Quick Thoughts on Today's Product Announcements

As you have probably heard by now, today Apple introduced a few new products, along with updates to some old favorites. Here's a quick recap, and some thoughts on the new products.

New iMacs: Faster is better, and the HDD/SSD combo option on the high-end model is intriguing. 

New Mac Pros: The big headline here is the inclusion of a new 12-core option later in the year. Now let's hope software updates aren't far behind (I'm looking at you, Final Cut Studio) to take advantage of all that horsepower.

New Cinema Display: 16x9, 27" screen with iSight and three USB ports. It's a monitor, and I'm sure it looks great.

Magic Trackpad: I've never been much of a gesture-based computing person, beyond two-finger page scrolling. Plenty of people though, do most of their work on laptops today, and for those occasions when they find themselves in front of a desktop, I'm sure this will be a welcome addition.

Battery Charger: Back when the last generation of bluetooth keyboard and Magic Mouse were announced, we were critical of the fact they didn't ship with a built-in rechargeable battery. Apple's new AA battery/charger combo offers a rechargeable option while leaving the flexibility of using standard batteries.

The biggest question from today's announcements is whether Apple is on the cusp of entering the peripheral/accessory market more broadly, or whether these new products simply fill some small voids in completing the Apple experience. While more accessories are probably in the pipeline, I wouldn't get your heart set on a return of the Apple LaserWriter just yet.