First of all, I would like to apologize for not posting for so long. It turns out that Year 11 is giving me a much larger workload now. But I will do my best, to post as many times as possible.Last Wednesday as you may have heard, Apple have released a major update to their notebook lines: MacBook and MacBook Pro. They have put in newer processors and offered larger hard drives in their notebooks. The day after the announcement, I ordered one low-end MacBook Pro. It’s going to be used as my main computer, as well as for my friend’s and my professional photography. Dad’s going to be pretty happy as well; he has a portable to take with him to the office when he needs it.It’s all going well in regards to technology. I am expecting to receive my new Nikon D80 next week, when mum comes back from Hong Kong. After this small glimmer of joy, it’s back to work. I have assignments to do. 

Well, I was up at 4am AEST this morning to follow the liveblogs of Steve Jobs’ Keynote at Macworld. There was a lot of anticipation for many of the rumours to come true. And one did.

There were (as I counted) six new things that were released today. They are:

1. Time Capsule: A networked storage device and wireless router in one
2. iPhone Software 1.1.3
3. iPod Touch update (that costs US$20)
4. Movie Rentals (Rumour come true) (US only (as usual))
5. Apple TV Take 2 (New UI)
6. MacBook Air (Rumour come true!)

This offering of products and software is very good. It brings features that are long overdue and new ones too. Time Machine over the network with Time Capsule is a useful feature. Movie Rentals are long overdue. I (and many other people) weren’t too happy with the $20 software upgrade for the iPod Touch. It should be free. Heck, could you copy the apps over via SSH from the iPhone? The MacBook Air (MBA) is a welcome change and also shows Apple entering another sector of the notebook market.

Gee. I can’t think of anymore to write about. If I have more, I will write more.

So, yesterday, I sent out an email to people who were in my address book asking whether they were in Sydney. As of the time of writing, only three people out of about 10 replied. It got me thinking, who reads their email?

As of lately, I’ve turned into an email junkie. I keep Outlook open all day, and I check very very often. I find that those people with desktop mail apps (Mail, Outlook, Thunderbird etc…) check often. Those who don’t use them check several times a week. The majority of my friends don’t check often.

I sometimes think that email is dead among teenagers (like me). They like to use their cell phones, talking and texting, not much computer. This is ironic though, as they also like to be on social networks (like Myspace). This leaves me thinking (again), What is the best way to communicate?

Is it email, IM, SMS, talking on cell phones/telephones? Tell me.

Well, over the next two weeks we will see loads of new tech stuff on the internets. The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is on Jan 7th to 10th (effectively 8th to 11th for me down under). This is where everyone shows off their new stuff. Already the biggest news is that Warner Bros. Studios is siding with Blu-ray for their movie distribution . To make things even more interesting, the HD DVD group is canceling their press conference. (Engadget link). We should see lots of new things come out of this show. For coverage, go to:

• ces.cnet.com
• ces.engadget.com
  

But perhaps the show I am most anticipating is the Macworld Conference and Expo. This is like CES, but Apple only stuff. All eyes will be on Steve Jobs’ Keynote on the 15th January (16th down under). Many rumors have circulated talking about what may be released. I will be following along on several live coverages on the keynote at 4am on the 16th (Sydney time).

It is a pity that CES is not open to the public and that both shows are in America.