You've got to feel as sorry as you possibly can for the richest man in the world. After all, here's Bill Gates on Monday, giving the keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show, one of the largest technology shows on the planet, and he's one of the most important people in the history of modern computing. He's amassed a fortune by being perhaps the person most instrumental in shaping our experience of computers in homes, businesses and governments around the world.

And what is everyone talking about? What Steve Jobs has announced from Apple. Of course.

But let's talk Microsoft briefly. After all, this year is the year of Microsoft Vista, the first major update to the Windows operating system in five years. Frankly, it was starting to feel like it—Windows XP offers some fine features, but it's long in the tooth, with some reviewers saying that Vista is largely about catching up with the Mac OS.

With Mac OS X updating every 12 to 18 months, and with Apple now completely transitioned to the Intel processor in its products, more and more companies are considering Apple computers for their employees. According to BusinessWeek, Google has begun offering a Mac as an option to nearly all of its incoming employees—which platform you use is your choice. And when the Mac version of Lotus Notes appeared last year, it opened some business doors to Macs as well, offering cross-platform capabilities for offices that live and die using Lotus Notes.

Oops. See, I just did it. I talked about Apple when I was trying to talk about Microsoft.

Vista will be huge, of course, since Windows-based PCs make up the bulk of computers worldwide. But Linux running on Intel and Intel-compatible processors has already loosened up some corporate IT departments, and Mac OS X, after all, is ultimately a Unix-variant, based on open-source FreeBSD. Along with that, Mac OS X offers Microsoft Office applications, tons of cross-platform creative applications and the ability to boot into Windows using Apple's BootCamp or run Windows applications in a window using virtualization through Parallels (http://www.parallels.com). So, more desks may have Macs in the near future.

The fun news, of course, is what Apple announced this week. First, there's Apple TV. It's pretty much what Steve had said it would be a few months ago when it was announced—it streams video from your Mac or PC, and will sync with your main machine, storing 40GB worth of data on its hard disk. So, if you're buying movies or TV shows from iTunes Music Store (which is, for instance, how I'm watching "Battlestar Galactica" this season), then you've got a nice $299 way of getting them to your high-definition TV (in 720p) without having to move cables around and set your laptop next to your TV. It's a nice gizmo, although I still say I think it should be able to download and stream TV and movies directly from the iTunes Store so it can be used as a totally standalone device. Until then, it's an accessory.

The big news is, of course, iPhone. (It's even news that they're calling it "iPhone" being that Cisco had previously trademarked the name.) It runs Mac OS X, and with that Steve tells us that we'll be able to run desktop-caliber applications. It offers Multi-Touch, the new interface technology developed by Apple that Steve tells us is as revolutionary as the mouse was 20 years ago. And it syncs with all of that happy Apple stuff that Mac users like to use, including iTunes, iCal, iPhoto, bookmarks and e-mail, with an interface that works through iTunes. It has a two-megapixel camera built in, a 3.5-inch high-resolution display and—a Steve Jobs trademark—exactly one button.

Using the Multi-Touch technology, the phone reacts a lot to you waving and sliding fingers across the display. Of course, the iPhone is an iPod, with all the same functionality (and 4 GB or 8GB for storage), but the interface is a little different—you move your finger across the screen to scroll through music, video and photos. As a phone, it gives you "visual" access to your voicemail messages, so that you can listen to them in any order, play the messages that are most important to you and manage them like e-mail messages. Jobs calls it "last century" to actually dial numbers, so your address book and "favorites" are front and center for the dialing interface.

Some of the big news is that the iPhone features Wi-Fi technology, meaning your surfing can happen at higher speeds when you're within access of a wireless Internet hotspot. The Safari browser on the phone can show entire Web pages, or Mac OS X style widgets for Internet information. As Jobs puts it, it's the first time you can have the whole "Internet in your pocket." Support for IMAP e-mail means you can read e-mail right from a server account, the way many Gmail users do now with Treos and Blackberries. Or you can access your Web mail interface for your company's server via the Web.

It's a Cingular exclusive, it will cost $499 for the 4GB version or $599 for the 8GB version and it won't ship until June 2007. The future of phones is still out there in the future. And it will be interesting to see what that does to the rest of the market.

It's often bandied about that Apple Computer might become the next Sony or the next Disney or whatever it's supposed to be the "next" of. In what was perhaps both an acknowledgement of that and perhaps a challenge to it as well, Jobs announced one other thing at the keynote—something that Apple has done in practice for a while. The name Apple Computers Inc. is no more … the official name of the company, for its second 30 years, is now Apple Inc. Apple makes more than computers, apparently, and maybe it doesn't make as many products as Sony, but Apple is gambling that its products are more defining and world-altering than anything its competitors do.

Even Bill Gates probably has to admit that at this point.

Cool Site: Future Of The Book

Previous Comments

ID

84838

Comment

This didn't take long: Cisco Sues Apple Over 'iPhone' Trademark

Author

Todd Stauffer

Date

2007-01-10T20:22:11-06:00

ID

84839

Comment

what a concept. Instead of some complicated meno to work through with a cursor on a cellphone, you just have to push buttons. amazing how simplicity escapes some companies. I say Go Jobs Go.

Author

Kingfish

Date

2007-01-14T20:05:41-06:00

ID

84840

Comment

I just noticed that there is not a "technology" forum for us geeks out there. but i wanted to post somewhere that MY COMPUTER IS NOW MICROSOFT FREE! I just finally made the switch to linux (i'm using the ubuntu distro) and i am very surprised and very pleased. i can't believe that people continue to shell out hundreds of dollars for microsoft products when there is available open-source FREE software that is just as good or, in this case and many others, better. I can't think of a single reason that i might ever go back to windows (unless of course i want to play around with some fun mal-ware . . . yea right).

Author

djames

Date

2007-01-27T01:09:54-06:00

ID

84841

Comment

and by the way, there is a wireless iTV-like product out there and it works pretty well. it is also pretty cheap for what it does, so i here. i don't have one (yet). Check it out here

Author

djames

Date

2007-01-27T01:18:32-06:00

ID

84842

Comment

djames, that's fantastic! I've been Microsoft-clean for 12 years now--Linux from 1995 to 2000, Mac since 2000--and I haven't regretted it for a minute. God willing and the creek don't rise, I'll never go back. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2007-01-27T01:20:59-06:00

ID

84843

Comment

A tech forum is a good idea. I bet we could convince the iTodd to post one! Yeah, down with Microsoft. (Of course, I think the iTodd and I are certified Mac evangelists, or were in a past life, so hey.)

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-01-27T10:24:42-06:00

ID

84844

Comment

I'd have to have a better computer to run Linux. :) Sad when Microsoft is the best thing going for an old computer.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2007-01-27T13:25:47-06:00