There was nothing more to be done about it - some classes just had to be missed if I were to attend Macworld this year. One of the professors was totally agreeable but the other didn't reply to my email, so yaks! I had my analog camera with me, but unfortunately, since I didn't have any film on it (and since I had only two hours at the Expo, I didn't go looking), I got no pictures. However, I'm sure I can find some really good pictures of Macworld from all over the web and post them here, although self-shot photos have their own 'air of authenticity' that will unfortunately be lost. The Caltrain from Palo Alto to San Francisco takes just over an hour, is a very shaky ride, which you usually don't notice unless you're typing a blog entry or playing DotA... Nonetheless, San Francisco today had the best weather I've ever seen [there] and wasn't freezing at all. I was disappointed by Apple's efforts though. I was intending to make my way to Moscone Center by following the increasing density of Apple ads per block. Unfortunately, the Apple ads don't follow a simple inverse square law, but an inverse to some astronomically high power, because I didn't find a single advertisement until I was one block away from Moscone. Oh, and it's pronounced Mosconee, by the way (just like Adobee)! Since I came in on the 11th and not on the 'Big Hype' day, registration was the most peaceful process ever with no queues at all. Macworld doesn't take place in the newly built and sleek-looking Moscone West, but in Moscone South. Although the Expo Hall was pretty big, I was surprised that everything that Macworld 'is' was contained in just one big hall. You can talk to Ye Old Mac fanatics who've seen the glory days of 1996 and see the look of sadness on their faces. However, I just gave you a totally objective (aftermath) opinion, and this was not at all what I was thinking of when I walked in. When I walked in, it was like "This is so awesome!" because there are huge, and I mean HUGE, canvases (40ft high?) with the new iMac and MacBook Pro plastered on them and they look absolutely stunning. Of course, the first thing I did was to go over and try out the MacBooks as I might be buying one of them in February or March (whenever they show up at The Bookstore, because they have great discounts and free iPods). I think I can officially announce that The Snappy™ is back. Yes, everything happens instantaneously and almost all the basic stuff - Safari, System Preferences, iChat, etc. - launches in one bounce (or less - Safari and System Preferences showed up before the bounce finished). And obviously, it's positively fantastic to have dual-processors in a notebook computer. The graphics prowess on these machines is also amazing. I mean, seriously, with 256MB of ATI Radeon X1600-ness, what couldn't you do on that notebook. I asked the Apple guy (there is always this one obnoxious Apple person standing next to every single one of the tens of Apple computers on show) standing next to the MacBook (supervising my actions) about Windows compatibility and as obnoxious as these guys are (almost like little Steve Jobses) they told me that they would not comment on that. And when I asked them when it would be available, I got the answer "February or whenever Steve says". I went away disgusted and found my friend Eoban who got me the free pass for Macworld. We strolled over to the gaming section where loads of lucky dogs were playing some really awesome games on wicked cool G5s with 30-inch cinema displays. I also chatted with the Panic Software guys (who make Transmit); they told me about Transmit 3.5 and I talked with them about some features I'd like to see in Transmit. We also spent a long time talking about Cocoa and me bitching about the lack of online documentation and examples on a lot of things like the NSOutlineView and Bindings, and thankfully, they fully concurred. It's simply another experience to bitch about something so esoteric. I mean seriously, we're bitching about Cocoa Bindings here. Kind reader, do you even have a clue what they are? No, they've got nothing whatsoever to do with a certain stimulating drink. Then I went over across the show floor to the Microsoft booth where they signed me up for a G5 sweepstakes (the only way I'm not buying the MacBook Pro is if I win that G5). Then I generally wandered around and came eventually to the Roxio place where I got to know that a lot of work needs to be done in Toast 7 before it becomes Universal, because right now it's Carbon and it has to become Cocoa. Yat's yat.

The next day I went to the bookstore to find a book called "The Nibelungenlied" (say that ten times fast!) and although I didn't find it, I did go up to the computer section and ask for a price list of Apple computers (yes, these are the things I do for fun). First, I was surprised to see that within two days of its announcement, the MacBook Pro had already found its way to this price list, and secondly, it was being offered for $2070, which, kind reader, is a knock-off from $2500. Translation: amazing deal. I pre-ordered one for myself. Can't wait.

Labels: English