists in iTunes, accessing USB printers on the network, and more, with "zero configuration" (I hope there is some configuration, so I can opt in or out of such things). Epson, HP, and Lexmark will have Rendezvous-compatible printers. Jobs didn't mention any way to share USB printers between Mac OS and Mac OS X.
iChat, the new instant messaging program, and iCal, the new shared calendar program, can work with the $100-per-year .mac subscription, or with the free AOL IM account and any web server. iChat will use Rendezvous for finding local users, and shared calendars can be sent via iChat or mail. iCal will ship in September, as a free download.
Sherlock 3 has been completely rewritten, using Internet services (SOAP? XML-RPC?) instead of trying to parse HTML. The demo showed movie listings with embedded trailers, eBay searches with intelligently organized information and pictures, Google image searching, and a Yellow Pages search that knows your ZIP code and sorts by distance, and shows directions and maps.
iTunes 3 is out today, with new features such as rating songs, keeping track of how often songs are played, playing back all songs at the same volume, integration with audible.com, and "Smart Playlists" with rulesets so they are automatically populated (e.g., "25 most played songs", or "500 MB of songs where playcount is 0", to play songs you've never listened to). It is only available for Mac OS X, and requires registration with an email address.
For the iPod, Apple lowered prices on the 5GB and 10GB models ($299, $399), and introduced a 20GB model ($499). The 10GB and 20GB have a solid state scroll wheel, a door to protect the FireWire port, a remote control, and a case. The playlist counts, Smart Playlists, and audible.com integration sync between the iPod and iTunes. Sound volume check has also been added to the iPod. The new 10GB model is 7.692 percent thinner than the previous version.
Also added to the iPod, in addition to the contacts, is calendars, synched with iCal, so it can really act as a PDA for most people. Jobs also announced Windows versions of iPod, synching with musicmatch and including a FireWire 6-to-4 pin cable.
The new iMac has a 17" widescreen display at 1440x900, with an NVIDIA GeForce4 MX, G4/800, and 80GB hard drive.
Jobs also noted that there are 2.5 million Mac OS X users, that 77 percent of owners of new Macs keep Mac OS X as the primary OS, and that they estimate there will be 5 million Mac OS X users by the end of the year, representing 20% of all Mac users using the new OS in the first 24 months.
Apple showed some new ads in the "Switch" campaign, including a student who lost her paper on Windows, a student whose CDs get messed up in his bag (although they didn't point out that he can use iPod under Windows now), and a comedian who ended his commercial with, "My name is Will Ferrell ... and I'm a porn actor."
What? The bug fixes cost HOW MUCH? How many times do I have to buy this damned OS?
The undertone of this keynote was, "We need more of your money." Other shows have been all about bringing more users into the fold, but this show was clearly about getting more money from the existing user base.
The funniest part was the absolute dead silence after the dotMac introduction, when users were informed that they were going to have to shell out $100 a year for stuff they've always gotten for free.
What's your damage, Heather?
Could all this have to do with this by any chance?
Comic Book Guy: "There is no Groening in my store."
The Apple Tax went up again.
Looks like there are going to be some pissed off graphic artists. None of them are working and the price of their tools just went up.
Jobs is taking lessons from Gates. Piss on your user base and watch your market share climb.
(That means that Mac and Windows users are fools)
If voting were effective, it would be illegal by now.
I get back from the store with my new 10GB iPod...still in its sealed box...
F#$k. S#$t. wanker.
[Please type your sig here.]
You work in the software industry and have entirely too many toys to effectively utilize their purposes. Instead of accepting and expounding upon your Love for such Industry you "begrungingly" meander to and fro complaining that you have been usurped by the Drugs of Technology.
Step outside your subjective point-of-view and be thankful you have options that are driven by quality and not greed.
The Internet was considered a toy between 1994 - 1997, amonst big business. When it really began to be harnessed as a tool for advertising and new ways to meet peoples present needs you were right along with the rest who were shocked and dismayed that everything was so readily available and quite often, "free."
One exception has been Pornography. The basic still shots are infinite and we all can acquire those without much effort.
However, the true meat of the sex industry surfaced with the advent of streaming sex videos and people have converted a several billion dollar business into a multi-billion dollar group of businesses with no stop in what the "chaste" call an addiction. Sex is symbolic of life and change. Those hangups tend to translate over into every other facet of our lives.
People say one thing and do another. Speech is twofold, Truth but One.
Your actions are your Truth and you love the time, creative energies, and forethought Apple puts into their products and services.
It is time that we repaid them for such and at the same time demand the most out of them by encouraging competition to challenge them, ensuring we the Consumers of Life can experience the most out of life.
You have all the toys and still complain your sandbox is not enough.
Be thankful you have a burgeoning sandbox and enjoy the fact you can be in the industry you so clearly love.