My brief post this morning did not do Apple’s overnight releases justice, so here are some random comments on the new products from Apple. I haven’t listened to the keynote yet, nor read every detail on the Apple site, so I may have details wrong.
The updated iMac comes with Front Row – Apple’s implementation of a media centre type application. I guess Apple will roll this application out in other new machines, but it’s unclear if existing users can upgrade. Front Row doesn’t appear to be related to an update to OSX, it doesn’t appear on the Apple web-site as a separate software package nor is it an addition to the iLife suite. Whilst Front Row certainly looks nice, who’s going to put an iMac in the place of a TV? I think we will soon see an update to the Airport Express which allows Front Row to be used (via the wireless network in your house) on your existing TV/Home Theatre system. If that were to happen, then Apple’s implementation makes more sense to me than Windows Media Centre edition.
No modem with the iMac. Apple were the first to remove the floppy from the desktop computer, and now they’ve removed the modem. You can buy a modem as an external option (see bottom right of this page – it even looks elegant, like an Apple accessory would).
The release of the video iPod and Front Row makes sense now that you can (well could if iTunes was in Australia) download TV episodes. So, even if Australia does get an iTunes music store next week, will we get TV downloads? I suspect not. With Australia’s ridiculous media protection laws, we wouldn’t want to upset the commercial TV stations. But, will Australia’s laws stop distributing of legally sourced TV shows via iTunes? I need to defer that question to a lawyer. If iTunes Australia were able to distribute TV shows, imagine the impact on the commercial stations. They would actually have to show popular shows very shortly after they aired in the US. I notice that iTunes US already has 3 episodes from the next series of Lost. How far is that away from Australian televisions?
The Apple Australia web-site’s webguy/girl/team/master must be struggling with the release of the new iPod. For Australian consumers, there are so many things the iPod is designed to do which it can’t because we don’t have an iTunes store. When comparing the iPod pages on Apple’s Australian site with the US version the best features of the iPod are watered down:
US site: “From that new tune to the latest episode of ‘Lost’”. Oz site: “From that new tune to the latest home movie”.
So, the poor webperson has to remove all references in the copy to buying music or video (although they seem to have missed various graphics).
iTunes 6. Why did they call the bump to iTunes (to include new features with the release of the Nano) a full x.0 upgrade? Knowing that 6.0 was around the corner?
(Note to Apple webperson… I know you’re busy, but iTunes page still shows iTunes 5.)