Thoughts on Jobs’ keynote at the WWDC

I’m sitting here, being my classic, Apple geek self, watching the stream of yesterday’s keynote speech by Steve Jobs[wiki] at the World Wide Developers Conference. I figured that I would throw some of my thoughts about it while I watch it.

Why? I dig this type of stuff. It’s not about being on top of everything that comes out there in terms of technology. It’s exciting. It’s a spectacle. I’d do the same thing about the NAB in Las Vegas, but I don’t make it down there for it, nor is there anything comparable to what Jobs does during these keynotes.

Dude, it’s just fun.

Phil Schiller[wiki] always kills me, and I think it’s great that he came out to unveil the Mac Pro. Yes, say good bye to the PowerMac and the legacy of the G5. I’m actually sad to say that. That word “Power” had a nice ring to it, but getting back to the basics is alright with me. My parents bought an original Macintosh when they came out in 1984. Life changed a lot then, and damn… look at where we are now.

That being said, I totally want one of these things. The storage capacity is killer, and the processing power makes it scream. Makes my 1GHz Powerbook look even more on the low end. My hope is to replace this within six months to a year. The Mac Pro is a bit of overkill for my needs, but doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t mind one.

The Intel transition is over, and I’m not experiencing too many struggles with the product line making the switch. I assume that in a few years, you’ll see the older, non-Intel lines start to be phased out. So those of you still running OS 9? You really need to start thinking about not living in the past anymore.

The Xserve making the Intel jump is really interesting. What can you do with those now, in terms of the operating systems you could run on one? I want one to just store my personal music library onto.

So when it comes to the upcoming release of the Mac OS, 10.4 (Leopard), that’s how I know that I’ll need to replace my Powerbook G4 soon. I’m thinking that my current setup might be able to handle the upgrade, but to truly take advantage of Leopard, an Intel Mac would be the best.

The mentioning of Vista is hilarious. Once you get through the accent, you start to see how Vista is a lot like the interface of Mac OS X. I new that there were similarities, but there is more than I imagined. And if it is true, it pains me to wonder why it is taking Microsoft so long to roll out the next version of Windows. I’ve heard a lot of people talk about how they are waiting for Vista to come out before they make any major computer purchases.

And maybe by the time I make this post, I’ll try to find a copy of the video[youtube] that I heard mentioned on the Daily Breakfast the other day. I guess there was a presentation where Vista was presented at a conference, only to have some one take the video and run screen shots of the Mac OS along side all of the upcoming features of Vista. Too crazy.

Time Machine makes me very excited. Anything that helps me back up my data and protects my computer from nuclear meltdown will put my mind at ease. I’m probably making back ups of my laptop once a month. It’s a manual process that takes two hours. I probably could make a script to do this while I sleep, but this sounds better. Hard drive space is the first concern that comes to mind, but it’s the concept that I dig.

Front Row makes me want to have a Mac Mini apart of my entertainment unit. My brother, Matt, is thinking about doing this, and I back that he’ll get it done before I will. My siblings and I kinda compete like that.

Wow. Spaces is very cool. Even having a 17″ screen on my Powerbook, hiding windows, using the Dock, and so on, it can not be enough. Making podcasts is a good example of that. One space for making the podcast, another for preparing, and maybe another with all your audio clips. Possibilities are limitless.

I probably don’t use Spotlight enough. I’m some one who tends to remember where I store things on my computer. It’s probably one of the better things that I can remember in my brain, so I just don’t use Spotlight a whole lot. Maybe I’m still having a hard time shaking poor search performance from previous versions of the OS.

Core Animation is great, but I’m more excited about the accessibility being built in to this OS. Podcasting has really brought this issue to my attention, and this is why you have so many podcasters tagging the front of their episodes. Sight impaired individuals have great benefits from that.

Oh yes, Mail. I have a hard time letting web based email rule my life, so I’ve constrained myself into using Mail for all of my email accounts. Stationary is neat, and I could see some ways to use that. The system wide use of “to do lists” is interesting. I’ve messed around with using iCal for that, even tried widgets, and stickies. If this can be streamlined, then I can do away with scribbling notes onto pieces of paper as being my best bet.

I’ve often thought about Dashboard and making widgets for it. What I’d make, I haven’t a clue. I’m sure that it’s not the hardest thing in the world. Maybe a widget specfically for the podcast? It would update everytime I published a new episode. Just an idea(one of thousands that I have in a day).

iChat improvements are nice, and they’re taking things beyond using it for having fun. Use it for business and leisure. I like it. And once again, Phil Schiller demostrating this was hilarious. But the effects you can use are remarkable. Picture backdrops, as well as video? Now you too can make your own TV shows using iChat. And what might that do for video podcasts if you can record these things as well?

No “one more thing” or any of the other rumored things that everyone was foaming at the mouth over, specifically the “iPhone”. I’m not broken hearted about it. Everything will unfold in due time, and with the major competition trying to do everything they can to play catch up, I’m content with what I saw today.