I am a Pro Card holder - #1 in fact (Mayfair Mall) - and the truth is that the dogtags that they handed out for the Panther event are more useful than the card.
It looks cool, but that's about it.
No Cult of Apple anymore? I'm not so sure. Every point you made was true, even my plant manager asked me about Macs the other day. People are beginning to see the Mac as a valid choice.
But, come Monday and the keynote, me and a couple of Apple Culters will be squirriled in my office, getting the "up-to-the-second" news from Steve.
We're still rabid fans. We still groove on that Reality Distortion Field. We're still evangelical about the whole thing.
It's still fun, too!
I'm almost there! I don't iChat at all.
As for #2, I work for a huge corporation. The only areas with Macs are the printing departments. Luckily, I can do a lot of my work at home, and I regularly impress them with stunning graphics and presentations made on a Mac.
It almost for sure won't be G5 Powerbooks yet - look at the $700 trade-in pilot program Apple's considering in order to maintain interest in G4 PBs.
I think there's a possibility of dual processor PBs. That would be impressive!
I think $100 mini-iPods would be a terrific idea. I have a 20GB iPod, but would probably buy a Mini for walks, exercize, etc.
Software-wise, if Apple could update its aging AppleWorks, it would be a great MacWorld.
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