Hmm… Which would you choose?

Rather than surrendering to the din of yellin’ and hollerin’ about revisionist “return to American values”, the Comedy Central pundits Jon-Jon and Ste-Re have offered, through a curious in-show marketing ploy, to hold their tandem demonstrations in Washington, DC on the National Mall.

The date: October 30, 2010.

The significance of the date: Meh.

Who should attend: If you’re curious, then you.

Perhaps it is time to bring back the core American values of common sense and moderation, either through some rational discussion and entertainment, or using extreme-burnout methods. Any takers?

So there’s the Rally to Restore Sanity, and the March to Keep Fear Alive. Take your pick, folks. Your nation will thank you. Later. Sometime. Maybe.

In case you missed Apple’s [AAPL] announcement yesterday about this, there is going to be the option (for you) to try to stream today’s conference live.

Wowzers! For real?!?

However, you need to be using a Mac powered with OS X 10.6 or an iOS 4 device, in order to have HTTP live streaming support for the live data stream.

N.B.

If you are not sure whether you can support HTTP live streaming from Apple’s site, try a sample data stream.

In tandem with many Apple [AAPL] product announcements, especially in a live conference format, the online Apple Store tends to be taken offline. When it comes back online, it tends to have the new product SKUs, detail pages, and order pages (or in some cases, pre-order pages).

This time, it appears that it is following tradition for today’s product announcement:

Yep, the Apple Store appears to be offline...

At this time, about 0.5 hours before today’s media event, the Apple Store is– you guessed it– offline.

N.B.

So you want to check to see if you can get into the Apple Store? Okay, try this link.

As I’m tracking a variety of media channels at the same time as the Apple [AAPL] iPad announcement, I find it curious as to how the human condition, and certainly all of these so-called tech pundits, keeps wanting to compare new tech with old tech.

When I’ve been using the iPod touch in the practice, I kept thinking, “Yeah, the iPod touch is nice, but I really could use a larger touchscreen, and some more compute power”. But all of these “pundits” keep talking about netbooks and cheap 13″ notebooks and iPhones and BlackBerry devices… But given that my needs are more specialized (and some of you will call them “advanced”), the iPad may be the missing link in my product usage roster.

Something that fits the 8.5″x11″ form factor with a much thinner profile. Something that allows me to use my hands, enclosed in disposable nitrile and latex gloves, along the touchscreen. Something that does not require me to have an attached, or even wireless, keyboard and mouse to manipulate the viewpane and enter data. Something that allows me to quickly retrieve data from the Internet as well as my LANs, wirelessly. Something that lets me manage scheduling and patient data quickly and conveniently.

I’m not looking for a Kindle or mere e-reader. I’m not looking for a BlackBerry. I don’t need an iPhone in my office, or my lab, or my practice rooms. I don’t need yet another notebook with the keyboard and mouse/touchpad.

Certainly, I need to get a hold of an iPad to see if it really lives up to my requirements. But next to the Axiotron Modbook, this may be the frontrunner.

A few news outlets reported earlier that they spotted new price reductions in several of the iPod models on the online Apple Store. Some of the iPods received a modest $20 reduction, while items like the 32 GB iPod touch was marked down as much as $120. It seems that only the iPod shuffle was not discounted.

But, as you’ve probably guessed by now, the online Apple [AAPL] Store is now closed for the new product SKUs and site updates, so you’ll have to wait until after today’s “It’s Only Rock and Roll” media event to place your orders. It is possible that, to prevent ordering of the older supply of iPods, those SKUs will be removed entirely to make room for the new versions.

N.B.

Also today was, of course, the release of the Beatles Rock Band title, as well as several re-mastered Beatles albums and compilations. It appears to be quite the day for music media products.

Rumors have abounded about tomorrow’s Apple [AAPL] product announcement. Although the invitations for the event seem to be fairly music-related (hint: iPod, iPod touch, and iPhone product lines), there are still some questions as to what kinds of new features and upgrades will be revealed for the iPod family.

Also, the convergence of iPod products, especially the iPod touch and the iPhone, with other Apple products is of interest to a lot of corporate users and managers. Would there be new integration opportunities beyond what was recently introduced, or merely started, by the OS X Snow Leopard (10.6) release?

And, of course, the stealth “news” (rumors) surrounding the mysterious Mac tablet continue to float throughout the ether, and there is always the opportunity for something to “slip out” during tomorrow’s presentation. After all, Steve Jobs has shown a keen interest in Axiotron in the past, and Steve Wozniak sits on the company’s board of advisors; is Axiotron’s line of Modbooks the early-test run pattern for Apple’s own tablet computers?

Penny Arcade Expo 2009 has almost started in downtown Seattle, Washington this year!

It starts tomorrow (September 4, 2009) and runs until September 6, 2009, during the extended Labor Day weekend.

As more folks become more aware of the impact that comics and gaming have on the media industry at large, and the dramatic need for new content for the entertainment industry, PAX will continue to increase in importance for the executives in those areas. Of course, PAX is about the fans and getting people together, and that continues to be the premise this year.

‘Nuf said, folks. Enjoy the event!

N.B.

Other related Javamancy posts (in reverse chronological order):

• Penny Arcade Expo 2008

Today marks the official start of WWDC 2009, in San Francisco.

Despite the release of Palm’s [PALM] Pre on a scant two days ago, the interest in Apple’s [AAPL] mobile product line remains exceptionally high.

The key points revolve around the next generation of the iPhone, which some folks have been referring to as “iPhone 3GS”. Whether it picks up a significant increase in CPU processing, more RAM, more storage capacity, better app handling, a video camera, better graphics (with or without a new GPU), tethering, etc. These are all heavily-rumored items.

Does the iPod touch get an overhaul as well? If the iPhone OS 3.0 update is as comprehensive as people think it will be, then yes, with regard to that ever-elusive Bluetooth support. Can you imagine an iPod touch tethered to a smartphone for more ubiquitous mobile access to the Internet? Whoo-hoo, right?

And let’s not forget the portable Macs: the MacBooks and MacBook Pros. Better processing power, expanded battery life, more RAM capacities, and more hard disk capacities are certainly on the table. But what about additional ports or slots to handle newer removable media? And what about the current pricing schemes, to counter the recent drops in PC notebook pricing?

The keynote is due around 1:00 PM ET (10:00 AM PT), and there are plenty of sites planning on tweeting or liveblogging the event…

While it starts officially on June 1, 2009, and lasts until June 4, 2009, JavaOne also has pre-conference activities for the diehards and other fans; this includes a lot of the additional fun-filled conference-related meetings, for other Java- and Sun-related projects.

This year also marks the interesting acquisition of Sun, Java’s steward-sponsor since its release more than a decade ago, by Oracle, a leading Java proponent and sponsor. In addition to the drama playing out (once again, no less!) between the Eclipse and NetBeans camps, Oracle’s Java properties are now being collected/gathered alongside Sun’s Java offerings for an interesting series of complementary and head-to-head comparisons, in the minds of many Java developers and architects. How this relates to this year’s conference will be seen in the various presentations, many which were assembled prior to the M&A, and a few last-month additions to the conference since the M&A.

This also marks the rising tide of competition being marshaled against the iPhone OS platform developers’ extravaganza currently rolling forward. Although Java does not have any play whatsoever in the iPhone/iPod touch market, it may not necessarily be out of the picture, with regard to other smartphones. Just how skillful Oracle evangelists will be in attracting interest in bringing JavaFX Mobile support (and even regular JavaFX support) to mobile devices will be an item of interest, particularly if there are product announcements during JavaOne.

Good times, folks, good times.

If you’re like me, you’re probably thinking, “Gee… Where was I when this happened?!?”

Just like last year, WWDC 2009 is sold out. So you’re probably resigned to having to catch the various conference highlights and video footage released after-the-fact while your buddies are gearing up to trek out to the conference for several days’ worth of Mac, OS X, and iPhone OS tech extravagance.