News big enough for me to break my unplanned hiatus: Steve Jobs, at this morning’s Mac World keynote, informed me what I shall be buying this year. It looks like the rumors were well-founded: Apple unveiled a flash-based iPod and a $499 Mac Mini. This might be good news for investors hoping Apple might finally make inroads with Windows users, but it doesn’t mean much to me. I have a much better iPod and a much better Mac already. However, the new iLife ’05 software looks quite promising with new improvements for iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD, iTunes, and GarageBand. I already put my order in — once the online Apple Store finally brushed the dust off and got the number of the truck that it — and am looking forward to testing iMovie’s new 16×9 capabilities. The other exciting software is Jam Pack 4 for GarageBand, “Symphony Orchestra”. Enough of that techno dance crap, I’ll be able to get my hands on sample and loops of real live classical instruments. At last I can create dramatic underscoring just like Mark Snow and Sean Callery. I can’t wait…even though I’ll have to, since, remarkably, the Jam Pack is twenty bucks more than the iLife suite I ordered!I guess the iPod Shuffle might make a nice USB thumb drive, but it looks like an awkward music player. There are buttons with which to select songs, but no screen to help clue you in on what you’re selecting. The Mac Mini might appear just as useless, but actually I’m thinking it might be the perfect computer for my parents: add a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard, add a DVI to video output, and they’ll be able to surf the web safely, securely, and trouble-free right on the TV.
