The Introduction of the iPhone From an Apple First-Timer's Perspective

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 10, 2007 — -- As a young woman with high expectations, I've found that first times usually disappoint.

My first Apple keynote speech far exceeded my expectations, though.

When the iconic Apple CEO Steve Jobs walked onto the empty 100-foot stage at the annual Macworld Conference and Expo in San Francisco, he looked a little bit wiry in his black turtleneck and faded blue jeans.

He paced around on stage, sometimes tightly clasping his hands between quick, nervous gestures.

He first talked about the iPod, and how it was the world's most popular video player, and the world's most popular MP3 player.

He cited statistics, such as that more than 2 billion songs have been sold on iTunes, making it the fourth-biggest seller of music after Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Target. To date, Apple has sold more than 50 million TV shows on iTunes, and more than 1.3 million movies.

Techies around the world would cringe to know I started to feel myself fighting against slight boredom. Then Jobs made the first of several spectacular announcements.

First, he announced a new partnership with Paramount to feature its movies on iTunes, bringing the number of available movies to more than 250. This means no more scrolling forlornly over iTunes' current sparse offerings, mostly Disney family or action movies.

I can now download "Zoolander" -- one of my favorite movies!

Next, Jobs introduced the Apple TV, a device the size of a small stack of DVDs that sits next to your widescreen TV and allows you to listen to or view any iTunes content on it.

The content, by the way, looked amazing on the demo screen, which was nearly a whopping 50 feet wide.

Apple TV lets you transfer your iTunes content from your Mac or PC to your TV wirelessly. It wirelessly syncs with other computers in your home, so there's no need for DVDs, CDs, or anything else you can lose, break or clutter up your home with when watching shows or movies.

Because the Apple TV comes with a power supply, there is no power brick you have to worry about hiding.

This is a huge plus, because between a TV, DVD player and your DVR, there's usually not a lot of room left. You can also view content wirelessly from a buddy's laptop should she or he want to bring it over and share music, movies and/or shows.