Chelsea Holden Baker has judged chili, sold knives and worked in the Dominican Republic, but she's had the most fun as an editor for dwell, and a freelance girl-about-town.		Jason Jurgens drinks too many mochas, pays for a gym he doesn't use and publishes theowlmag.com, an online music magazine. He contributes to Remix, E! Online, Diablo and DRUM, and has produced online video content for 7x7, Lexus and Mix.
	Pia Chatterjee is an SF-based writer and journalist. In her writing, she explores the human side of business and technology, immigrant issues, and the quirks and complexities of long-term relationships.		7x7 photo editor Stefanie Michejda obsesses about technology; she’s currently debating between the Canon 1Ds Mark 3 vs. the Nikon D3 and wondering if the new iPhone will have 3G and a sufficient memory boost.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Wow. I feel dumb. I waited in line outside the Clift Hotel for DailyTechTalk’s “Macworld 2008 Closeout Meetup,” and all I got was a sore throat from secondhand smoke. There was no party. There was no networking with Macworld attendees. In fact, I only ran into two people who were there for the “unofficial” party, but they left almost as soon as they got in saying, “this is definitely not our scene.”

My first clue that something was amiss should have been the doorman’s uncertainty when I mentioned Macworld after party. Did he scoff at me? He scoured his list and didn’t find anything under DailyTechTalk, Macworld or Steve Jobs for that matter. I noticed other stragglers getting turned away with the same grin. Was this the fake unofficial closeout party? Did Fake Steve Jobs have something to do with this? 

Rather than waste the night I decided to hit the Redwood Room with the intention of finding anyone from Macworld, or, at least anyone who knew what Macworld was.

These are responses I got from people when I asked: “Is this where DailyTechTalk’s Macworld 2008 Closeout Meetup is? “

"The Macworld isn’t here, it’s at Masa Cone.” (Spelled that way on purpose)

“What is Macworld?” (Seriously?)

“People with Macs don’t spend money.” (Really? Cause they’re willing to shell out thousands for Macs…maybe just not on $8 Amstel Lights.)

Attempts to find a Macworld attendee at the Redwood Room were futile. That’s like trying to find a tooth at a meth clinic, you may find one, but it’s not worth mentioning. Nonetheless I did spy plenty of iPhone users (And that’s Mac related). So here are my pics.

Bianca Langford, Kristin Hamilton and Anna Gruszecki of Marina/Pac Heights neighborhoods	Amanda Fender and Jason Petrasic love the iPhone's bright display.
Crystal Polley, a live music producer and Magdalena Trever a stylist with Ford Models, have mastered one-handed texting.	Graphic designer Blake Buettner and Abbey Hinton of Brown Shoe Co.

Jason Marshall, a pharmaceutical salesman from Dallas, TX chats away.	Brittany Garta of Pittsburgh, PA is not here for the Macworld party.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Is Your iPod Fully Loaded?

Among the many Macworld perks for (pricey) badge holders are classes taught by Mac luminaries. A Thursday iPod session was led by Andy Ihnatko, who--to a certain kind of person--is a star. A columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, Macworld contributing editor and author of iPod Fully Loaded, Andy gave us the Cliff Notes on his book about optimizing the iPod experience.

Nike/iPod sport kits aside, we all have the creeping guilt about technology making us lazy-- but you may be lazy in a way you don't realize. Andy says, "If you have more than half a megabyte of unused space"-- whether that's on a Nano or a Classic--"You just aren't trying hard enough."

The following are some useful links to load you up on everything from your favorite TV shows (ripped from cable!), to podcasts and Word docs. While much of this material potentially tramples upon copyright laws, in Andy's opinion, "People don't care so much about sticking it to the man, they just want to view more on their cool playback devices." So if you've got good intentions, here you go:

Keepvid.com: Like many of Andy's favorites, this site is free. Download films from Google, YouTube, you name it, for your iPod, through an extremely simple series of clicks.

ElGato eyeTV tuners: We get closer to a Jetson's style future every day. These USB sticks rip your favorite shows from cable for viewing on iTV, iPod and iPhone. Buy it today for the $50 Macworld discount.

Radioshift: Bored with radio? Why not browse what's happening in the rest of the world with an interactive map? Record any show you want to listen to in a time zone comfortable for you.

And finally, did you know you already own a book viewer? When syncing your iPod, take a look at your options page (and yes, this is one thing that iPod owners can load over iPhone snobs--the iPhone does not have the same capability). Turn any email or document into a plain text file for easy upload. Provided you won't mistakenly trash your iPod, this is a good place to stash things like travel itineraries while on the go. After all, Andy Ihnatko does.

Bowie on the bigscreen thanks to Keepvid.com.	Radioshift's world map of broadcasts.

Posted by Chelsea Holden Baker, on January 18, 2008 at 1:43 PM, PDT EMAIL THIS | LINK TO THIS

Mac Mingling with Their Own

If they'd been wearing red instead of black, you might have thought it was a Santa convention (that and the preferred food was nachos, not cookies). Despite the drab attire, the Rubenesque (but male) crowd at Jillian's on Thursday night was too jolly to be mistaken for a funeral. The Mac Mingle was hosted by Mac Efficiency's Deborah Shadovitz and the Maccast's Adam Christianson for Macworld badge attendees only. For many, it marked the beginning of recess. By Friday, the last day of Macworld, the oglers have dissipated, and it's just the die-hards and people taking time off from manning their booths who are milling about Moscone.

This was the kind of crowd that had seen each other a week before at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and still couldn't get enough Bill Gates bashing. Gates gave the keynote speech at CES, which featured this seven-minute video spoof of his last day of work. If you're a fan of Mathew McConaughy, George Clooney, Steven Spielberg, John Stewart, Bono, Hilary or Obama, it's worth watching. Apparently the Mac crowd takes more kindly to kumbayah songs about Steve Jobs' keynotes-- "Killin' me softly with his slides," oh yeah. But since this event was hosted by a podcaster, it was necessary to roll the Ask A Ninja episode on podcasting for the laughs tonight. So, if you're over the age of 12 and have wondered what podcasting is, this probably won't explain anything to you, but you might find it funny.

Jillian's	15-year-old Matthew Zambole and his home-made Sponge Bob Squarepants with an iPod.	Allison Lowenstein from New York, and boyfriend Tom Loverro of Drobo, one of the sponsors.
The big screen displays software by a sponsor.		Billiards in the back.
The disco ball did not inspire dancing.

Posted by Chelsea Holden Baker, on January 18, 2008 at 12:23 PM, PDT EMAIL THIS | LINK TO THIS

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Ladybug Takes Flight

To celebrate the launch of the cutest little iPod speaker system, the Ladybug, VestaLife kicked it off in one of the most notoriously dangerous SF hoods. Walking down Sixth Street after a night of drinking requires some brass cajones. But I braved the potential beat down to better understand the bold move. One step through the curtains of Club 6 and it became obvious: Element Skateboards. VestaLife and Element formed a unique marriage centered on youth culture, design and creativity. Part art loft, part music venue, Club 6 provided the ideal launch atmosphere.

PR executive Leland Drummond and Lisa Wachtell, CMO of VestaLife, revel in the night’s success.	Medical researcher Lowry Champion and real estate agent Ciara Piron scope the view from the bar.	Musicians Derrik Boyd and Lance Desardi vie for a position close to the stage.	Brian Aubert, lead singer of the Silversun Pickups, checks out the art.
Elemental Awareness director Todd Larson and software rep Neal George of Montclair in the sushi lounge.	Elise-Marie and DJ Richie Panic strike a pose.	Element founder Johnny Schillereff.	Artist Ryan Shaffer from the Western Edition paints a deck.

As Element founder Johnny Schillereff said, just before he showcased his human beat box skillz, “Skateboarding is about change.” So true Johnny, particularly in this case. There aren’t many times when you can see a shaggy-haired skateboarder rubbing elbows with a software salesman. But the Ladybug has the mojo to bring the two worlds together.

Blank skateboards hung on the walls like canvases as local artists gave them color. Artistically designed Ladybugs were displayed in glass cases like museum artifacts. DJs took us back to the days of gansta rap with Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, as minglers gathered around the free sushi buffet. But the true highlight, and perhaps the reason most of us showed up (sorry VestaLife), was an intimate set with the Silversun Pickups. There won’t be many more opportunities like this to see the Pickups in such a small venue.

	Aaron Axelsen of Live 105, Angel Cruz, owner of Club 6, and Lindsey Byrnes (photo by Jason Jurgens)

   photography by Stefanie Michejda
 

Posted by Jason Jurgens, on January 17, 2008 at 4:55 PM, PDT EMAIL THIS | LINK TO THIS

Thursday, January 17, 2008

David Pogue Does It His Way

After my night at Swig, I regretted signing up for an early morning session (9 a.m.) comprising David Pogue’s talk show. Then the screens lit up with a video of David—who is the New York Times technology columnist—singing his ardor for the iPhone to the tune of Sinatra’s “I Did it My Way”:

“God, this thing is sweet,
A multi-touch,
iPod Wi-Fi Phone,
You had me from hello,
I want an iPhone …

… It’s all the things a phone should be …
I took a stand,
Paid half a grand,
And got an iPhone …

Suddenly, dragging myself out of bed to go to Moscone and wait in line after a late night out was all worth it.

Lines outside David Pogue's talk show.	Inside the talk show.

An announcement was made introducing Office 2008 for Macs that’s supposed to be better than iWork. Ho-hum. Then another announcement came out for MacSpeech Dictate, which is a brand-new speech recognition/dictation software that works with 99 percent accuracy on all Mac apps. The latter actually piqued my interest. For someone suffering from tendonitis, like I do, this appears to be a great and painless way to “write.”

But really, the best part of the talk show was when David had some Apple fanatics come up on stage to share their tales of Applemania:

For example, there was Bob, who once built a modified car-seat (like for a baby) for his Apple laptop. Then Elaine, who got in line at 7:45 the night before for Steve’s keynote speech. James came up and talked about his collection of 150 Macs, which he keeps in a room he’s dubbed the Mac-a. My favorite story came from April, who met her husband at a Macworld conference, and at the wedding exchanged iPod Shuffles instead of rings.

Sigh. It’s a Mac, Mac world.

Michael Supernaw and Sarah Rigney add a dash of style to Macworld.

Posted by Pia Chatterjee, on January 17, 2008 at 4:00 PM, PDT EMAIL THIS | LINK TO THIS Thursday, January 17, 2008

Thursday, January 17, 2008
 

Look of the Day

Interaction designer Guillermo Torres picked up his scarf in Amsterdam and the jacket was a gift from his brother and sister. Shoes and jeans are from the Gap.

Posted by Chelsea Holden Baker, on January 17, 2008 at 3:05 PM, PDT EMAIL THIS | LINK TO THIS

Thursday, January 17, 2008

 
Our Personal Faves

Since Macworld left us with a lot more to be desired, we took it upon ourselves to find the hippest, yet practical items on the expo floor. And here are our faves: 

VestaLife’s Ladybug: This iPod speaker docking system’s innovative design, hip graphics and portability give you ample reason to take the party anywhere.	Gilty Couture: An iPhone is cool and all, but it really doesn’t make a statement until you bling it out with one of Gilty Couture’s fashionable cases.

Mimobots by Domo: Traditional memory sticks are so yesterday. The designs of these little flash drives, particularly the Star Wars edition, put the fun in functional.	Macbook Air: Of course it made our list, it’s the reason we’re here. The thinness is impressive, but the spacious multi-touch trackpad that allows you to do functions similar to the iPhone (pinch and swipe) make it a must have travel item.

Belkin’s demo booth: After a long day of walking the expo floor, Belkin’s chic lounge was the perfect place to rest the dogs. Live music, leather couches, even a bed. How much to rent the place?	Skullcandy’s Double Agent Headphones: Simply load your favorite tunes on an SD card, place in the slot and go. These headphones have a built in media player. No wires. No extra device. Perfect for any outdoor adventure.	Guitar Hero 3: OK Macworld, you were onto something. This game turns kids, and certain adults, into addicts quicker than Amsterdam.

Posted by Jason Jurgens, on January 17, 2008 at 2:46 PM, PDT EMAIL THIS | LINK TO THIS

Thursday, January 17, 2008 

Best of Show
 

The line for Macwold’s Best of Show coiled around the third floor mezzanine and nearly spilled back down the escalator. No writers’ strike was going to put this award ceremony on hold. Gary Numan’s Cars was blaring on the monitors as I took my seat, and blue and red lights illuminated the auditorium to complete the ’80s high school dance effect. Macworld editor Jason Snell and writer Jim Dalrymple (who looks like Rick Rubin) took the stage and ran off a list of their best ofs, which left me scratching my head. Sorry Macworld, but I couldn’t care less about virtual servers and vector applications. Save for the new Macbook Air and Guitar Hero 3, there’s nothing you’ve awarded to email home about. Where are all the shiny accessories? I don’t want to be organized. I want to buy something that I don’t need but makes me look and feel cool.

Here are Macworld’s picks for Best of Show:

Adobe Photoshop Elements: cheap, consumer-friendly photo editing software.
Vector Designer (Tweakersoft): an intuitive vector drawing application that allows you to create graphics.
Parallels Server (Swsoft): allows users to run Windows and Linux in virtual servers at the same time as Mac OS X Server.
NEC Multi-sync LCD3090WQXi): a 30-inch display that swivels.
Macbook Air: a thinner, lighter Macbook that is easy on the back.
Eye-Fi card: a WIFI SD card.
Guitar Hero 3 (Aspire): one of the hottest games on the market meets Apple.
Dictate (MacSpeech): put the pen down and let the thoughts flow.
Flow (Gridiron Software): digital content management software for creative professionals.
Busy Sync 2.0 (BusyMac): allows you to view and edit your calendars online, and syncs your iCal and Google calendars so people can see what you’re doing.
OmniFocus (The Omni Group): an application that helps mutli-taskers better manage their time.

Posted by Jason Jurgens, on January 17, 2008 at 12:30 PM, PDT EMAIL THIS | LINK TO THIS


Wednesday, January 16, 2008

A Match Made by Mac: The Meet Scene at Swig

DailyTechTalk party at Swig Bar	Sopheap, Edeline, Sophia, Laura, Michael

When I walked into Swig, I found myself surrounded by techie lads and ladies, who were sipping rum and cokes and Scotch on the rocks while chatting each other up at the DailyTechTalk party. Which was great. Only their methods … well, their methods left much to be desired. I watched as an older (much older) woman approached a young Oakland-ite; she sidled up to her, smiled and asked, “Are you an Apple fan?”

I hid my smile behind my drink, but too soon it was my turn. A voice behind me commanded, “Take your badge off.” “Excuse me?” I asked. “ It’s sexier without the badge,” I was told. The badge in question was my press pass, which I’d left on after leaving the Macworld conference. Turned out my suitor was a photographer from San Francisco. “I think it’s cool how Steve Jobs rhymes with See God,” he told me earnestly. I, equally earnestly, told him I had a story to write. Thankfully he left.

On the couch next to me, a couple giggled as they snapped photos of each other with identical iPhones. It would have been cute, but they were wearing matching outfits too. In the far corner, a tall attractive Apple fan was hitting on a shy Asian girl. “Are you enjoying  Macworld?” he asked her.” “I love it,” she responded. He placed his hand on his heart and pretended to swoon. It was a match made by Mac.

Lewis O'Neil, Sharon Russel	Ward Carroll, Danni Verrall	The scene at Swig

Posted by Pia Chatterjee, on January 16, 2008 at 11:11 PM, PDT EMAIL THIS | LINK TO THIS

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Hitting the Expo Floor

It's not every day that you get to fondle a supermodel, and at Macworld 2008, everyone wanted to touch the anorexic MacBook Air. There was no doubt that Mac products were the apple of everyone's eye. The little guys made up for it with elaborate displays designed to catch and keep eyes on accessories like iPod and laptop covers (here's looking at you Moshi and Crumpler). Of course, many people were anxious just to rest their eyes, making MetroNaps' Energy Pods one of the most popular destinations.

MetroNaps	Moshi
Axiotron Modbook	Crumpler
Neal H. Pogue	Mac crowd

Pseudo-celebs provided interesting eddies for people who wanted to get away from the traffic flow for awhile. Grammy-winning producer Neal H. Pogue toyed with a new track from Outkast's Andre 3000, showing the agility of iLife's Garage Band in the BestBuy booth. Live demos were also popular, especially when the sketches were of live models, as at the Axiotron station. Axiotron pimped a Mac for designers, creating a tablet dubbed Modbook that gets everyone from long-haul truckers to script-writers excited. With a sensitive stylus of 512 pressure levels (compared to an average 250 or so on other models), there were lots of oohs and ahhs over the possible replacement of the pencil. The sketches look like graphite, and the handwriting recognition is nearly flawless, even for the chicken-scratch generation raised on keyboards.

All in all, everyone seemed a bit wistful for the level of elation over the iPhone of yesteryear, but that didn't keep the crowds from packing it in and speculating about who would take "Best in Show."

Macbook Air	Apples everywhere	iPod listening station

Posted by Chelsea Holden Baker, on January 16, 2008 at 6:11 PM, PDT EMAIL THIS | LINK TO THIS


Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Look of the Day



Baiyina Hughley is a San Francisco freelance interior designer. She splurges on shoes like these French boots from Finn in Hayes Valley, and pairs them with a less-pricey shirt from Sarah Jessica Parker's Bitten line. She designed her own earrings.

Posted by Chelsea Holden Baker, on January 16, 2008 at 5:01 PM, PDT EMAIL THIS | LINK TO THIS


Wednesday, January 16, 2008

EFF's Party at 111 Minna Merges Tech, Food and Nude Girls

EFF, The Electronic Frontier Foundation (your friendly neighborhood civil rights fighters) celebrated its 17th birthday with long-time supporters and new-found friends from Macworld at 111 Minna on Tuesday night. As every good birthday party should have, there were beats, drinks, sweets and ... nudie pics?

TCHO co-founders Timothy Childs and Louis Rossetto with Burning Man board member, Michael Michael, AKA "Danger Ranger"	Designer for FLOCK, Lauren Rassel, the photographer Merkley???, and 111 Minna assistant curator David Leyra

Just a few days prior on the 11th, 111 Minna opened photographer Merkley???'s show of 111 nearly nude women (they are wearing their favorite shoes), 111, to a line two blocks long and six people deep—the kind of line that San Francisco hadn't seen since the iPhone was released last year. Oh yes, and for Steve’s Keynote this morning. Tuesday was a considerably better night to get up close and personal with the art as there were more averted eyes than exclamations of "Hey, that's my hairstylist!" Just when we thought the techies were ready for some eye candy …

Eric McDougal of TCHO	Jazz Great Herbie Hancock (and TCHO's first customer)

At least everyone can enjoy chocolate without blushing. Following in tech fashion, the new San Francisco-based chocolate company, TCHO, sampled two "beta versions" of their confections for feedback. TCHO is a joint venture between Timothy Childs, a former Space Shuttle technologist-cum-chocolatier, and Louis Rossetto, co-founder of Wired. While the Fancy Food Show went on in San Diego, the TCHO team stayed put for the Macworld crowd: "This is Silicon Valley start-up meets SF food culture, and these are our people," said Childs.

DJ Kid Kameleon	Freelancer Hilary Witt-Rock and EFF webmaster Chris
Designers May Woo and Arena Reed	DJ Ripley and EFF investor/Wired co-founder Jane Metcalfe
Photographer/Yahoo! employee/model Nathalie Villalobos; ViddYou's co-founders Aaron J. Wadler and Ryan Bailey, all of the Hat Factory	Mara Brazer, Emi Takahara
Betterpropaganda.com's computer scientist Phillip McCallister and publisher Ken Manning with artist Heather Sparks	Ronin Publishing's Beverly Potter and Stanford researcher Peter Jacobson

But why chocolate, and not the next elderflower spirit, or a winery in Napa? According to Rossetto, "Chocolate is the last good drug." But as for his preference between A and B: "Just as I said in the magazine days when someone asked which issue was my favorite, I have to say, 'The next one.'"

Posted by Chelsea Holden Baker, on January 16, 2008 at 11:32 AM, PDT EMAIL THIS | LINK TO THIS


Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Look of the Day



Kiwi Irwin, a 24-year old consultant from Palm Springs, is rockin' the fur hoodie and iPhone.

Posted by Stefanie Michejda, on January 16, 2008 at 11:24 AM, PDT EMAIL THIS | LINK TO THIS


Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Star Search

When you’re celebrity sleuthing at an expo that has anything to do with technology, you can rest assured that the pasty-skinned, WOW-playing demo will come out in droves. Which makes stalking at Macworld both easy and hard. It’s easy to identify the Hollywood types, but everyone else looks like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs to me. And those are the real stars of the week.

                                                                                                                  The real star: Steve Jobs

That said, I wasn’t sure if it was a good sign or bad omen when I ran into Sinbad at the beginning of my Macworld star search. It turned out to be a bit more of the latter than the former. Everywhere I went, Sinbad’s gigantic grin was there first. Yes, he’s a celebrity, but it’s been awhile since he’s done, well, anything. Though he did star in Jingle All the Way and First Kid. (You’ll have to go to IMDB for proof.) Was this what I was to expect?
 
Nonetheless, Sinbad’s jovial demeanor was worth exploring. Was he clued in to any Apple news? Did his celebrity bring him some inside scoop? Turns out, Sinbad had the same question as you and me: Is there a new iPhone?
 
“You never know what to expect,” said Sinbad, a leopard print towel hanging on his shoulder. “Apple wouldn’t partner with people [AT&T] that couldn’t keep up. I expect to see a 3G iPhone.”
 
Much to my chagrin, and Sinbad’s I’m sure, Mr. Jobs didn’t unleash a new iPhone. That wasn’t the reason for all the “Something’s in the Air” banners plastered all over the place. Instead, Apple unveiled the Macbook Air, a waifishly thin computer meant for people on the go. Which was pretty cool and satisfied my geek appetite.

My walk over to Moscone West was interrupted by another sighting—of Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling. At first I thought, Schilling in SOMA? Hmmm. Maybe a signing by the Giants? But I quickly realized the Giants don’t sign winners. (That’s neither here nor there.) Schilling admitted that the keynote was “impressive” and “all about the customer experience.” Sounds like Schills is using an Apple when he writes those controversial blogs about the steroid scandal.

After striking out on the West side (sorry for the pun), I headed over to the South side of the tracks and ran into the man himself: Steve Jobs. Of course, I didn’t really run into him. I would have, but several smiling PR people escorted me away. Which is fine, I can’t imagine how many people want to speak with him. So many questions. How does it feel to know you’re responsible for this? When are we going to see a new iPhone? Do you own anything other than a black turtleneck?
 
Leaving Jobs with little to show for the encounter, I ran into Herbie Hancock as I waited in line for some popcorn. Apparently, the legendary jazz pianist’s prowess extends beyond the ivory keys and into Macworld. Short of having a nerdgasm, Hancock dropped knowledge on me that left me befuddled like a lame PC user.
 
“I always come to Macworld if I can. If I’m not in Rangoon, Tokyo or Shanghai,” joked Hancock. [I didn’t get it]. “All the new stuff is cool. I have two of the things, an iPhone and Apple TV, but the new software upgrades make them so much more functional.”
 
Sorry Herbie. Even with the upgrades, I’m still holding out for iPhone 2.0. 

Herbie Hancock: “I always come to Macworld if I can. If I’m not in Rangoon, Tokyo or Shanghai."	Sinbad: "You never know what to expect."	Johnny Schillereff (founder of Element Skateboards): “When I was first approached about going into the digital world, I was turned off. I didn’t want Element to get into that. Then I saw what VestaLife was doing, and I was hooked. And that was before I even knew it held an iPod.”

     photography by Stefanie Michejda

Posted by Jason Jurgens, on January 16, 2008 at 11:01 AM, PDT EMAIL THIS | LINK TO THIS


Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Look of the Day



Naoko Lewis of Chicago does geek chic in a Benetton dress and Cole Haan boots.

Posted by Pia Chatterjee, on January 15, 2008 at 4:49 PM, PDT EMAIL THIS | LINK TO THIS


Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Steve Jobs and the iWin Button


Audience emerging from Steve Jobs' Keynote.

I guess I have to stop being so surprised when I see crowds at Macworld. The keynote room was packed at 9 in the morning and the vibe was that of a concert, with folks snapping pics and chatting on cell phones to tell their buddies how great it was to be here.

Right after the keynote, the crowds burst out of the conference rooms, and here’s what they had to say:


Kathleen, Matthew and Chris; Andreas and Verena at MacWorld, visiting from Germany; Allana Taranto, SF photographer at Macworld

For Cory Ranscham, who works for Room & Board and lives in Minneapolis, his first Macworld conference was definitely an experience. He was surprised at how accurate the rumor mill had been—“they predicted nearly everything,” he said happily. About the new introductions, he was most impressed with the Macbook Air. “It’s a typical Apple innovation,” he said. “That touchpad is amazing in all that you can do with it.” He’s unlikely to cough up $1,800 for it though, as his present laptop—also a Mac—works just fine.

Alana Taranto, 29 and living in San Francisco, was similarly impressed with the MacBook Air. But she’s far keener on the new movie rental capabilities. “I think we’ve just seen the future of home entertainment,” she said smiling. She’s eager to try it out.

Jamie, visiting from Los Angeles, believes that Steve Jobs has an iWin button. She’s delighted with the movie rentals, but wasn’t terribly impressed with the notebook. Visiting from Germany, Andreas and Verena disagree. They think the MacBook Air is great, though they admit they’re undecided as to whether they’ll actually buy one. “Let’s see,” Andreas said.

All in all, “it feels like Apple is finally listening to what the consumer wants,” said Matthew Bentley, who works in IT support in Massachusetts. “So far, we’ve just had to accept whatever they introduce. But this time, I really feel like they heard what the users had to say, and gave us what we really need.”

Amen to that.

Posted by Pia Chatterjee, on January 15, 2008 at 4:16 PM, PDT EMAIL THIS | LINK TO THIS


Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Steve Jobs’ Big Reveal

We (meaning our design director Ben Hardiman and I) arrived at Moscone at 6 a.m. to get into Macworld’s Keynote speech, and there was already a line wrapping all the way around the center and down Minna Street. Hours later, when they finally let us in, it seemed like there were thousands waiting behind and in front of us. Talk about drawing a crowd.


This picture doesn't do the massive crowd justice ... trust me, there were thousands.


Here follows the big reveal at the Keynote with Steve.

New iPhone features: Apple has upgraded the mapping application by adding “faux-GPS” capabilities and the hybrid map view. Teaming Google’s cell tower and Skyhook Wireless’s wifi base station databases, the iPhone can now triangulate where you are and tie it into the Map application, providing a much improved user experience. Apple’s also added the ability to create up to nine custom home screens, Webclips (which can be saved for easy access on one of the custom home screens), multi-person SMS messaging and improved video playback (chapters, subtitles and language support). This is a free update for all iPhone users. Of note: The iPhone smartphone market share is now as much as Palm, Motorola and Nokia combined (4 million sold in 200 days).

iTunes Music Rentals: The ability to download movies from all of the major movie studios on a rental basis. $3.99 for new releases, $2.99 for “library” movies. You get to keep the download up to 30 days, and once you start viewing it, you have 24 hours to watch it as many times as you want. They can be watched on a Mac, PC, iPhone or any currently shipping iPod, the new AppleTV (below), as well as moved between these devices. HD movies are available for $1 more.

AppleTV updates: A free software upgrade to the AppleTV launched last year that completely untethers the AppleTV from your computer. While you can still stream music, pictures and video from your computer, you can now do this all directly on the AppleTV as well, including previewing, renting and purchasing directly from the iTunes store. A completely redesigned interface also features YouTube, Podcasts, Flickr and .Mac image streaming and adds full HD Dolby 5.1 surround sound. The price for a new AppleTV dropped to $229.

Time Capsule for Time Machine: A pretty nifty device, designed to take advantage of Leopards built in backup software, Time Machine. Acting as both an “N” class wireless router and print server, it also houses either a 500GB or 1TB “server grade” hard drive. Now, instead of needing to plug external hard drives into your Apple laptop for a backup (and remembering to do so), you just go about your day as you usually would, with Time Machine automatically backing up your data, seamlessly with no intervention required by the user. This is the absolute perfect “parent’s backup solution”—I know my mom will be getting one. 500GB = $299, 1TB = $499.

Now the biggie: MacBook Air

Worlds thinnest laptop. All aluminum shell, 3lbs total weight, five-hour battery life. Full size, backlit keyboard and 13.3 inch LED backlit widescreen. DVI video output, no optical drive and 2GB of RAM standard. Traditional or optional solid-state drives available. Brand new, oversized “multi-touch” trackpad that offers many of the iPhones navigation features, but on a computer. Very, very rad. There is an external optical disc drive option, as well as a new piece of software that allows you to share another Mac or PCs optical drive as if it was connected to the MacBook Air. His Steveness also commented that the computer is very green: bromide and PVR free, mercury and arsenic-free glass and the new packaging is 56% smaller. All for $1,799. They’re gunna sell a ton of these.

Guest blogger and 7x7’s IT/production director Tim Wudarski says he’s All Nerd, All the Time™

Posted by Tim Wudarski, on January 15, 2008 at 12:17 PM, PDT EMAIL THIS | LINK TO THIS


Monday, January 14, 2008

And So it Begins...

As I walked into the Ars Technica and Gizmodo Macworld party at Harlot, the first thing I noticed was how awfully crowded it was. It was only a couple of minutes past 8 p.m., the official start time for the party, and already the space felt full. The club was dimly lit, and the tall walls sprouted pictures of barely dressed women. Not that anyone was looking—instead everyone was busy trying to predict what Steve Jobs was going to be unveiling in the a.m.


Laura Hunt's cool hairstyle was a hit.                  The Ars Technica and Gizmodo Party at Harlot.

Here are a few expert guesses of what Tuesday’s Keynote will bring:

•    A tablet version of the MacBook Pro—a super portable, ultra sleek item that will finally make the tablet computer mainstream;
•    The second generation Apple iPhone with GPS capacity—pretty much everyone thinks this one’s a done deal;
•    Movie rentals on iTunes—NetFlix is getting way too cool for school.

If the party was any indication, Macworld is bound to be quite the show. Roughly 50,000 people are expected to attend tomorrow, and this was borne out by the massive turnout at Harlot. The bar was at capacity 45 minutes after the gates opened.

Looks like MacMania is here to stay.


Maya Baratz (Flickr) and Megan McCarthy (Wired)                            Melissa, Ronnie, David and Rachel


Sue Ping Shyy, Tamikeo and Winnie Wong                                           KC! and Veronica                                                         

Posted by Pia Chatterjee, on January 14, 2008 at 11:17 PM, PDT EMAIL THIS | LINK TO THIS