If waiting for a stream to buffer isn't your thing, then you can now download today's "Let's Rock" event via Apple's Keynote podcast feed.

Now you can watch Steve say, "BOOM!" without stream interruptions. Be aware that this video is over 700 MB in size.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

If all the talk about the Apple Special Event hasn't been enough for you, or if you just want to see for yourself, check out Inside Mac TV's video podcast of the event. The video compresses the highlights into 20 minutes running time. Inside Mac TV is the brainchild of the gregarious Scott Sheppard. This link subscribes you to the podcast. This link takes you to the page where you can download the individual episode.

Yesterday morning, I posted a prediction that proved incorrect. Apple didn't announce movies in the iTMS to be the big announcement of the day. Nevertheless, I feel that the Academy Award Nominated Short Films appearing in the iTMS yesterday actually ended up being the biggest news of the day. As I noted yesterday, it's the first appearance of non-Pixar/Disney shorts in the music store, so it paves the way for more great content (although all of the films are presented by the Sundance Channel, so it is kind of like another TV network releasing shows on the iTMS).

As for all the other announcements from yesterday, I can sum them all up—explain why they are all dud announcements—in one simple word: overpriced. $1.99 for the new short films in the iTMS is a bargain. Everything else was overpriced. Overpriced like the $99 leather iPod cases that don't actually provide the user with any access to the controls of the iPod. Overpriced like the $349 boombox that still needs the addition of a $300 iPod to make it as cool as it can be (and even then it is not that cool; I mean "Hi-Fi" is a 70s term, and the boombox is an 80s device; how is this expensive iPod peripheral indicative of Apple's innovation?). Overpriced like the $599 and $799 Mac minis. One of the great things about Apple's Mac mini line should be its affordability, and yesterday, we saw little value added to the Mac mini line and yet the most expensive one of them runs just fourfive hundred less than the faster iMac line that lacks the need to provide your own screen, keyboard, and mouse. I mean, what was added? The expected shift from PowerPC to Intel processors? The fastest they offer in the mini is still only 1.67Ghz. The Apple Remote? If it's so much simpler than all the other remotes I own, then how come it alone is priced at more than any of those full-featured remotes? The new Bonjour-savvy Front Row? Well, that is cool, but all Macs with Front Row will be getting this feature, so I don't think it warrants the attention, especially when nothing really innovative has been done with the new mini to make it an effective media center. Sure it can work with an HDTV, but where's the built-in PVR? I mean, if you want to pipe your HDTV digital cable connection into the mini you are still going to need to spend a couple of hundred dollars on something like an EyeTV. I don't see any HDMI / DVI in on that new expensive mini.

I, like Jan, am under-whelmed by yesterday's announcements, and I agree with Damien that Apple clearly dropped the ball and our disappointment is not the creation of our fanaticism, but rather Apple's failure to live up to the innovation we've come to expect from them.

I rushed to TUAW's special event headquarters (actually my spare room) to participate in our chatcast during Apple's special event this morning. My blood was pumping; my fingers were poised at the keyboard; I was psyched for something really exciting. . . . And then came the letdown.

Sure it's nice to see the Mac mini go Intel, but if I'm going to splurge on any of the Intel Macs it's more likely to be on a MacBook Pro given my peripatetic lifestyle. The iPod Hi-Fi is a bit of a surprise, but I have to agree with C.K. that the concept is just so '80's. More importantly, the Hi-Fi's price point is too steep for my pocketbook. I'd rather save my $349 bucks toward that MacBook Pro. When Steve first mentioned the leather cases for the iPod with video I was psyched, but for $99 I'd expect to be able to view the screen and access the controls -- neither of which is possible with these cases.

So I'm going home empty-handed and will remain that way until the next big Apple announcement. I may be disappointed now, but I know the letdown is only temporary. I'm sure I'll be the first one in line for the next Apple special event. That is, unless you're there first.

Scott'll be posting any news we glean from today's event, nicely and neatly in a separate post for those of you who detest our chatcasts, and Engadget has Ryan Block on the scene, but for those of you who love reading us ramble on, drooling over the day's announcements and being as snarky as snark can be, here's the place where you'll find all our babblings. Enjoy.

Begin chatcast:

Pregame chatter...
12:30 PM
Damien Barrett: The Apple Store is still up...
David Chartier: I don't think it usually goes down this far outside game time though
Damien Barrett: don't know
C.K. Sample, III: yeah
C.K. Sample, III: usually it goes down 15 mninutes before
David Chartier: do they hold events like this on the Apple Campus often?
C.K. Sample, III: not that I'm aware of
Damien Barrett: not usually on Apple Campus...no
C.K. Sample, III: it's a bit out of the ordinary
C.K. Sample, III: which makes me think it is going to be movie related announcements
Damien Barrett: I agree with C.K.
David Chartier: as in: it isn't a big enough deal to do it elsewhere?
12:35 PM
Damien Barrett: but why would Engadget be invited if Apple's not releasing or pimping a gadget?
C.K. Sample, III: there's the rub...
Damien Barrett: but it could also be they've finally finished the product that was supposed to be the "one more thing" product at MWSF but got bumped
David Chartier: Kevin Rose said something in the TWiT podcast that made me optimistic that it's at least something important: he's been able to peg it in the past when events are off campus because he has some kind of insider
David Chartier: but since it's on the campus, it's a lot harder to leak this stuff
Damien Barrett: I'm not the only one who felt that this year's MWSF Keynote felt less solid than those in the past, as if things were changed at the last minute
David Chartier: I felt like the software portion got bumped and squished in order to squeeze in the MacBooks
David Chartier: He might as well have said "eh, and iWork... yea that's neat too."

Check out the rest after the break...