If you've noticed your IT guys are slow to respond today, here's one possible explanation.
Earlier today, Steve Jobs gave the keynote address at the MacWorld Conference & Expo, unveiling Apple's new products for 2008. Nothing announced will arouse the interest of gadget-freaks like last year's iPhone, though there are still some noteworthy developments. The loudest applause, of course, greeted the new MacBook Air, a three-pound, almost paper-thin laptop, whose mouse pad has the same "pinch" and "swipe" functions as the iPhone. But I bet that the new and improved Apple TV (starting at $229) will prove more revolutionary in the long run. It allows you to watch web video content-podcasts, YouTube, iTunes purchases--on your TV, and it's launched along with iTunes's new movie-rental business, which gives you films from all the major studios for a low price (regular movies $2.99, new releases $3.99, and $1 more for an HD upgrade).
As psyched as I am for Apple's entry to the movies-on-demand market, I fear for Netflix, which offered a wan riposte to Apple's news in the form of unlimited downloads from its understocked online store. The DVDs-by-mail company is looking like it's the new ol' mom-and-pop shop destined to be trounced by the Apple mega-store. That said, if Apple is delivering me my favorite movies in bed, I won't lose any sleep over it.
--Adam Blinick