The Mind of Dr. Mac

This just in:

Apple’s App Store downloads top 1.5 billion in first year with than 65,000 apps and over 100,000 developers.

I’ve got to get back to work on Mac OS X Snow Leopard For Dummies so I’m going to take the easy way out and just provide you with the press release copy here:

Apple® today announced that customers have downloaded more than 1.5 billion applications in just one year from its revolutionary App Store, the largest applications store in the world. The App Store is also growing at an incredible pace with more than 65,000 apps and more than 100,000 developers in the iPhone™ Developer Program.

“The App Store is like nothing the industry has ever seen before in both scale and quality,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “With 1.5 billion apps downloaded, it is going to be very hard for others to catch up.”

The revolutionary App Store has more than 65,000 apps available to consumers in 77 countries, allowing developers to reach tens of millions of iPhone and iPod® touch users around the world. The App Store works with both iPod touch and iPhone including the new iPhone 3GS, the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet. Apple has shipped over 40 million of these devices that run apps from the App Store.

That’s all for now.

Got this tip from The MacObserver today….

I sometimes put keyboard shortcuts I’m trying to memorize on a sticky note and affix it to my monitor… but Apple has a KnowledgeBase article that lists pretty much every Mac OS X keyboard shortcut ever invented.

Check it out here: Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts

Who doesn’t like free training? And who doesn’t like high-quality free training? Well Apple’s got ‘em both for you. Topics include:

Get Started with Mac

• Anatomy of a Mac
• Move to Mac
• Windows on a Mac
• PC to Mac: The Basics
• Finder Basics
• The Finder: Doing More with the Sidebar

Wireless

• Wireless Basics
• Setting Up Your Wireless Network
• Wireless Printing, Backup, and More
• Streaming Music Wirelessly

Going Further with Leopard

• Parental Controls
• Time Machine Basics

Guided tours

A few minutes ago Apple announced updates to all of its desktop computer systems: Mac Pro, iMac, and Mac Mini.

I’m really busy with a big For Dummies book project (I’d tell you but then I’d have to kill you and I’m decidedly non-violent), so I’m going to do something I’ve never done before — paste text from an Apple press release verbatim:

“The new Mac Pro is a significant upgrade and starts at $300 less than before,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “The Mac Pro features an advanced system architecture, new faster processors and our best-ever graphics options to deliver a faster, more powerful system that our professional customers are going to love.”

“Our flagship 24-inch iMac with twice the memory and twice the storage is now available for just $1,499,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s COO. “The Mac mini is not only our most affordable Mac, it’s also the world’s most energy efficient desktop computer.”

Starting at $599, the Mac mini is an innovative, tiny desktop measuring only 6.5 by 6.5 by 2-inches. Available in two models, Mac mini features a 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, up to 4GB of DDR3 1066 MHz memory, up to 320GB Serial ATA hard drive, five USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 800 and a SuperDrive®. The Mac mini features NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics for up to five times better graphics performance than before* and now with dual display support can drive two Apple or third-party displays with Mini DisplayPort or DVI connections. Using less than 13 watts of power at idle, up to 10 times less power than a typical desktop PC, the new Mac mini is the most energy efficient desktop in the world.

For additional details:

Click here for new Mac Pro info

Click here for new iMac info

Click here for new Mac Mini info

Unless you’ve been under a rock you’ve surely heard about the beta release of the new and improved Safari 4 unleashed by Apple yesterday.I’ve been playing with it ever since and it’s way cool. I share my initial thoughts and observations my my most recent Rants & Raves column for the Mac Observer.

Click here to read it: Dr. Mac’s Rants & Raves Episode #87: First Look at Safari 4 Beta for Mac - The Mac Observer

Don’t miss the comments at the end of the column… they include a number of useful tidbits about the beta software.

For those who don’t want to read what I said (sniff) but do want to install it, you can just click here: Download Safari 4 beta.

On Tuesday Apple announced that the upcoming Macworld Expo (January 5-9 at The Moscone Center in San Francisco) would be the last one it attends… Furthermore, it also revealed that Steve Jobs would not be delivering his trademark keynote address, but would be presented by Phillip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing instead.

Here is the complete text of the press release: 

CUPERTINO, Calif., Dec. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple(® today announced  that this year is the last year the company will exhibit at Macworld Expo. Philip  Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, will deliver  the opening keynote for this year’s Macworld Conference & Expo, and it will be  Apple’s last keynote at the show. The keynote address will be held at Moscone West on  Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. Macworld will be held at San Francisco’s  Moscone Center January 5-9, 2009.   

Apple is reaching more people in more ways than ever before, so like many  companies, trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its  customers. The increasing popularity of Apple’s Retail Stores, which more than 3.5  million people visit every week, and the Apple.com website enable Apple to directly  reach more than a hundred million customers around the world in innovative new ways.

Apple has been steadily scaling back on trade shows in recent years, includingNAB, Macworld New York, Macworld Tokyo and Apple Expo in Paris.  

I wrote a column expressing my personal thoughts on it, which  will appear Tuesday in the Houston Chronicle. While I was gathering the information I needed to opine intelligently, I read many other opinions of this news. Here are a few I found quite interesting: 

This is a BusinessWeek column dated December 15 (the day before Apple dropped its bombshell). Consider whether it might have played a part in Apple’s announcement the next day: Steve Jobs Will MAY Be At Macworld Expo, Event Manager Says

Jason Snell, Editorial Director and head honcho at Macworld magazine, had this to say: Apple at Expo: What went wrong?

An insightful column with predictions by Chuck La Tournous (for the Mac Observer): It’s the End of the World as We Know it (and I Feel Fine)

Brad Stone for the New York Times: Apple’s Chief to Skip Macworld, Fueling Speculation

Edward C. Baig and Jon Swartz for USA TODAY: Steve Jobs skips Macworld; Apple denies health rumors

Some opinions from troubleshooting guru and founder of MacFixIt, Ted Landau (for the MacObserver): The End of Macworld Expo

And last but not least, a juicy, tabloid-style tell-all story of Steve Jobs and Macworld Expos in the past written by David Bunnell, founder of Macworld Magazine and Macworld Expo (for SFGate): Steve Jobs didn’t make the first Macworld, either

There is one more thing… Before the ink was dry (or the electrons were settled) on the Apple press release, a site that parodies the press release – AppleCancelledChristmas.com — appeared on the Web. Not my favorite Apple parody but good for a giggle.

Sweet!

Please allow me to introduce myself — my name is Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus and I am a Macaholic.  Here’s a picture of me with my trademark “stetho-mouse.”

I’m ever so pleased to welcome you to my new blog, The Mind of Dr. Mac.

If you’re wondering just what, exactly, you’ll find here the next time you visit, here’s just a taste of what I have in store for y’all in the coming months. (By the way, being a Texan I’m obliged to refer to my readers as “y’all” every so often.)

• Mac, iPod, and iPhone product news and reviews
• Tips, hints, advice, and techniques for getting the most out of Apple products
• My product recommendations for hardware and software to use with your Apple stuff
• Links to reviews, columns, and other things I think you may find interesting
• The occasional pun or clever wordplay
• Pictures of cool stuff

and (of course)

• My opinions (whether you need them or not) (more…)