the new macs are pretty sweet, but i have some reservations:
1. the imac and powerbook got updated like 3 months ago? i understand that the imac is like the flagship product, but the powerbook is out of the price range of the average buyer, i think the ibook would have been a better choice, its the more mass market product.
2. no media center mini?? that was the best sounding rumor! with the ipod dock, front row and all? that seemed like hands down the media center to have, eff windows media center.
3. what hhappened to "more consumer electronics" like ipod accessories? i thoguht apple had leaked something about a boombox.
4. the 42" apple viiv tv/computer. THAT would rock, even tho it was the most far fetched.
5. the shuffle update? seemed like a lock, right? o well.

i guess thats why they are called rumors, but o well. anyone else expect bigger things?

The iMac and Powerbook are top sellers. Hence the quick update. The iBook will come shortly.

The media center Mini is also coming shortly. This will actually be their most complicated product and needs a lot of attention.

The consumer product was the fm controller. Apple does not leak anything intentionally.

The large screen wont be here til April when FCP and the PowerMac get updated. My guess is it will be on April 1st, Apples 30th Annv.

I agree on the shuffle. Must be a silent update. Go figure. Could be the lack of memory caused its demise (1gb model).

I do partially agree with you. BUT, the new Book is lustful. The iMac is not the flagship by the way, the PowerMac is. The iMac is the consumer product. I wont be purchasing either, because Im a power junkie and I am not portable at all. When I am, a Pismo is plenty. We can
look to a bright future ahead.
-maestro

My wife said she heard something on fox news about a macmini home theatre system... lets see if it happens

edit:
blast looks like maestro just beat me to the punch

Post edited by: macDeviant, at: 2006/01/11 23:31

I half expected the Front Row movie store.

There's something decidedly odd about all the new announcements. The Mac product line is now entirely confused. On the one hand, all the promo material says the new Macs are much faster and better. On the other hand the prices imply that they are not so unequal.

I have already seen a report that the MacBook skips frames when playing back .h264. It would seem safe to assume that the very similar spec iMac would be the same. This despite the extra .h264 support afforded by the X1600 cards.
I begin to wonder if the performance boost claims for the Intels are slightly exaggerated.

I like the look of iWeb though. I've been very lazy in with my intent to create web content. So I think it will come in handy.

I can't help but be a little disappointed by this batch of releases overall though. And I can't really put my finger on why. Something just doesn't sit right with me.

Now I'm half expecting another "And one more thing..." event in the not-so-distant.

over the years of working for an apple dealer, I've seen apple periodically confuse the product line a litte. back in the Amelio days, it was an utter disaster. But The Steve came back and cured that problem for the most part.

Periodically, Apple will do something impressive, and in the process of doing so, they blur the lines a litte. Now, they've committed to moving everything over to the intel platform. So, they picked a midrange portable, and a midrange desktop. Its not the low end, or the high end. Both machines are squarely in the middle of their divisions. Of course, they're now also in their own class, due to being completely different under the hood. This makes them strange creatures to their cousins.

Over the next year or so, Apple will phase out the IBM machines, and push the intel machines out the door. As this happens, the product lines will reorder themselves, and all will be right with the world.

I think the thing that war may be driving at is that while intel machines are cool, we saw them coming. While software is cool, its still software. We were all kinda hoping for something totally out of left field, like steve is notorious for. Instead, we got a pretty straight-forward keynote, and it left us wanting for that intangible apple super awesomeness that we were deprived of when apple kept things relatively on the even.

But, thats my take

excatly, we want left field. this is the first macworld i have followed, but apparently the one from last year totally puched peoples balls off ( i couldnt think of a more accurate description). the mac mini was like POW its so small and cheap! the shuffle? no screen? how innovative and progressive!

modyourmac and I purchased mini's last year the day they were released...hours apart. That was a MacWorld. Plus I got a 1gb shuffle shortly afterwards. This years I was not too impressed with. Nothing for the power users, just mid-range Intel releases.

true that. our mini's are about 3 apart, serial number wise

as to this year, I'll enjoy the software when I get my NFR copy, but there's nothing that I cant live without. I dont need an imac, and I already have a rockin powerbook. At some point, when I purchase a 15" portable, it'll be what apple is shipping, and we'll see what that is, when that is.

Yeah, it will be a while before I look at another laptop. Still have to get mine shipped to the repair store. UPS wanted $45 to ship and I walked out of the store.

go to fedex. they'll ship it for probably around $12. Lemme know if you need me to send you a box.