For the life of me, I can't explain why otherwise apparently normal men and women would line up for a quarter-mile or so to see a keynote at a computer show. I've been to lots of these speeches, and have never seen anything worth standing in line for. But this is Macworld, and there are lots of things Mac that can't be understood by outsiders. What the true believers got in return for their fealty was a nearly two-hour-long product pitch, in which Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced some new iPods (including a Windows model), some new software, and pitched his new operating system, OS X 10.2, due in stores Aug. 24. And there was .Mac, which Steve called "Web services for the rest of us." (Actually, it's more like "Web services from a company with no enterprise strategy.") Only brief mention was given to the new 17-inch iMac, a steal at $1,999.
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