technological

With just a few hours until the SteveNote, I figured I should throw in my $.02.

• The Beatles on iTunes -- No one has mentioned this lately, but it would be a nice surprise, the kind of thing perfect for MacWorld, maybe even with a Beatles-branded iPod for the late-adopter boomers.
• Leopard -- New UI; Aqua is out, something really sleek is in.
• iLife and iWork '07 -- Keynote, iWeb, and Pages get cooler. Garageband will get a nice update, but Steve won't show many of the features, as he doesn't want to tip his hand about the Logic Pro update that will be released in a couple weeks at NAMM. With an added spreadsheet/database hybrid, iWork could be a pretty sweet package. Think Yojimbo-like usability, with Excel-like productivity.
• iTV -- We'll learn its real name and it will have surprising integration with .Mac.
• .Mac -- This will steal the show. I see significant improvements to .Mac. I see it being used increasingly as a social-networking tool for sharing music, movies, and photos with friends, as well as integration with whatever the iTunes store will become for streaming video/connectivity with the iTV.
• Some sort of phone device. Think the Newton meets the iPod. If a phone is not announced, I predict audible “boos” at the end of the SteveNote.

Just taking a quick break from writing my qualifying exam to mention that last night I decided to pick up a copy of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen. I've been familiar with the principles of Getting Things Done (GTD) for some time now, but have finally reached the point where my current way of organizing life just hasn't been working for me. With starting a demanding new job, planning a wedding, and writing a qualifying exam (twice!), it's been a busy six months. Donnell mentioned GTD to me over lunch on Monday, so it renewed my interest in it enough to pick up a copy of the book. I'll continue to update about my implementation of the system, especially as I figure out how to integrate it with my existing software/hardware tools (Entourage, iCal, PowerBook, Treo 650, etc.). <!-- technorati tags start -->

Technorati Tags: Donnell Wyche, GTD, David Allen

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Since Apple is debuting all sorts of new stuff today, it seems appropriate to debut my own new site: www.NotObvio.us. This site will host my blog as well as Mandy's blog, wedding information, pictures, etc. All existing ericchambers.com content should automatically redirect to the new site, so your existing bookmarks should still work. However, as www.NotObvio.us is new and hastily thrown together, expect some things to break from time to time. Let me know what you think of the new site...

In a few hours, Apple will make a major new product announcement. Since everyone else is making their predictions, allow me to add mine to the mix. The event will begin with announcements of minor hardware updates to the Mac Mini and PowerMac/PowerBook lines, followed by an update to the HDD iPods that will be slimmer and have basic video playback capabilities. I think they will still be primarily for music playback rather than for watching feature films. Apple will also announce their sale of music videos from the ITMS, with the videos able to be played back on the new iPods. At this point, we will hear, "and one more thing..." which will be the real announcement of a new home digital media device marking Apple's first venture into the world of home theater. I'm envisioning a device that falls somewhere between a Mac Mini, an Airport Express, and a TiVo--some sort of wireless networked device for your living room. This paves the way for Apple's journey into video--not on a small iPod screen, but on your TV. Imagine purchasing or renting Finding Nemo from the new Apple Video Store rather than having to run to Blockbuster. The device would be matched by some sort of application that facilitates getting your video to whatever device you want to watch it on simple, but still DRM protected. OK, so maybe this is less of a prediction and more of a dream, but we'll find out tomorrow.

Enterprise Weblogging: Using weblogs for communication & information management -- Powerpoint presentation from urlgreyhot.

One of the coolest website interfaces ever created. Seriously.