I hear what you're saying FireWired.

It feels like we Mac zealots have to start letting PC users into our club.

I think that's a good thing, but I understand your opinion. The Mac has always been a niche thing. As it gains in popularity, it become a little less "counter culture" and a little more mainstream. Like the day last year when Apple annouced their transition to Intel... it was as if thousands of voices cried out at once... and were suddenly silenced.

Sorry, had to work that StarWars line in there. ;)

Well put. I've seen the club grow quite a bit in size and so far I'm happy about that. I know the feeling of being uneasy about what the new people will be like though.

What concerns me about Apple's immediate future is all of this emphasis on selling commercial media. One prediction I have is that there will be a parade of media moguls and monopolists on stage, grinning and shaking Stave Jobs's hand. At one point Jobs recruited an executive from Pepsi by saying, "Do you want to sell sugar water to kids for the rest of your life?" I don't see selling TV and pop music as much better than selling Pepsi. I understand the necessity, even the inevitability, of Apple doing this. But I don't have to like it! :-)

Nothing personal, but I always thought that was the worst reason to be a Mac user, to be a "different" "rebel" "elitist" or something. I'm a Mac user because it's efficient and secure and looks cool. I don't care what CPU is in there as long as the computer lets me get stuff done with less hassle than anything else out there, and is also fun to use.

The virus worry, that's overblown. There are currently tens of millions of Mac users and Apple as a very high profile with a reputation for users who like to brag about how superior their computer makes them. Isn't that a tempting enough target for someone, might want to take those arrogant Mac users down a peg? Surely someone would have tried by now, on that big a target. The reason they have not succeeded is not "security through obscurity" because Macs are not obscure, especially considering Apple's marketing. They have not succeeded because OS X is securely designed.

I feel similarly, mclbruce. I am typically annoyed at faddish things and people who define themselves by having the current 'thing'. So I find myself happy for Apple and whatever effect it has on the Macintosh and OS X, but feeling a little hypocritical...kind of the same way I felt when the Bee Gees hit it big when Disco was in (I liked the Bee Gees and owned several of their LP's from the 60's and early 70's).

Somewhat in another direction: It also makes me uneasy that the wave Apple is riding (in the media and with Wall Street) is based so much on these media sales and the iPod (which are intertwined somewhat), and so I'm afraid the wave is rather fragile. Also, my feeling is that media companies are fickle and more dangerous to work with than technology companies (or Microsoft). I just hope that before the tide turns with the music and video area, Apple will have been able *use this to make enough inroads in the computer market to enjoy the similar success as a computer (and iPod) hardware and software company.

*somewhat uneasy about saying this

Obviously the point of this thread is to talk about Macworld and not Security, Viruses, etc, but I have to throw in my $.02 really quick.

I have a couple of articles on this website that talk breifly about this topic. One is called 'Viruses and Mac OS X: The Truth' and the other is called 'Seven Steps to a Safer Mac'. I have written things that go much, much deeper, but these are good quick summaries.

Mac OS X is a secure platform. It is extremely well designed and by far my personal favorite. ;) However, MUCH of it's security is still security through obscurity. I work in the field of Information Security, and I deal with kind of stuff day in and day out. I will boldly make this statement: There is NO platform anywhere that will EVER be anywhere near the target that Windows has become. Obviously, this could be a post own its own, and I don't want to head down that road right now... so I'll just throw in that comment and call it good.

Back to Macworld.... only a matter of hours 'til we will know. AHAHAHA. :)

I didn't see anyone predict the Bluetooth version of the Mighty Mouse. That will be the biggest news, if Apple can pull it off!!! :-)

Thanks for putting that in much better wording cameranerd.
I understand what you're saying as well styrafome, I suppose it's how you look at at it.

It's like one of those situations (that seems to happen to me often) when you discover or really like a cool music group/band that's not too well known, and then they suddenly hit it big or become more popular, and everybody likes them -- it doesn't feel "fair" since you liked them first all along! I guess that's life though..

Anyway, back to subject... I think a BT Mighty Mouse would be great! I forgot about that one.

I did not write it very clearly, so I went back and edited it. You see, I don't care much for Disco. So I was happy they were making it big, but feeling kind of hypocritical since I did not like the vehicle of their success.

Ah, oops (no pun intended), my mistake. I gotcha now.

(Edited my previous post)

Today's day 1! It will be interesting to see what they unveil on the first day. :)

here's what's goin on so far if you dont know http://www.macdailynews.com/macworld...6_keynote.html

highlights so far for me:

• MacBook Pro: 15.4-inch widescreen. Thinner. Built-in iSight camera. Jobs, "Fastest Mac notebook ever."
• Jobs shows off MacBook Pro: Intel-based (Core Duo) Mac portable. Four to five times faster than PowerBook G4.

• Every iMac now comes with dual processors.
• iMac: Intel's dual-core Core Duo processor. iMacs will cost the same, same features and design, but are now two to three time faster than iMac G5, says Jobs.
• iMac now Intel-based... "A little ahead of schedule," says Jobs.
• Over 1,000 people at Intel working on Apple project...
• First Intel-based Mac...
• "Intel is ready, Apple is ready, too," Jobs says.

• 26 million unique visits to Apple Retail Stores.
• iTunes has 83% market share.
• iTMS songs sold rate now over 1 billion per year.
• 850 million songs sold via iTMS.
• Total iPods sold all-time: 42 million.
• 14 million iPods sold in quarter. 32 million in 2005.
• 135 total Apple Retail Stores worldwide.
• $5.7 billion in revenue for quarter.
• Apple Retail Stores pass $1 bln in quarter for first time.

And later he says...

• Street must be gasping at the numbers Jobs mentioned earlier.

:D

Also,

• AAPL passes $81.50 per share, up over 7.3%.

• All Macs will be Intel-based by end of calendar year 2006.

it says the keynote ended. it there another one today? or when's the next one?

the next keynote will be at the next Macworld

The new macbook pro does not have firewire! How are you supposed to do the video then?!

Emphasis added: