I like to follow what’s going on with Apple because they are really the most innovative and market savvy computer company out there. Yes, they are hip. I know a lot of you are Windows users and have an instinctive hatred of Apple and the Macintosh. Feel free to skip this article check out one of my popular posts…

The iMacs were recently updated with the new Core 2 Duo processor from Intel. A new model was also added to the line: the 24-inch iMac. This looks like a really capable machine. All models have the good processors and big hard drives. All but the lowest priced model have a decent video card with dedicated video memory and a dvd burner.

People used to not take the iMac seriously, but they really look like machines that could do it all for most users, even some professional video and media editors. This could be debated endlessly, but the specs are pretty impressive. For my own uses, mostly writing, blogging, and surfing, the 17-inch iMac would be perfect. I’ll start saving my spare change…

At Apple’s media event yesterday, the latest version of the iPods was unveiled. I won’t go into great detail on this, but I will say that it looks like Apple has done it again. The new Shuffle looks awesome and I want one. They completely redesigned it and also dropped the price. What more could you want (other than an LCD display, radio, etc, but is that really important in an mp3 player at this price point?)?

The iPod Nano has also been redesigned with a new, slimmer form factor and an increased capacity. This also looks like a winner. There was speculation that capacities would be increased and maybe more colors made available, but the new design seems to have caught most by surprise.
The new movie download service from iTunes looks pretty cool, but most have seen this coming for a long time. Amazon recently started their own such service and it looks like the competition in this field will be pretty stiff. They also showed off a prototype of a cool new streaming video device to be released early next year.
The next thing we should be looking for from Apple is an update to their MacBook and MacBook Pro product lines. They’ve gone several months now without any tweaking. We’ll most likely see some processor upgrades, but nothing major. Expect this in the next couple of months. Hopefully, I’ll be able to upgrade from my poor little iBook G4 this spring…