I can't tell whether it was the three cans of cola or the sheer anticipation of MacWorld, but I absolutely couldn't sleep last night. You see, I'm a recent Switcher to the Macintosh world, and I couldn't wait to discover what magic the Expo would hold. Though many websites prophesied a dull MacWorld, I must agree with Steve Jobs that this is in fact one of the most exciting chapters of Apple's history.
Last fall's MacWorld Expo and Keynote speech held in New York city was rather mild compared to this year's spectacle. Rumor web sites were filled with whacky predictions of color iPods and Apple Tablet PDAs for the days and weeks prior to the San Francisco keynote. Steve Jobs did not dissapoint today, as his opening words included the phrase "We have enough content today to fill two MacWorlds worth of products..."
Steve Jobs opened the Exposition with his Keynote address. Though with only two hardware announcements, this year boasts many wonderful new things. The following is a recap of what Apple's iCEO announced at the keynote event on opening day:
Owing to the success of the 'Switch' campaign, 50% of all new Macs sold currently go to dissatisfied Windows users. 68% of visitors (5 million) to the Switch website were using Windows, a fact that was particularly well received among the loyal Mac crowd.
51 Apple stores have opened across the country, showcasing the latest and greatest Macintosh computers and Apple hardware and software. These stores serviced 1.4 million people last month alone.
Apple reached a milestone $148 million in revenue last quarter
290,000 educators have opted in to the 'For Teachers' program, aimed to get more Macs in the classroom.
600,000 iPods have been sold, working out to about 1 per minute since their debut. The iPod is considered the #1 MP3 player on the market and has a 42% marketshare in Japan.