Experiencing the 2009 Macworld Conference

I missed being at this year's Macworld Conference. I love San Francisco and had been able to attend Macworld the past two years, both times while doing some things with Apple. This year, for a variety of reasons, I couldn't get there. But, I feel like I was able to stay in touch with what was going on through Twitter and web sites/blogs such as TUAW, AppleInsider, and Macworld. Their coverage included not only first hand descriptions of events and activities (sometimes in "real time," especially via Twitter), but also lots of photos and even video.

Through this Personal Learning Network, I learned about several new (or updated) things that look very interesting. I think the updated iLife suite, and especially the improvements to iMovie and the new features added to GarageBand are pretty exciting. The new "lessons" in GarageBand are very intriguing. While you can already purchase videos about playing instruments, etc., if these are put together the way Apple usually approaches things, they are likely to be a significant step forward in this category. From Chris Breen's overview on Macworld, that appears to be the case.

There’s more to these lessons than what Schiller demonstrated before his keynote audience. For example, you have the option to view information in a variety of ways. In a guitar lesson, you can view not only the instructor and fretboard, but also view chords, tabs, and lyrics, for example. If you’re a left-handed guitar player, you can see the fretboard in that orientation. In a keyboard lesson you can see notation—bass clef alone, treble clef alone, or both clefs on the grand staff. The videos can also take advantage of multiple views. You might, for instant, wish to focus on what a guitar player’s left hand is doing.

You also have the opportunity to mix what you hear. For example, you can listen to only the instrument without the instructor’s voice. Additionally, in an Artist Lesson, you can mute the band or mix the volume levels of the individual instruments.

I also like the new Keynote Remote for the iPhone. I've already downloaded it (and the 30 day trial version of Keynote '09). It is terrific - I hope to be able to try it out during some presentations I'll be giving next week at the Ohio Music Education Association Professional Development Conference.

It would be nice if more conferences had this type of coverage so that persons unable to physically attend could experience aspects virtually. Perhaps that will be the case in the future.