Stevenote '04

Yeah, of course we watched the keynote... but from where? ...


Well, we watched it in bed, of course! Gotta love Airport Extreme!

Another January, another Macworld Expo. Another one we weren't able to go to. We went two years ago when the new iMacs were announced, and then the next day I lost my job. But that's a post for another day.

No big big news today, other than the adorable iPod minis and a new iLife app called GarageBand. There were significant improvements to iPhoto and iDVD. iTunes remains the same. All five apps will be released on Jan. 16 for — get this — a whopping $49! That's $10 per app! GarageBand is music composing software for those of us without talent. It's got a neat feature that lets you export a finished track to iTunes. I suspect in the near future, swapping homemade tracks will be available through the iTunes music store.

Still waiting for an affordable iPod case that will knock my socks off. So far, no luck. In a bitter twist of irony, I received my white Sony MDR-EX71SL earbuds from Japan this morning — just as Stevie was announcing new earbuds for the iPod at the Apple Store for $39. It appears the Apple Store isn't carrying the Sonys any more. While it would've been nice to get a pair from Apple, I'd have to listen to them first. And I know the Sonys sound good; pretty much anyone who doesn't like the stock iPod buds picks up a pair of these.