ryan l.

It seems like huge announcements, like the one Steve Jobs made today at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco, don’t carry as much weight as they used to — or at least not with me.

These days the media, and hey, bloggers too, are so astute at dissecting the goings on in the technology sector that nothing seems to ever truly stay a secret anymore. Did we have proper notice of this coming to fruition? Well, yeah, but still. I’m not sure about anyone else, but the element of surprise is something I enjoy. So, naturally I was half-disappointed when what we had known since June turned out to be true. The only surprising part was that the promised delivery of tangible, working computers using Intel processors from Apple was originally the end of 2007.

As the subject line indicates, I’m underwhelmed. Not only did we know this was coming based on past announcements and endless speculation, but now that the computers have finally been announced, they’re still too expensive for my taste. Maybe I’m just cheap.

Admittedly, I’m a biased HP home PC user, but I live in a split household and have seen the iBook and iMac’s past capabilities and haven’t been overly impressed — especially for the money. You have the new Intel-powered iMac coming in at a decent $1300 for the 17-inch model and $1700 for the 20-incher, but really, unless you’re a die-hard, why would you switch/convert?

I’ve considered the switch to a Mac, whether that be desktop or laptop, but just can’t muster the confidence or pocketbook boldness to get one. To me, the normal PCs suit my needs just fine performance-wise and so do the prices. Sorry, Steve, not sure you’ve hooked me just yet. You are on the right path though.