As usual, there was an endless line to get into Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ Macworld San Francisco keynote. Once inside — and again as usual — 60s and 70s rock music, such as the Beatles, was playing before Jobs took the stage to loud applause. He was, of course, decked out in a black turtleneck and jeans.
He started with updates of recent products. Since Nov. 10 Apple has sold 125,000 of the extremely well received iPods. Regarding Apple retail stores, the company opened 27 retail stores rather than the predicted. Despite the tough economy, there will be more in 2002, Jobs said. Of all the computers sold in stores, 40 percent don’t own a Macs and that number is climbing, Jobs said. Plus, the 27 stories had 800,000 visitors in the past month.
This week’s expo is expected to draw over 80,000 people, one of the “best attended shows in the industry,” Jobs said. He also touted the largest education order in history with the state of Maine for 36,000 iBooks. With the deal, that was “one down and 49 to go,” Jobs said.