"MacWorld Creative Pro" 2003 Experience

[Davoud]

Here is my experience. I traveled from my home near Annapolis,
Maryland, by AMTRAK.

This year's show, the last in New York, was a mere shadow of last
year's. Missing from the action this year: Microsoft, Adobe, Quark,
Filemaker, and many small vendors that had offered nifty niche
products. OWC had a nice (and busy) shop last year (I bought a 120GB
external FW drive), but were also absent this year, and so lost out on
the sale of a 250GB drive. Out in force this year: HP, Xerox, Epson,
Nikon, Canon (really going after Nikon in cameras and after Epson in
printers). ATI was there, Belkin, MacAlly, Griffin, etc. The
MacWarehouse Internet Cafe wasn't a cafe this year; only a bunch of
Macs connected to the Internet. Apple's display was smaller. There was
a wireless network operating, but I and everyone I asked had trouble
connecting from the show floor -- good signal, got an IP address, but
no Internet action. Out in the lobby was a different story; sitting in
the food area with a slightly weaker signal I had a very fast
connection and was able to handle my e-mail &c with ease.

The new G5: I had the opportunity to lay my hands on two Dual 2K units,
one running Photoshop and another running Final Cut Pro. The debate
about benchmarking techniques is moot; the debate about relative speed
is moot. These computers are fast absolutely, full stop. The case looks
to my eye more industrial than elegant, but it's OK with me, because
I'm unlikely to buy one. Predictably, none of the Apple folks could or
would discuss future PowerBooks. (But see my separate opinion piece on
this subject.)

Highlight of my visit: B&H Photo (outstanding NY
camera/video/AV/telescope/Mac/God-knows-what-else store) had people
stationed on the sidewalk outside the Javits Center and at a small
booth inside. They had a slick "MacWorld Show Special" brochure. I had
a B&H shopping list anyway, but I was delighted that they had a free
two-way shuttle that ran every 10 minutes between the Javits Center and
their 34th St. store. (It's an easy walk to their store, but it did
rain a bit, then it was muggy, and I was carrying my TiBook in its
Targa bag with extra battery and other stuff, so I was glad for the
ride. The ride also put me most of the way back to Penn Station.) As
luck would have it, three of the items that were on my shopping list
were in their MWNY special flyer: the new Canon i9100 printer, the
Canon A70 digital camera, and a 256MB Compact Flash card.

i9100: I was able to print one of my own images on this baby at MW.
This is easily the best color printer that I have ever seen. Most
on-line sellers are asking $500. B&H today: $450. My print-graphics
clients are going to live it.

Canon A-70: top-rated 3.2 megapixel camera with manual overrides. This
is an anniversary gift for my wife. Elsewhere, $300; B&H today: $280.

SanDisk 256MB Ultra CF card for above: Elsewhere, $80; B&H today: $72.

The other item on my list, an "AF Micro Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D Macro
Autofocus Lens" for my Nikon SLR's (two film, one D100) was not on the
MWNY specials list, but after I bought it they gave me a form for a $35
rebate!

No sales tax if you live outside the state of NY; pay in the store, and
they ship.

I wasn't the only one on the B&H bus, by the way; it was full for just
about every trip; and the store was jammed with MacShoppers, many
dropping more than a grand. (My bill was $1229, by the way). Bottom
line: still four stars for B&H after years of dealing with them.
<http://www.bhphotovideo.com>

AMTRAK: People will complain about just about anything, but AMTRAK is
the best public transportation in the USA. Let the airlines go
bankrupt; they've earned it. Give those subsidies to AMTRAK!

I sat in the buffet car (or ever what they call it) both ways, because
of the tables (with 110v outlets to save battery power) for
PowerBooking. They could have filmed a Mac commercial. A dozen
unsmiling drones, all dressed in gray, all using gray, klunky laptops
to work on gray, klunky reports. One guy with a sleek-lookin' TiBook,
swingin' with iTunes and actually having fun while using Photoshop and
Final Cut Pro to put the finishing touches on a 15-minute promotional
video for a client... My neighbor (Dell, Win2k Pro): "The audio gets
messed up and it sometimes crashes if I try to listen to music while
running MSOffice." Me: "I'm so sorry."

Davoud

--
usenet *at* davidillig dawt com

[Howard S Shubs]

In article <160720032246139040%star@sky.net>, Davoud <star@sky.net>
wrote:

> I wasn't the only one on the B&H bus, by the way; it was full for just
> about every trip; and the store was jammed with MacShoppers, many
> dropping more than a grand. (My bill was $1229, by the way). Bottom
> line: still four stars for B&H after years of dealing with them.
> <http://www.bhphotovideo.com>

You've got me thinking about coming in tomorrow. :-o It's the 7-hour
round-trip train ride that makes me hesitate... <grimace>

> AMTRAK: People will complain about just about anything, but AMTRAK is
> the best public transportation in the USA. Let the airlines go
> bankrupt; they've earned it. Give those subsidies to AMTRAK!

Damn straight. OTOH, I passed through Penn Station yesterday (Tuesday)
and couldn't stop. <sigh> Freaking Miami train was 4 hours late. If
they had the money they keep ASKING for, causes of such would have been
fixed years ago. :-/

> I sat in the buffet car (or ever what they call it) both ways, because

Lounge or Café car, yes. Next time try Business class. Even the Coach
car I was in yesterday had outlets, though.

> of the tables (with 110v outlets to save battery power) for
> PowerBooking. They could have filmed a Mac commercial. A dozen
> unsmiling drones, all dressed in gray, all using gray, klunky laptops
> to work on gray, klunky reports. One guy with a sleek-lookin' TiBook,
> swingin' with iTunes and actually having fun while using Photoshop and
> Final Cut Pro to put the finishing touches on a 15-minute promotional
> video for a client... My neighbor (Dell, Win2k Pro): "The audio gets
> messed up and it sometimes crashes if I try to listen to music while
> running MSOffice." Me: "I'm so sorry."

With a BIG grin on your face, I expect. <GRIN>

--
Today, on Paper-view: Pulp Fiction!

[stan@temple.edu]

Howard S Shubs <howard@shubs.net> wrote:

> You've got me thinking about coming in tomorrow. :-o It's the 7-hour
> round-trip train ride that makes me hesitate... <grimace>

I was there on Thursday. Its definitely not worth 14 hours travel time.