The Macworld Experience -- Day 1
By WilliamLH
August 5, 1997, Boston, MA. -- Macworld Expo begins, conference attendees arrive from around the globe and scurry to the many individual conferences that abound this morning, there are people here from around the World with one common, strong thread.... Apple Computer, Inc. and the Macintosh.
At the Apple Press Conference today Apple unveiled several new hardware products including the Worlds fastest desktop computer, the Apple Power Macintosh 9600 series that includes a 300 - 350 Mhz PowerPC processor, internal Iomega Zip drive, built-in FPU and 32K on-chip data and instruction caches, 24X CD-ROM drive, 16 bit stereo audio input and output and many other high-end features that make this series of PowerPC Macintosh the top of the line Apple product. Also announced was the Power Macintosh 9650/350 WorkGroup Server and the 8600/300 Macintosh, AppleVision 750AV and 750 monitors and the LaserWriter 8500, the first Adobe PostScript 3 printer on the market.
At the same press conference Apple announced several new software products. ARA 3.0, which adds support for PPP and Open Transport, improves stability and enhances performance. Apple unveiled QuickTime VR Authoring Studio, a program that allows the creation of QuickTime VR panoramas and objects. And as we all know, Apple showcased Mac OS 8, the new operating system for 68040 and PowerPC computers. This does leave out all owners of 68020-30 systems, but for the rest of us it gives a new and long awaited system. (See my review of Mac OS 8 in the next issue.)
The buzz at Macworld Expo is one of wonder and anticipation, with the much awaited announcements from Steve Jobs tomorrow and all the speculation as to what will be said people are buzzing with speculations and rumors. I was told from a reliable source that Steve Jobs has his "presentation" for the keynote speech on his PowerBook and will not even let them test the presentation to see if it will work for fear of a leak!
This evening Apple threw two grand parties, one at Jillian's Pool Hall, a ritzy nite club where party-goers had food, drink and participated in a pool tournament for prizes and played the games at Jillian's for tickets that could then be traded in for Macworld Expo tee-shirts, Mac OS 8 system software and Mac OS 8 mouse pads, Apple & MacOS pins, etc. All in attendance had a great time. Right after that we all went over to a club around the corner and were treated to a live concert by the Godfather of Soul, James Brown. Why doesn't Apple promote it's products to the public the way they promoted their products to us last night?
It's late, and the big day is tomorrow, so I will sign off for now. Happy Macin' ?!?! We'll see in the morning.
Other Macworld coverage:
Intro to Macworld 1997
Macworld Day 2
Macworld Day 3
Macworld Day 4
Macworld Final Day
Copyright © 1997, WilliamLH , All Rights Reserved.
