Of all the announcements on Wednesday, the iPod with video capabilities got the most attention. What got me the most excited, however, was the announcement of the new iMac G5 and a little program called Front Row.

Front Row is something that I’ve been waiting for ever since I built my first PC my 2nd year in college. My computer has always been, more or less, an entertainment center. I use it to chat with friends, upload and post photos, watch DVDs and most of all, listen to music. On my home computer, iTunes is ALWAYS on playing music. I like to have background noise whenever I do anything. However, there has never been an “easy” way to remotely control my music. The closest I got was using my wireless keyboard as a “remote” and calling the keyboard a remote control is a bit of a stretch. For me, the hardware was more or less always there, but there was never an easy UI to access and control the media on my computer.

After Wednesday, it looks like my problem has been solved. Leave it to Apple to come up with an easy and beautiful way to control the media on your computer. You really have to play with the online demo or better yet, watch the keynote to fully understand how powerful Front Row is. Using the Apple Remote, you can bring up a Tivo-like interface for browsing and controlling your music, photos, slideshows, playlists and even DVD controls.

There is one bad part. While the Apple Remote is sold seperately, and can be used to control just your music, the Front Row interface, and the ability to control all types of media, is only available on the new iMac G5. I’m definitely crossing my fingers and hoping that Apple will make the software available to download or purchase. While a new iMac with Front Row would definitely look nice in my new room, I can’t picture myself with anything other than a laptop.

Posted on October 15, 2005 in Uncategorized.