Apple buzz

It's funny to see the Internet get all aglow every time we get close to a legendary Steve Jobs keynote. I was surprised to see they refreshed the Mac Pro today, with the default configuration being an 8-core machine. Seriously, my 4-core 2.6 GHz Xeon I got more than a year ago is overkill. Now they have this?

The safest prediction is that they'll do online rentals. The big question I have is whether or not that'll work in conjunction with the Apple TV and whether or not they'll have high definition available. I don't know what their sales are like, but they've been doing a pretty good job with that on Xbox Live.

The MacBook Pro line is expected to be refreshed, with the addition of a smaller unit, perhaps with a regular flash-based drive. Couple that with the LED-lit screen and I can imagine amazing battery life on something like that. It'd be a neat product to see, though I expect it would also be very expensive.

What I'm crossing my fingers for is updated Cinema Displays. If they come down in price, use LED lighting for lower power consumption, and include and iSight camera, I'm in.

I put another two gigs of RAM in my Mac Pro today. Second try, after the first batch was DOA. I paid probably $20 too much buying from Crucial, but their return policy is effortless, so I guess I'll live with it.

I was talking today with our chief architect at work about Macs in general. He bought his wife a MacBook last year, and is thinking about an iMac for one of his kids. He reiterated that the extra cost, or rather paying for something that's already above average in terms of specs, is worth it because he doesn't have to be a tech support guy at home. I hear that. Not that I have to support it exactly, but Diana seems to always be having some problem with her Vista laptop. Meanwhile, my MacBook Pro is going on two years, and unlike every other laptop I've ever had, I don't see any reason to replace it in the near future.

I would've never guessed Apple would be where it is just a few short years ago.