Since I’m down in San Francisco for work, I decided to stop by MacWorld on opening day and see what all the fuss was about. As I arrived at the Moscone Center, shortly after Steve Jobs had given his keynote address introducing Apple’s newest products, I heard several journalists/analysts/fans talking excitedly into their cellphones, “it’s about the size of a cigarette lighter” or, “it’s only about the size of a stack of 5 or 6 CDs”, referring to the new iPod shuffle and Mac mini computer.

Not knowing where to register, and not being able to read anything about the conference on any of the Apple sites, which were all flooded with traffic and unreachable all day long, I followed the hordes to the exhibit floor, nobody seemed to care that I hadn’t paid the entrance fee in all the chaos. The floor was jam-packed with Apple fans and journalists, and I even saw Robin Williams checking out some new products, giving the demonstraters a hard time in his wacky Robin Williams way. I was impressed by both the iPod Shuffle and Mac mini, if the only innovative thing about them is their compact size and their sleek minimalist product design. There is something about the joy of use that other manufacturers either haven’t picked up on or have failed to achieve. But I was most impressed with the demo of Tiger, the latest OS X version that comes out this year. The Dashboard (despite its controversy when it was introduced last year) and the new Spotlight search, if it performs as well as in the demo, are sure to please.

By evening, all of downtown San Francisco had been plastered with iPod Shuffle billboards. What an impressive logistical feat, to design and manufacture the product, produce the marketing materials and keep it fairly secret with the thousands of people involved.