Andy Ihnatko is an amusing, sometimes irreverant, technology journalist for the Chicago Sun-Times. Andy's style is both self-effacing yet knowledgeable with a little theatre like presence in his style of delivering what can be sometimes abstract concepts about new media. He is a contributor to Macworld Magazine as well as a technology commentator on CBS’ Early Show. He also has written some books with his latest offering, Iphone: Full Loaded, available through Amazon. He was a featured speaker at this year's Macworld held in San Francisco. This is the year that Apple previously had decided not to attend leading many to muse as to what impact this would have to this long time event. It is an industry showcase where Apple would feature many new products, normally opening with a keynote address by Steve Jobs revealing some awesome new gotta have it item. It was a carnivalesque environment in the past but with Apple MIA, many wondered how it would survive. Other Macworlds held in other parts of the country have since folded. The numbers are down this year as expected, but still many Apple aficionados made the pilgrimage as tradition called them to continue. Maybe with Apple still based in Cupertino, the mothership, the San Francisco Macworld Expo will still go on. Dates for next year have already been scheduled.

Andy was asked by the local Apple user's group, MacNexus, to stay over after his stint at Macworld to come speak to its general membership meeting in February. He worked it out to will take a little side trip out to Sacramento to hopefully give us a little of the Macworld experience before going home to Massachusetts. The MacNexus User Group’s roots go back as far as the Apple Corporation and its early Macintosh computers starting in 1984. Andy himself claims that he has been a commentator about technology since his teens. The MacNexus general meeting is held at the Sacramento Association of Realtors building on Howe Ave. This meeting has been opened to the general public for this special event.

Mr Ihnatko is expected to share his ideas of the iPad experience (he got to play with one for 45 minutes), the future of Apple and the smart phone wars (Android vs iPhone). He recently completed his year of Living With No Media; no physical items such as newspapers, magazines, books, DVDs, CDs, or comic books which apparently was one of the most difficult items for him to be without. If information or entertainment could not be accessed through streaming, web surfing or other electronic delivery, he did not have access to it. He did this for personal reasons that he will likely write about. After 12 months of adapting to this change in lifestyle of self-imposed downsizing, he has some very interesting insights on how far we have come in accessing information, entertainment and communications in virtual form. He shared some of this with his audience at this year’s Macworld Expo which ended on saturday.

He also has insights on what he sees as the future of book publishing, large publishing houses versus self-publishing, the potential impact of the iPad on the newspaper industry and the difficulties for new authors trying to break into the market. He discussed this with Chris Breen at Macworld during a 15 minute interview that is downloadable as a podcast, YouTube HD video or as an RSS feed. If you want a little preview of his thoughts you may want to check out the video. You may also want to read Andy's Celestial Waste of Bandwith blog where he has recent posts about his experiences in San Francisco outside of Macworld. No doubt his speaking engagement before an eager crowd of Apple fans here in Sacramento should be a positive note on his observations during his trip out west.

When:  February 16, 2010
Time:   7:00PM
Where: Sacramento Association of Realtors Building
             2003 Howe Ave, Sacramento CA 95825

Cost:   Free

Editor's Note: Zulay Moncada-Frost is the Secretary of the Board for MacNexus.