For the first and last time, Apple Senior VP Phil Schiller delivered the keynote address at Macworld Expo today.
It makes it all the easier to understand why Apple will not be attending any more Macworlds. The company has been forced to try to produce new products to meet an artificial deadline of early January. None of the products introduced today were revolutionary. They're good, they have cool features, but there were no big secrets hiding in the wings.
The biggest deal was the new 17-inch MacBook Pro. Like many of the other MacBooks, Pro and amateur (that's a joke, don't get peeved), the new 17-incher will feature Apple's new unibody construction, in which the enclosure is carved from a single block of aluminum. It is thinner than its predecessor, by one-fiftieth of an inch (measure that!). It's also an ounce or two lighter. The processor is a wee bit faster, and the graphics chips are improved.
