MacWorld 2008

I was at MacWorld for two days. I am undecided about the MacBook Air. Only a single USB 2 port (no firewire), no interchangeable battery (but it is supposed to last 5 hours), an external SuperDrive $99 add-on (powered through USB port). It is definitely for road warriors who need a lighter machine; it really isn't a desktop replacement laptop, like the MacBook Pro. Impressive engineering, though, with the ability to "borrow" the use of optical drives wirelessly on other computers (even a Windows computer!) for backup or installing software. Just gives an idea of the developments to come! The 64GB solid state drive option adds $1,000 to the price, though.

The other announcements were impressive: Time Capsule, an Airport base station with a hard drive, for backing up all the Macs on your network; the changes to iPhone/iPod Touch software that includes inserting your current location into GoogleMaps WITHOUT a GPS! (triangulating on wifi and cell phone networks) and changes to Apple TV, including renting movies online and being able to watch them on any device, including your big screen TV or your iPod.

I also saw Microsoft Office 2008 which was just released ...anxious to get my hands on my own copy. I saw the updated iView Multimedia which is now integrated into the Special Media Edition version. I was a fan of the earlier iView, when I used it in the late 90s. I created an interesting travel website with that tool. I now remember than Microsoft had bought the product. It will be interesting to see how this software has changed.