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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/282
36 MacDirectory DEPARTMENT MACWORLD 2009 > A NEW BEGINNING? WORDS AND PICTURES BY RIC GETTER SAN FRANCISCO — Wandering through the two crowded conference halls, feeling the excitement of the exhibitors and the exhilaration of the visitors, recent news of the impending demise of Macworld Expo seemed more than a little exaggerated. With the absence of Steve Jobs, Adobe and some other notable vendors, it was rather different, but in a way that was easy to forget once you became immersed in the frenzy of the show floor and intensity of the many sessions. Possibly the most newsworthy aspect of Apple's traditional conference-opening keynote was the lack of news. It was as if the company was weaning the media and its customers of the expectation of major January announcements. Few of the many pre-show rumors materialized in Phil Schiller's first and possibly last keynote address. Not a word was said about Snow Leopard or the iPhone Nano, and even the Mac's upcoming 25th birthday escaped mention. Even though Schiller lacks Jobs's showmanship and charisma, he confidently and energetically breezed through the 90-minute address, striding across the stage in his fashionably faded jeans and sport shirt. Several of his announcements were met with applause, but there were almost none that elicited the gasps of wonder and awe that the capacity crowd had grown to expect over the past decade. In fact, we wondered if Jobs's absence was due at least in part to the fact that there was so little to announce. There's always room for speculation, but it would be hard to imagine that Jobs's famous Reality Distortion Field could have helped to spin this year's offerings into something more significant. The keynote began with a comparatively brief state-of-the-company rundown celebrating Apple's best year ever. Schiller noted that the Apple Stores' 3.4 million customers represented were the equivalent of 100 Macworlds in each outlet, alluding to the company's public explan- ation for pulling out of the annual event. Sweeter iSuites Even though Apple's iSuites, iLife and iWork, rarely play a significant role in product announcements, they dominated the 2009 keynote. The attention was well deserved. The latest update to iPhoto was particularly impressive. Most pictures in our collections tell a story of who, what, where, and when. The program has always been quite helpful with the "when" and "what" (Events). Now, thanks to the new Faces feature (face recognition technology) and the ability to understand GPS-based Geotagging, iPhoto '09 has the "who" and "where" covered, as well. The improvements are not only showpieces of brilliant programming; they should prove to be extraordinarily useful for keeping collections organized and NEW MACBOOK PRO