Here is Sir Jony Ive introducing the product in 1997.

If you imagine an object there is a television, that’s a radio, that’s a computer, whatever computer means. You imagine an object that has an incredible sound system. You imagine all of those functionalities, all of those technologies converging into one object. What should that object be. What on earth should it look like?

From MacWorld – July 1997

The Twentieth-Anniversary Macintosh is also a piece of desktop sculpture, with the components housed in an impossibly slim curved enclosure that combines the all-in-one look of the original Mac with the svelte luxury of a Bang & Olufsen stereo system. The subwoofer and the Mac’s power supply, linked to the main unit by a half-inch-thick cable, reside in a separate oval enclosure that resembles the smokestack on a 1930s ocean liner, with a rubber ring around the top. Visually, it’s a knockout.

Aimed at hard-core aficionados and wealthy collectors, this new Mac is mainly a commemorative item celebrating Apple’s 20th year on the planet–a three-dimensional thank-you note to the millions of Mac fans who remained loyal through the recent dark period, as well as a reminder to the PC crowd that the people in Cupertino still make the most innovative products around.

The NAB Show

Streaming  from 9AM to 6PM Monday through Thursday, the live NAB Show coverage should be extensive, Check it out yourself at www.nabshow.com

NewTek

NewTek brought power to the people in the early 90′s with revolutionary products like the Video Toaster and LightWave 3D Take a look at their TriCaster streamed coverage. Guests will include Ji, Penn Jillete, Tom Green, and Shira Lazar. www.newtek.com…

Planet5D

planet5D is all about DSLR cameras that shoot video, and it’s run by a guy called Mitch. What more info do you need? Watch Mitch’s coverage at blog.planet5d.com/NAB

NAB Show Buzz w/ Larry Jordan

Larry is an internationally-renowned video consultant and Apple-Certified trainer. Get ready as he and a bevy of reporters present than 70 interviews with industry leaders right from the trade show floor. DigitalProductionBuzz.com is the official podcast of the NAB Show.

FXGuide

The gang over atFX Guide do some phenominal podcasts and traingin gin Tuesday April 9th at 10am Las Vegas time The promise to have some have some great demos and presentations from the show, as well as prizes! register for the contest at fxguide.com/nablive

StudioGuide

Combining features on technology, creativity and business with daily news, video, blog posts and social media, StudioDaily keeps visitors up-to-date on critical workflow developments, new product releases, innovative techniques, notable projects and people, and industry trends.

Twitter Streams

While most of the news is about video, not all of this years revolution will be televised. Here are some of the twitter feeds to follow:

Go Pro

GoPro says that they make “arguably the most versatile cameras in the world.” The HD HERO gear-mountable cameras cams are indeed awesome for watching your world in wide-angle. Here they are in 144 high-definition characters. twitter.com/gopro

Tim Street

Tim’s latest work is called  Vids: An iPad Mystery Thriller transmedia eBook story of a jilted mistress who builds a website of revenge. Follow Tim at twitter.com/1timstreet

Update – Monday

fcp.co

While not a bastion of NAB news, tcp.co is an awesome site if you are into using Final Cut Pro (7 orX). If so, I recommend a daily visit to keep up with news, technique and plugins for Apples editing platform. You will also find some useful current coverage of FCP-related NAB info. Enjoy it all as one of the shortest URLs in the industry: www.fcp.co

Larry’s Blog

And least we forget Larry Jordan’s personal blog, humbly titled Larry’s Blog. Larry writes lengthy, in-depth articles packed with info and knowledge of editing, post-production and the sate of the industry. Visit this one every few days for a great new article at larryjordan.biz…

And more…

Know of some other sites doing quality coverage? Be sure to post them in the comments and I will add them to the list.

First, click on File/Presentation Properties and declare any needed variables in the Variables tab.

Create a Rectangular Touch Event. Select it and click Advanced Tab.

Click the Set Conditional Targets button to open the targets dialogue. Click the Plus button to create two conditional targets. These are conditional statements that will switch between the two commands depending on the state of the variable “play.”

The first one triggers if the variable “play” equals “playing.” Think of it as the IF of an IF/THEN statement. Click on the advanced tab to see what each one triggers.

The Advanced tab represents the THEN of the statement. In this case; IF  play = playing, THEN pause the video and set Play to paused.

The second Conditional Target does the opposite. IF play = paused THEN play the video and set Play to playing.

Many thanks to the great people at BrightSign tech support for helping me with this.

See the full sheet music after the break…

In the first clip Benjamin Singer shows how the Triple Play clips on and off a guitar in a flash. Magnetic posts attached with thin adhesive keep the transmitter in place, while a clear plastic channel allows the pickup to slide firmly into place. Background accompaniment for both videos is provided by demonstrator extraordinaire, Burr Johnson (shown above).

Next Andy Lewis walks us through the main interface and some of the bundled software. Check out how easily one can split the fretboard into multiple instruments (2:10).

Will there be a bass version? “Absolutely!” Apparently Victor Wooten (at 3:45) really wants one (and we all really want him to have one, I’m sure), and founder Larry Fishman is a bass player. A floorboard unit with a 5-pin MIDI output is “on the roadmap” (4:50) but Andy did not want to discuss future products. Roland owners should not be holding their breath for 13-pin out (5:23). At 7:50 Andy discusses Fishman’s philosophy on the market and customer for MIDI guitar.

Andy Lewis on tracking accuracy; “A lot of traditional MIDI guitar products require extremely clean playing… to make this product have broad appeal we’ve worked very hard to make the product work with nearly any kind of guitar player. … It took a little extra work to make it work with different playing styles.”

Judging from his slide deck, he gave a comprehensive overview of computer-centric guitar technology with particular emphasis on MIDI guitar interfaces, applications, setup, and usage.

Friend-of-the-site Braccio was at the presentation. He reports from the scene that Mr. Mash, who is a long time Roland Guitar Synth user, is “completely sold” on the accuracy and reliability of the Fishman Triple Play Wireless Guitar Controller (FTP for short). “I saw David play a couple of times this week at MacWorld” said Braccio, ” and he used the Fishman each time with no issues.”

Also in attendance at the session was Robert Godin, founder of Godin Guitars. They introduced a new guitar last week at the NAMM show with an integrated FTP. Braccio reports that  Mr. Godin is also ”completely sold on the Triple Play. Godin Guitars will be moving over to using the Fishman rolling out new models in April (nylon string) and May.”

Check out David Mash’s extensive web site at mashine.com
.

This is a great move for Fishman. The technology press will be all over this. Hitching their MIDI wagon to the iPad, and being a first of its kind on the device is a fantastic strategy for lots of free press.

The Fishman Triple Play was also featured onstage during David Mash’s tech talk, The Macintosh for Guitarists. David is Senior VP for Innovation, Strategy, and Technology at Berklee College of Music. A long time MIDI guitar devotee, David is excited about the Triple Play’s uses in transcription and education, according to Elantric who spoke with David at last week’s NAMM conference. Elantric, a long time moderator at VGuitarForums, predicts that most music students will soon own Triple Plays “as part of their 2014 curriculum. Rather like some schools now require iPads.”

Last year when I wrote this article, I was concerned about Fishman entering a product category that a huge company like Roland with all its resources could not seem to figure out how to take it to the masses. Today many of my fears for Fishman, and the future of MIDI guitar, are alleviated. Look for lots of tech, and general public, press about the Fishman Triple Play over the next week or so.

Dang, I wish I had gone to Macworld this year. I was there last year.

The Gittler is particularly interesting due to the hex pickups and a 13-pin output for connection to Roland guitar synth systems. The lack of a fretboard does make it look a bit challenging to play, but fear not. As the site explains:

You will only notice the lack of a fretboard in relation to the new freedom you have discovered by bending the strings downward as well as sideways, thus improving the tactile command of your pitch.

If you would like to put down a $1,000 deposit for one of the first 100 models, here is a link where you can do that very thing. Special thanks to Synthtopia for pointing out this unique instrument.

We have bundled it with some software from Native Instruments, Presonus, IK Multimedia, and Native Instruments. So we’re providing full versions of all those software components. So right out of the box consumers are going to be able to compose, perform and record like never before.

Chris wasn’t clear what these “full version components” consist of, and the box photo above is not much clearer. The screen shot on the back of the package does show advancement in design over previously shown software. Let’s hope this software bundle is worth the year-long delay it caused in shipping.

Many thanks to the good people at Harmony Central for the video clip.