Reporter's Notebook: Keynote Observations
January 7, 2004 - 03:20 PST   by Dennis Sellers - The long-awaited keynote yesterday was one that revolved mainly around music –- and Apple CEO Steve Jobs jammin' with popular singer-songwriter-guitarist John Mayer… well, who could've known? Fueled by a large cup of mocha and a blueberry muffin, and dressed for speed in my old Nike running shoes, I was at the Moscone Center shortly after 7:00 a.m., to get in line for Steve Jobs' speech. The press line itself was a cattle call, and the "general admission" line was… well, endless. If Bruce Springstein and Beyonce were giving a free joint concert, the line couldn't have been any longer. The crowd wound around the block as far as I could see. And that was at 7:00 a.m., two hours before the start of the event.

The good thing about waiting in the press line is the chance to see and chat with old friends. The bad thing is waiting in line for two hours after drinking a large cup of coffee with no convenient bathrooms. Needless to say that pretty soon the initials IP have a whole new meaning besides Internet Protocol.

Elvis was blasting out of the speakers as the crowds filed in for the BIG EVENT. Apple's CEO was, not surprisingly, decked out in blue jeans, tennis shoes and a black turtleneck. (I've heard he wears the same attire most of the time so he can devote his thoughts to more important matters than picking out clothes.) Cameras were flashing, film was rolling and crowd applauding as the CEO took the stage just a few fashionable minutes late and sporting a bit of salt-and-pepper stubble.

He kicked things off by talking about the evolution of the Mac since 1984 and how the Mac "came out and changed everything," being a "decade ahead of everything else." Jobs said the Mac was a "computer for the rest of us."

Perhaps to help overcome the constant rumors that Apple may switch to Intel processors, the CEO said that the future of the Mac was the G5 chip. He also touted the iTunes Store, saying that Apple has 70 percent of the online music store market and that it now has 500,000 songs in its library. This makes the iTunes Music Store the largest online music store in the world. Jobs also mentioned that the top iTunes customer (who remained nameless) has spent US$29,500 on digital music.

The keynote crowd seemed most impressed by iLife '04. Mayer came onstage to help with the demo and praised the new GarageBand app. Jobs said that iLife was "like Microsoft Office for the rest of your life."

"I wish I could have had this when I was 13 or 14, and I would have locked myself in my room forever," Mayer said to the applause of the standing-room only crowd.

There were also taped testimonies from such celebrities as Elijah Wood, Tony Hawk and Sheryl Crow.

By the way, if you're in San Francisco for the expo and need a place to get a good "manly" meal, try Lefty O'Doul's. You can get meat (the barbeque beef is good), potatoes, bread and a Snapple to wash it down for a reasonable price.

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