Mac World '09 Keynote Address Review...(Why Apple Rules)

http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/0901ouabdcaw/event/index.html
(this link might not be permanent- and quicktime is required)

Apple listens and learns about what the consumers want. And believe it or not, eventually they become to know better about our needs. They are the true innovator in the hardware and software industry. Apple is keep growing and increasing their market share because they are so good in understanding the market...

Today I watched the Mac World '09 Keynote Address. Traditionally, Apple CEO, Steve Jobs would have done it. However, Steve's is suffering from rumors about his bad health and apparently that seems to be true. Instead, Philip Schiller, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing did the presentation. As usual, Apple has exciting news for each keynote address each year. Three big announcements... and some miscellaneous news...

1. new features in iLife
2. new features in iWorks
3. new 17 inch Mac Book Pro

misc. 100% DRM free music on iTunes music Store

Here are some of my thoughts about the news from this year’s Mac World Keynote address...


New features in iPhoto on sorting pictures are great. Apple really knows that many people are having trouble organizing their pics taken with their digital camera. Faces and Places... photos in iPhoto can now be sorted out depending on who is in the picture and where the picture was taken. Sorting this out manually can really be a pain in the ass. So, iPhoto makes that task easy by using the face detection & recognition technology, and geotags. Nothing really new... But the way how iPhoto works seems very convenient. And the most impressive part is that it works with Flickr and Facebook.

Movie editing in iMovie has changed dramatically. Apple rewrote the software again, says Phillip. And the way video editing works is a whole lot better. Once I viewed the demo, I was so impressed. I'm not sure if special effects used in sci-fi movies can be added via iMovie, but I'm pretty sure I can make a decent movie out of it. The outcome of the video editing looks very professional. It is so good that video editors in the broadcasting industry might lose their job. Just saying it's that good. You must go watch the keynote address to really understand what I am talking about.
One thing that really shocked me is the fact that they rewrote the application in about a year. Must be a result of good software engineering skill indeed.

Another thing we must pay attention to is about digital content sales. Apple is now in another digital content business besides music and movies. Now they make their own contents. Garage Band now offers musical instrument lessons. I don't think they are free, and I am willing to pay for it because the lessons are from original artists. Integration of the video editing technology, the keynote application, and Garage Band... Now Apple seems like they are making their move to sell their own digital content.

The Keynote application (identical SW tool to Power Point in Windows by Microsoft) now supports Keynote Remote. Keynote Remote is an iPhone (I suppose iPod Touch too) application that can be used to progress through your slides remotely. When you hold your iPhone vertically, you can see the current slide with the speaker notes and when you hold it horizontally, you can view your current slide and the next slide at the same time. If you want to advance to the next slide or go back to the previous slide, all you have to do is flick your iPhone in the appropriate direction. Interesting !!! Just 99 cents...

These are just some of the things that I really want to share about after watching the keynote address of Mac World '09. I'd better upgrade iLife '08 to '09 soon.

Apple was criticized for its exclusive business strategy until recently. Not opening the HW architecture and not licensing it has certainly limited the production of the Mac platform hardware. Many people thought that their business strategy has limits... The limitation of producing hardware leads to high cost, and leaving out third party vendors limits innovative ideas. However, Apple has become one of the most innovative companies. And I agree that no other company could have done what apple is doing now better. By organizing their own technology and integrating them in their own way, they are accelerating the development of great HW and SW. And they are doing it the right way, very neatly, and their products are near perfect.

Just look at how Apple is making an attempt to create digital contents for sale by using iLife and iWorks. I suggest that proper integration of the current technology used in Mac applications can lead to an ultimate solution for e-learning. And I think Apple knows it too. Look how they are using their products to create synergy among their other products. This is all possible because Apple does it alone... And they know what we want...

Research -> Careful Planning and Development -> Organizing and integrating the technology in a meaningful way. In Korea, we only do development, don’t we???