MWSF08: 10 Reasons Why the MS Blogger Lounge is Better than then Press Room
17 January 2008 05:23 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
10 Reasons Why the MS Blogger Lounge is Better than the IDG Press Room:
1. Leather couches and chairs.
2. Wifi (that works).
3. Ethernet.
4. Power outlets (the press room has two. They were installed during the Eisenhower years.)
5. Refrigerator stocked with drinks.
6. iMacs (The press room has them too, but they're always busy).
7. M&Ms.
8. Art. Yes, the picture of a pug playing a ukelele ties the room together.
9. Flat panel monitors (so what if they're running Office 2008 propaganda?)
10. It's not dank.
11. On the show floor.
Click on the headline jump for more photographic evidence...
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MWSF08: PowerPage T-Shirts Going Fast
16 January 2008 01:42 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
SAN FRANCISCO -- Monday I told you about the new Limited Edition PowerPage 2008 T-Shirts and you proceeded to practically molest me to get them. Freaks! And to the nice Belgian fellow at the MS Office 2008 event at the Yerba Buena Center last night: No, you can't have the t-shirt off my back...
Anyway, bad news. The light blue ones are gone. The good news is that I have a small stash of blue Limited Edition PP08 T's available to friends of the PowerPage who mention the code word "Asteroid." No whispering, please!
I'll be wearing a PP T over a camo long sleeve with a Crumpler orange sunburst messenger bag. Check me out and you'll be bagging some cotton.
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Liveblogging Macworld Expo SF 2008
15 January 2008 11:05 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
SAN FRANCISCO -- It is pretty cool and blustry outside but that didn't stop the throngs of people from lining up (some as early as 3 a.m.) to the see Steve Jobs keynote at Moscone West here this morning. The press line was pretty long but they finally let us in at about 7:30 a.m. We're currently waiting outside the theater doors for the inevitable last dash to the seats. I'll be live blogging the keynote address in real time for my ZDNet blog The Apple Core. Chris will be posting a full keynote wrap-up here on the PowerPage as soon as it's over and stories and galleries from the show floor all week.
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MWSF08: Limited Edition PowerPage T-Shirts
14 January 2008 07:45 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
SAN FRANCISCO -- Heads up to the PowerPage readers in town for The Big Dance tomorrow: the new PowerPage t-shirts are in stock and I have a limited amount on hand for friends of the site.
The 2008 PowerPage t-shirts are the first we've printed since Macworld Expo was in New York in 2003 (yikes!) and feature a design by Ben Upshur. Get one while you can because we're not printing any more until 2013 ;)
If you happen to run into me in and around Macworld Expo, mention this post and you'll be bagging some cotton. After Expo, t-shirts will be given away to submitters of the best PowerPage stories that we publish.
See you at Expo!
- Jason
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MWSF07: Day 3 About to Begin
10 January 2007 09:38 EST
Chris Barylick
San Francisco -- Guys, I'm about to leave the hotel in a bit and wander over to the Moscone Center to take in more of the Expo and let you know what's going on as much as possible.
If there's anything you want me to look into or have specific questions about that you'd like me to look into, email me at chris (at) this site's domain and let me know.
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MWSF07: Keynotes
09 January 2007 02:27 EST
Chris Barylick
SAN FRANCISCO -- Lights dim, completely full room.
It was the running of the bulls to get up here on the escalators.
Steve steps up to James Brown's "I Feel Good" - black turtle and jeans as always.
"We're going to make some history together today."
Intel:
"Heart transplant to Intel microprocessors."
Transitioned its product line to Intel processors in seven months as opposed to the expected 12.
Smooth transition due to OS X and Rosetta apps.
Help from Intel colleagues.
Third party devs moved to Universal Binary versions. Thanks them...
More after the jump...
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Mac Nano
08 January 2007 08:58 EST
Bob Snow
"The first 30 years were just the beginning." Does this bold statement portend a new iPod video with a full face touch screen? A set top box that can stream video content to your television? A wireless phone that is also a full fledged iPod with the slickest design and operation you can imagine? No, these products may all very well appear at Macworld, but this has got to be about the future of personal computing. Apple did ignite the personal computer revolution and then reinvent it after all.
I think Apple will introduce a nano-computer, masquerading as a smart-phone . Basically a tablet computer the size of a Treo or Blackberry with a far more clever input method, full face screen and some version of iLife running on it. Ideally it would be a stand alone wireless nano-computer running OS X. Think of all the capabilities of a MacBook combined with a phone. Dock it on your desk with a wireless keyboard, mouse and full screen monitor and it would be your home computer. Take it on the road and it would be your laptop. Put it in your pocket and it would be your phone, camera and your iPod. Take it to work and let the Xserves do the heavy lifting. I think this computer will not only be possible within the next five years, it will represent a paradigm shift bigger than the current migration from desktop computing to laptops.
Current technology would of course make this computer a brick, much larger than a Zune and more expensive than a MacBook. The Apple genius-phone will have to point the way to such a device with a mobile version of OS X and iLife. Much of your data and the programs that manipulate it might be located on the internet. Strip down the memory. Even sync it with your computer rather than replace your computer. Whatever it takes to put a placeholder out there to position Apple for the coming revolution. It might take a serious partnership with Google to pull this off. Phone service providers be damned.
Oh, or it could be that secret feature that Steve alluded when he last demonstrated Leopard in public. What better time to announce IT, whatever IT might be. Something like full support in Leopard for all Windows XP API's would be cool! And, one more thing..... iLife for Windows.
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Ok People, it's "Macworld" not "MacWorld"
07 January 2007 07:03 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
I have to get a major pet peeve off my chest, I just can't take it any more.
If you write/blog about things related to the Mac, or God help you, you're covering Macworld Expo you should get the capitalization right. It's "Macworld Expo" not "MacWorld Expo."
You pretty much throw all your credibility out the window when you publish posts like "MacWorld rumor this" or "MacWorld announcement that." There is no capital W in Macworld - get it right people.
The offenders, and there are a lot of you, need to get your act together and lower case that "w" or risk exposing yourself as a Mac poser.
Also, while I'm at it, it's Macworld Expo not Macworld. "Macworld" is a magazine, "Macworld Expo" is a conference run by IDG World Expo Corp. There is a difference.
Ok, quickly edit all your posts for the past three months :)
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The Apple Core: Calm before the Macworld Expo storm
05 January 2007 09:37 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
Today was a travel day so please excuse the tardiness of this post. I just landed in Reno/Tahoe and checked in for a weekend of snowboarding before Expo. Anyway, the weekend before Macworld Expo in San Francisco is typically when details about Apple's planned announcements begin to leak and today is no exception.
iLife and iWork '07 were mistakenly posted on Amazon.com earlier, albeit with zero details,so the proverbial cat is out of the bag on them. Although they aren't huge surprises, I'm sure that someone on the Amazon Web team is feeling the wrath of Steve about now.
Read the rest of the story on my ZDNet Blog: The Apple Core.
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Macworld Expo Reworks Users Conference Sessions
30 November 2006 08:15 EST
Chris Barylick
IDG World Expo, the company responsible for organizing the Macworld Expo, announced on Wednesday that it had revamped the upcoming Macworld Conference and Expo Users Conferance program. The Macworld Expo takes place from January 8 - 12 at the Moscone center in San Francisco, California and draws tens of thousands of attendees every year.
The upcoming User's Conference is organized as a seried of sessions and is expected to draw over 3,000 trainees for the upcoming expo. Training is divided into 30 conference sessions which are spaced out over Wednesday, January 10th and Thursday, January 11th. Each training session lasts for 75 minutes.
The upcoming user's conference will feature two new conference session tracks; "Vision" and "Inspire". The "Vision" track will feature a collection of sessions led by speakers detailing how technology will evolve and effect work environments, home life and culture. The "Inspire" track will feature sessions led by experts demonstrating new Mac producs and how to use them to generate original works.
Other new conference tracks include Magic, Work and Create with full details for each conference being show at the conference web page.
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Macworld Expo 2006 Impressions
17 January 2006 09:46 EST
I spent a couple of days on the show floor this year. Here are some observations:
* The show is almost completely dominated by iPod accessories, ranging from "things you can plug your iPod into" (including cars) to various kinds of iPod "luggage."
* Almost lost in all the frenzy around the new Intel-based Macs was Apple's announcement of the iPod Radio Remote, a very cool device that adds FM tuning to your iPod (with dock connector). It even supports RDS so you can see the station name and the title of the song. Not bad for a $50 dongle!
Read more...
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MWSF06: Presentation Key Notes (Updated)
10 January 2006 02:37 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
Shaun Redmond contributes his live keynote coverage from the just-ended presentation by Steve Jobs here at Macworld Expo 2006. Note: these are stream-of-consciousness
Macworld SF Keynote
Ton of Media Personnel 1000+ (500+ Online Media)
Usual Packed house
Cell phone Warning at 9:00 am PST
Al Gore is in the front row, Mayor of SF walks over to chat with him
Lights dim at 9:07, Steve enters in usual black and indigo outfit
Read More...
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Apple Plasmas too Good to be True
10 January 2006 10:59 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
I just received this obvious Photoshop-job of "Apple plasmas" being loaded into a store window. While fun to look at, I'm increasingly of the opinion that the whole thing could be a massive misinformation campaign by Cupertino to get us off the scent.
The PowerPage has been receiving suspicious IMs from people claiming to have all kinds of facts on the new plasma Macs but they simply don't add up. Part numbers of the alleged TVs don't match what other Mac Web sites have been told, so there's a good chance that Steve, Phil and Avie are simply testing the loyalty of their staff by giving out false info and looking for it on the Web. They simply match the specs (in this case the PNs) to the leak and BAM, they're fired. It's a crappy way to down-size but it may be happening.
You have to take all this pre-Expo reporting with a grain of salt. Remember that no one except Steve himself and a handful of engineers, PMs and execs know the exact details of the products being announced today. Cupertino is pretty stealthy leading up to Expo and it wouldn't surprise me if the whole plasma thing turned out to be a smoke-screen. We'll see in 60 minutes.
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FoxTrot Comic Pokes Fun at Steve Jobs and MWSF
10 January 2006 10:46 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
Check out this funny FoxTrot comic strip by Bill Amend:
It's no longer on the front page of the FoxTrot Web site, but you can find the whole strip here. (Thanks Calvin Choy)
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Exclusive: Apple Plasma Displays to Rock MWSF (Updated)
06 January 2006 12:45 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
A funny thing happened when I walked into the convenience store this morning: as I was grabbing my usual breakfast sandwich (sausage, egg and cheese on a english muffin if you must know) from the warming rack at Wawa (a favorite shop for those in PA/NJ) the guy re-stocking the rack whispered something to me. I was wearing my Apple logo'd sweatshirt, so he says "so you like Apples, huh?" to which I replied "yeah..." not knowing where he was going.
He went on to tell me that he had a friend who had a friend who knew something about a new and special Apple announcement that was going to be made on Tuesday's Macworld Expo keynote address in San Francisco. Sandwich Man (not his real name) elaborated that this was an announcement that he hadn't seen reported anywhere on the Web. Intrigued, I asked him for more...
Read on...
Update 2006-0106:
The story has been picked up on Digg.com. Check out the comments!
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All I want for Macworld
30 December 2005 04:01 EST
Steve Abrahamson
Whether you got lumps of coal in your stocking or oil company stock, at this time of year Mac geeks around the world turn their attention to Macworld for new toys. This year feels like it'll be a biggie, and I'll be happy with lots of faster, lighter, new designs on laptops. Yeah, that's nice; I could use one. Maybe a new desktop enclosure, maybe a new set of category names. That's nice.
But what I really want to see is an iPad.
Read more...
Contributed by Steve Abrahamson, principal at Ascending Technologies, where they write FileMaker Pro systems like the ones he described running on the fictional iPad. He can be reached at steve@asctech.com.
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Macworld Expo Preview: Intel Mac minis and iBooks
05 December 2005 12:00 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
Analysts don't always know what they are talking about, but the rumors last week that Apple will launch a portable based on an Intel chip got me thinking that it may be Apple's consumer laptop — the iBook. After all Apple needs to start weaning itself off of the G4 chips and what better product group than the consumer/educational demographic. Maybe the eMac will also get an Intel chip as well boosting the company's market share in the education sector greatly. Imagine Apple updating three key hardware platforms to Intel all at once... what a tour de force!
Read more...
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New Products at Macworld Expo Boston
14 July 2005 12:17 EST
BOSTON, MA ? Three Manufacturers announced and displayed new products in the Apple Specialist Pavilion at Macworld Boston this week. New products were introduced by MacMedia, MacSpeech and Trans International in conjunction with the Apple Specialist independent Apple dealer channel.
MacMedia, an Apple Specialist dealer from the Phoenix, Arizona area, introduced EtchaMac, a new laser-based personalization service for iPods and PowerBooks. A Laser Etching process gives your iPod or PowerBook an awesome new look.
What is Laser Etching? A CO2 laser is used to laser etch an image or text onto your product of choice. The process is done at low power and cannot damage your iPod or Powerbook. The process is quick, clean, and permanent.
From family pictures to corporate logos, graphics can be etched beautifully into any iPod or Powerbook G4. This service will be offered exclusively through participating Apple Specialists and at www.etchamac.com. Etchamac is available now and pricing is available from the manufacturer.
MacSpeech introduced iListen MX, an enhanced version of their popular speech recognition software for Mac OS X, iListen. IListen MX is available exclusively from participating Apple Specialist dealers and the MacSpeech Web site.
iListen MX includes the latest version of iListen, the best headset/microphone offered by MacSpeech, and an enhanced list of built-in commands for hands-free control of the mouse, GarageBand, iDVD, iMovie, iPhoto and iTunes.
iListen MX is available immediately and sells for US$219 from MacSpeech or $199 from participating Apple Specialist dealers. You can find your local Apple Specialist here. If purchased separately, the components that make up iListen MX would sell for over $240.
Trans International, a well-known memory and storage solution manufacturer from Anaheim, California, introduced the miniG storage solutions at the show. MiniG is a series of external storage solutions in stylish, portable, nearly silent enclosures, which are perfect for use in audio, video and post-production environments.
The miniG enclosures come in 1-bay, 2-bay and 4-bay versions, both with and without hard drives installed. The miniG enclosures feature either Firewire 400/800 connectivity or SATA connectivity. Prices start at $129.00 retail.
The mini G will be available only at www.transintl.com and at participating Apple Specialist dealers and will begin shipping at the end of July.
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RadTech Portectorz Keep Lint out of Your Ports
12 July 2005 09:21 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
Macworld Expo Boston - RadTech, makers of iPod and mobile computing accessories, today announced immediate availability of Portectorz.
RadTech Portectorz provide positive protection for your PowerBook or iBook's data, video and audio ports. Ports stay clean, dry and positively protected from foreign objects and debris when fitted with custom- molded Portectorz. Constructed from the finest high-polymer Silicone to eliminate any tackiness, Portectorz are Uni-die molded and lightly frosted for a smooth and elegant appearance.Portectorz start at US$19.95, and are available for 12 and 14-inch iBooks and 12, 15-inch PowerBooks. Portectorz for 17-inch PowerBook are coming soon.Portectorz are molded to exacting specifications to ensure a perfectly sealed and secure fit - sensible insurance for potentially costly component damage. Low-profile design ensures compatibility with all sleeves, bags, cases and packs. Use the entire Portectorz panel, or easily custom cut the strip to create protection for any of the ports or combinations you desire - like those you use infrequently. Portectorz provide the protection and flexibility you need to stay productive!
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Apple Specialist Theatre Presentations at Macworld Expo
10 July 2005 11:15 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
The Apple Specialist Marketing Co-op (ASMC) announced the lineup of presentations in the Apple Specialist Pavilion Theater at this week?s Macworld Conference and Expo in Boston July 12-14, 2005. The main focus of the presentations in the Apple Specialist Pavilion is on creating a better workflow for creative professionals. ?The idea is to show people just how much is possible using the latest offerings from Apple, HP, Adobe and more,? said ASMC Executive Director Kevin Langdon. ?Our top-notch presenters will be sharing real world tips and tricks on how to get the most from your Macintosh workflow using the best tools including Mac OS X Server, Xserve, Xserve RAID and XSAN.?
Color Management & Creative Workflow Topics include:
? Best Digital Practices: A Live Demo from Photo Shoot To Print
? Adobe Photoshop CS2 for Photographers and Artists
? Making Color Behave: ColorSync for Real People
? Servers: How They Make The Creative Workflow Better
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MWSF04: Humorous Videos
08 January 2004 08:46 EST
I just got back from MWSF and had a great time crusin the show floor, interviewing people, and playing with the new iPod. We made a couple videos too! Anyone else notice the Sharpie mic?
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MWSF04: Humorous Videos
08 January 2004 08:46 EST
I just got back from MWSF and had a great time crusin the show floor, interviewing people, and playing with the new iPod. We made a couple videos too! Anyone else notice the Sharpie mic?
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MWSF04: iPod Mini is Near Perfect
08 January 2004 08:59 EST
I think that the new iPod Mini is far superior to the iPod in nearly every way. It is cheaper than any iPod to date as well. So what's not to like? STORAGE CAPACITY.
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MWSF04: iPod Mini is Near Perfect
08 January 2004 08:59 EST
I think that the new iPod Mini is far superior to the iPod in nearly every way. It is cheaper than any iPod to date as well. So what's not to like? STORAGE CAPACITY.
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MWSF04: Garage Band Versus Soundtrack
08 January 2004 08:50 EST
With a US$250 price difference (not including other bundled apps), it's understandable that recent purchasers of the standalone Soundtrack may be kicking themselves with Apple's announcement today of Garage Band. But there are important differences between the apps and their markets. Let's compare:
Soundtrack:
- Geared at pro, video markets
- Video editing
- Frame markers for scoring
- 24 bit / 96 KHz (unconfirmed in Garage Band)
- 4,000 loops (instead of 1,000!)
- $299 separately, free with Final Cut Pro
Garage Band:
- Geared at home, musicians (no video!), integration with iLife suite -- video export, no video import
- Guitar amps (also useful for home musician)
- MIDI support, software instruments (and anyone who bought Soundtrack WITHOUT this may have been making a mistake anyway!)
- $49 with iLife, free with new Mac
It's great to see Apple reaching out to entry-level users, and with a tool that's likely to be a value for pros, too -- just as Soundtrack found its way into pro studios, and not just movie producers looking to save money by not hiring a musician! There are a lot of questions left to answer about the new software, but in the meantime, kudos to Apple for recognizing, unlike the mass media, that computer music isn't just about listening: it's about music-making for the masses, too. What do you think? Sound off by hitting the feedback link and let us know what you've been able to dig up. (And if you're a Soundtrack user, by all means, weigh in!)
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MWSF04: Garage Band Versus Soundtrack
08 January 2004 08:50 EST
With a US$250 price difference (not including other bundled apps), it's understandable that recent purchasers of the standalone Soundtrack may be kicking themselves with Apple's announcement today of Garage Band. But there are important differences between the apps and their markets. Let's compare:
Soundtrack:
- Geared at pro, video markets
- Video editing
- Frame markers for scoring
- 24 bit / 96 KHz (unconfirmed in Garage Band)
- 4,000 loops (instead of 1,000!)
- $299 separately, free with Final Cut Pro
Garage Band:
- Geared at home, musicians (no video!), integration with iLife suite -- video export, no video import
- Guitar amps (also useful for home musician)
- MIDI support, software instruments (and anyone who bought Soundtrack WITHOUT this may have been making a mistake anyway!)
- $49 with iLife, free with new Mac
It's great to see Apple reaching out to entry-level users, and with a tool that's likely to be a value for pros, too -- just as Soundtrack found its way into pro studios, and not just movie producers looking to save money by not hiring a musician! There are a lot of questions left to answer about the new software, but in the meantime, kudos to Apple for recognizing, unlike the mass media, that computer music isn't just about listening: it's about music-making for the masses, too. What do you think? Sound off by hitting the feedback link and let us know what you've been able to dig up. (And if you're a Soundtrack user, by all means, weigh in!)
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MWSF04: Apple Introduces Garage Band
08 January 2004 08:49 EST
Live from San Francisco, Apple has just introduced Garage Band, entry level music production software -- a genre long-missing from the Mac platform. The software is being demoed by John Mayer (with the admission that he's "a guitarrist," hence playing only in C). You can use Garage Band as a 64-track audio/MIDI sequencer, loop-based tool (a la Soundtrack, complete with 1000 pro-quality loops), or simply take advantage of it as a 50-instrument virtual instrument. Export to iTunes bounces directly into a special iTunes playlist. The software instruments sound absolutely gorgeous. Garage Band is integrated into iLife for US$49, free with new Macs. (!!)
Long-time readers of my columns on O'Grady's PowerPage will recall I've been begging Apple to create an Apple-like tool for the entry level since before the release of iTunes. This is indeed simple and Mac-like, though if you want extensive MIDI you'll probably want to wait for MOTU to release rumored FreeStyle for OS X (which surely inspired Garage Band's trackless design). At this price, even us pros will want to pick it up and add some soft instruments to our arsenal.
Wait, there's more: US$99 Jam Pack adds even more virtual instruments, like a Bosendorfer piano, more amps, and more guitars, and Apple's reselling the fabulous MAudio 49-key USB keyboard for just US$99.
Thanks, Apple! Stay tuned for a closer look at this breaking news.
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MWSF04: Apple Introduces Garage Band
08 January 2004 08:49 EST
Live from San Francisco, Apple has just introduced Garage Band, entry level music production software -- a genre long-missing from the Mac platform. The software is being demoed by John Mayer (with the admission that he's "a guitarrist," hence playing only in C). You can use Garage Band as a 64-track audio/MIDI sequencer, loop-based tool (a la Soundtrack, complete with 1000 pro-quality loops), or simply take advantage of it as a 50-instrument virtual instrument. Export to iTunes bounces directly into a special iTunes playlist. The software instruments sound absolutely gorgeous. Garage Band is integrated into iLife for US$49, free with new Macs. (!!)
Long-time readers of my columns on O'Grady's PowerPage will recall I've been begging Apple to create an Apple-like tool for the entry level since before the release of iTunes. This is indeed simple and