Sure, I bought a new iBook back in June and I now get to use a new iMac G5 at work. Sure everyone's fingers are crossed in hopes that the 2" thin iMac was really just an engineering exercise to warm up Apple's industrial designers for churning out a PowerBook G5 that's the thinnest Mac ever and also won't overheat and explode a la the PowerBook 5300 series of yore. And, yes, some of us media cranks are even secretly praying to Woz himself that Apple finally sees fit to make a laptop (nay a desktop peripheral) with two mouse buttons. Imagine that, two mouse buttons! Now that would be thinking different...

The thing is, none of this really matters. Apple is no longer a computer company. They're a technology company. That's a good thing if you're obsessed with gadgets and design like I've become. That's also, I think, a good thing if you're a hardcore computer user like some of you are. I used to fancy myself a hardcore computer guy, but I've come to see the truth: Most of what I do on my Mac boils down to Web, Word, Email, and iTunes, just like everyone else. Sure, I use it for teaching and music-making and the ocassional foray into digital videomaking or second-rate graphic design, but mainly I use my computer for the basics.

I realized this when it came time to buy a new computer this past Spring and I had to put my money where my mouse is -- two and a half years ago I bought a TiBook because it was super thin and super cool and I still fancied myself a power user since I owned an mp3 player, a MIDI keyboard, and a copies of both BBEdit and Flash. Since then, mp3s, digital moviemaking, and now digital music-making have become commonplace enough that Apple bundles iTunes, iMovie, and GarageBand with all new Macs. As such, the G4-powered iBook with its rugged exterior, long battery life, and lower price point was the clear choice for me over a new TiBook.

More telling than that, when I got my new computer I was honestly more relieved than excited about it. Sure, that new car smell is always fun, and it was great to see the battery life indicator jump from 1:27 to 4:00 on a full charge, but getting a new machine this time was more about getting on with it than exploring new frontiers. My TiBook meant, in 2001, that I could edit video or make music in a cafe or on the train, and that I could run AltiVec-optimized apps and surf the Net wirelessly wherever I went. Now I'm used to these things -- when I'm not careful about it, they feel almost passe to me.

At the risk of sounding befuddled beyond my years, Things have just changed so much in the past five years.

More than that, though, I'm hoping that some of these non-computer rumors kicking around the Net right now come true. I don't think 2005 will be remembered as The Year of the Mac, even if it kicks off with a killer PB G5 being dropped at the Moscone Center a few weeks from now. No, instead, I think it will be remembered (for better or for worse) as the year Apple tried to leverage the iPod's success by continuing to morph themselves from a computer company that makes iPods to a technology company that makes gadgets alongside and computers. iPods are huge, the iTunes Music Store is signing up record labels and individual artists left and right, and Apple's presence in the music industry has gone from flash in the pan to hot new kid on the block at least for now). Just as the original Macintosh once proclaimed Apple's desire to revolutionize the personal computing industry, the iPod is Cupertino's flag planted squarely in the fresh turf of the post-record label digital music world. As such, a few thoughts about my first MacWorld San Francisco:

First, I really want Belkin to unveil their wireless iPod transmission system, rumored to be named TuneStage. More than anything else Mac-related, I want control over my iTunes collection from the living room couch without having to fire up my laptop (hence my lack of enthusiasm for Airport Express and AirTunes). Currently, I dock the iPod next to my stereo receiver and walk across the room to change songs. I'm too lazy for that. Belkin's Bluetooth Class 2 stereo solution will let me keep the iPod on the couch and use it as the best remote control possible for queueing up my Tunes.

Next, I want all of those Apple/Motorola "iPhone" rumors to bear some fruit. I'm in the market for a new cell phone and need a little more organization in my life, as well. I've started using iCal at work, so iSync compatibility over Bluetooth is a must. I'd rather have a small, sleek phone like my current Ericsson T610 than a big PDA combo like the brilliant-if-you're-tethered-to-Email Treo series from PalmOne, so the rumors about a very slim, sexy Motorola/Apple offering featuring USB and media card slots and iTunes integration have me in a bit of a tizzy. Motorola's back on top of their game with the new Razr V3, V600, and (though the reviews on this one are mixed) A630 cell phones, so the promise of a joint venture with Jonathan Ives in the mix is very interesting, indeed. Any Apple-branded cell phone would, of course, have to ship with Bluetooth and at least limited PDA capabilities built around iCal and iSync. And it would have to look good and feel good and be easy to use. A miniaturized iTunes app that supports removable flash memory cards and USB 2.0 file transfers to and from my Mac would be cool, too. And, hey, why not throw one of those integrated 5-megapixel cameras that Samsung's started selling in their Korean-market phones? Print-quality photos taken with a cell phone. There's your killer app.

Third, I'd love to see what a Flash-based iPod would look like. I wouldn't buy one - especially if I could get one in my next cell phone - but the words "Apple," "Tiny," and "Design" usually combine to make something interesting.

Finally, there's all of this buzz going around about Apple subpoenaing rumor sites regarding information leaks relating to their forthcoming GarageBand breakout box. There are plenty of similar products - Firewire and USB boxes that let you connect high-quality microphones, instruments, mixing boards, and other audio sources to your Mac for multitrack audio recording - out there already, but this is interesting because it would mark Apple's first audio creation hardware offering since acquiring eMagic. I'm pretty used to using Ableton Live and Propellerhead's Reason for my music making, but I've been playing around with GarageBand a little bit as of late and have grown rather enamored of it. It's easy to use, comes with a good number of high-quality loops and samples, and best of all, it's free. You can't put enough emphasis on cheap and/or pre-installed and easy to use in today's marketplace. So anything Apple can do to extend GarageBand's capabilities is interesting. Plus, a $129 entry-level box might just lead the way to a $399 knock-your-socks-off home studio device, which is where my own selfish interests would lie.

Okay, maybe that won't happen ... But remember when Walt Mossberg told Steve Jobs that Airport Express was missing one key ingredient: A remote control? Steve, with a twinkle in his eye, replied that they were working on something. Incoporating an AirTunes remote into an Apple/Motorla phone was my first thought, but that would mean either Wi-Fi in the phone or some sort of Bluetooth-based system for remotely browsing iTunes, which I don't think is going to happen. So maybe, just maybe, Apple's got some kind of killer home media gadget in the works for January 11th. And maybe there will be one waiting under everybody's chair at the keynote just like they did with the Pro Mouse a few summers back at MWNY.

Either way, while the Mac ain't going anywhere, the Mac ain't the apple of Apple's eye any more, either. Computers are like cars, phones, and the UPS man to today's way of life, and consumer have accepted regular upgrades as a necessary evil in today's world. The new new thing is always about exciting the consumer, and so the focus in Cupertino has segmented, if not fully shifted, to the digital hub and what it means to Apple's business model. OS X will likely never challenge Windows for control of business desktops across the country, but the iPod has already commanded the attenton of earbuds around the globe, and Mr. Jobs is too shrewd a businessman not to put the full weight of his company's resources behind growing on that success. Record companies, garage bands, and cell phone makers -- Apple's attention is fixed squarely on sound right now, and 2005 promises to be a very interesting year in Cupertino for just that reason.

Have a thought or two on this? Drop me a line.

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Noah Kravitz is the Reviews Editor for PowerBook Central. He is an educator, musician, and writer who now lives in Oakland, CA and is the author of Teaching and Learning with Technology.