Here on the east coast we had to wait until noon for the keynote to start at Macworld. Finally, it was time and I had to go to class, but after class at lunch we broke the notebook out to see what was going on. At this point nothing that big was announced and towards the end of lunch it came. The Macbook Air had arrived. We now headed off to the last class of the day where one of my friends sat across from me and I would glance at him to see if anything else big was announced, he shook his head after checking his iPhone under the desk. Macworld had ended and we were left with four new products.

Macbook Air
This thing is amazing. It is the world’s thinnest notebook computer. In order to get it this small they have created some great new technology, both on the software and hardware front. The CPU could be a little faster, I don’t think 1.8 GHz will work for me and others who have to run Adobe Creative Suite and other design, video, and motion software. However, when looking at the notebook line it goes from 1.8 (Air) to 2.6 (Pro), which is not a huge difference. On an interesting note the Macbook Air website does not have an Intel Core Duo section like the Macbook and Macbook Pro has. Overall, I think that it could be faster, the price is to high, that it is a really smart move for Apple, and that it is just down right amazing.

iPod Touch
They came out with some new applications for the iPod Touch including Maps, Mail and more. This is a good move and the price is worth it, though it doesn’t cost Apple anything to provide these new applications to you. I think I would get one if it had a camera, but this would make it to similar to the iPhone. The iPhone also got a nice update, and if I wasn’t already signed onto a contract with Sprint I would have to save some money up and get one. Someday.

Time Capsule
Apple came out with a wireless backup hard drive and made it a wireless internet hub as well. I think that this is a great concept and if it works well, it will become a convenience for many people. I plan on using this in my dorm room for college, not to provide wireless internet, but so that I can backup wirelessly from anywhere.

iTunes Movie Rentals and Apple TV
Jobs started off by admitting that they had failed, along with others, on their first try. And this time it looks like the will succeed. They have partnered with all of the major studios, which is a key here. It is all done through the Apple TV, which has a new menu design. To be able to not leave your house and just pick a movie to rent will be an amazing experience. And then to be able to transfer it to multiple devices is a great feature. While I still support the small guy video rental store and have not bought a Blue-Ray HD DVD player yet, I think that this is a very strong product. And it will become even stronger when it can record my television shows. Also, with the new Apple TV, you can see the photos from Flickr. (Dave Winer recently released software that also puts Flickr photos on your television, would love to know what he thinks about this. And Steve wasn’t able to get Flickr to work in the demo, so we shall see.)

For the record, I still love my Macbook. It looks great and gets the job done. Even though the new Air is amazing, I don’t think it should deteriorate the value of my Macbook. Khoi Vinh actually wrote about this at length and made some great points about how we don’t design products to deteriorate. Instead we make them to look beautiful when they are sold instead for the future when they have wear and tear. He says that this is just wrong. The Macbook Air looks brilliant, and I’m sure it is, but my half year old Macbook works wonders and looks great.

Apple seems to be focusing more on the environmental impact their products have and this is a great start for them with the Macbook Air. Steve said talking about this would become a normal thing when new products are launched. As for new product launches I think that if they made the Macbook this thin we will see an updated iMac soon. And you can of course check out Apple’s website for all the information and photos.

Do you think 1.8 GHz is fast enough?
What are your thoughts in general on everything new?