Columnist: iDVD a good reason to get a new Mac

Columnist James Lileks of the “Minneapolis Star Tribune” thinks that Apple’s iDVD is a good reason to buy a new Mac. iDVD is the DVD authoring tool introduced at last month’s Macworld San Francisco. It’s only available in the top-of-the-line G4/733 MHz system — which is in high demand and short supply, to say the least.

“Tape is the past; VCRs are the past; DVDs and digital media are next,” he writes in an online column. “… If you have not a single creative bone in your body, don’t worry; iMovie and the iDVD interface come with pre-made buttons and backgrounds. But customization looks easy, and you won’t need a boatload of programs to add your own ideas.”

For his own use, Lileks said the new SuperDrive-equipped G4 is “perfect.” The SuperDrive is a combination CD-RW/DVD-R drive that can read and write (“burn”) DVDs, which can be played in consumer DVD players.

“Nowadays I use my computer to listen to MP3s, make CDs and movies, futz around on the Internet and play Quake 3,” he added. “None of these things were available 15 years ago when I bought my first Mac. All you could do then was write, play Dark Castle and draw circles in MacPaint and fill them with brick patterns. It makes you wonder what computers will do in 15 years, yes, but it also makes me wonder why I thought I needed one 15 years ago.”