Well the Macworld keynote presentation is over and, while I didn't get to watch live, I simultaneously surfed three different internet feeds of the keynote's play-by-play. What I learned is that this year, apparently, Apple has put everything in the dryer on high. Yes, it's Steve Jobs' version of "Honey, I shrunk the Macs." Annonced today was the Mac mini (man I love that name!) - pictured to the left - the latest desktop Mac weighing in at 2.9 pounds and is just barely bigger than 5 CD cases stacked - 6.5" square by 2" tall. No keyboard, mouse or monitor included but at $499, who's complaining. I paid $499 for my 10 Gig iPod less than three years ago. I may have to get one just because I can.

Next on the list of new gear is the iPod Shuffle. The newest and smallest member of the iPod family weighing in at three quarters of an ounce and smaller than a classic pack of Juicy Fruit. The iPod shuffle comes in two flavors - 512 MB or 1 Gig for $99 and $149 respectively.There's no display but as Apple's ads for the new baby-pod say, "Life is Random" and therefore you can listen to your roughly 240 songs in random order or by album. I'd say Apple's targeting the PC user market with this one because of it's USB 2 only connection and inexpensive price tag. Yes, I just said PC people are cheap. We've always known that the biggest complaint from the PC world has been that Apple's gear was too expensive. Well, you all win with the advent of a sub-$500 Mac and an iPod for a single Ben Franklin.

A handful of other Mac software apps were announced but nothing earth shattering for me. Mostly consumer based stuff which I guess is good for the masses. No new laptops or speed bumped processors or anything. Most of the new stuff is scheduled to hit Apple stores on the 22nd of Jan. You can bet I'll be there contemplating the purchase of a new Mac mini. We'll see come a week from Friday.

Oh, and I'll still take the time to watch the keynote address when it's posted but I won't be in a hurry to do so.

We'll return you to your semi-regularly scheduled MINI Cooper news and fun tomorrow.