ibook30
Jul 14, 01:10 AM
I'm going to have to give this one a big negative.
The problem with either HD-DVD or Bluray is that neither is a standard in the next generation of DVDs.
.....
This is all Sony's fault.:mad: If they learned anything from the Betamax, they should know that when ever they try to standardize a technology, they fail.
This is way too soon to call.
Too soon to call is right.
I forgot about Sony's history in this field... :eek: they have some challenges,,,, but the way this plays out in the DVD/ Home Entertainment market is a problem....
Unless.... the DVD/ Home Entertainment market continues to converge with the PC market.. (I know I have used the word "market" too much tonight, my apologies) Perhaps the high cost of bluray DVD players will make a 30 inch iMac with bluray more attractive for the elite who want a cool new TV to play fancy DVDs on, and surf the internets while checking email from the couch. (eventually the rest of us will afford this... just a theory). But there is definitely a couple of trends likely to converge here, and soon - in the next three years , I thinks.
The problem with either HD-DVD or Bluray is that neither is a standard in the next generation of DVDs.
.....
This is all Sony's fault.:mad: If they learned anything from the Betamax, they should know that when ever they try to standardize a technology, they fail.
This is way too soon to call.
Too soon to call is right.
I forgot about Sony's history in this field... :eek: they have some challenges,,,, but the way this plays out in the DVD/ Home Entertainment market is a problem....
Unless.... the DVD/ Home Entertainment market continues to converge with the PC market.. (I know I have used the word "market" too much tonight, my apologies) Perhaps the high cost of bluray DVD players will make a 30 inch iMac with bluray more attractive for the elite who want a cool new TV to play fancy DVDs on, and surf the internets while checking email from the couch. (eventually the rest of us will afford this... just a theory). But there is definitely a couple of trends likely to converge here, and soon - in the next three years , I thinks.
fatandconfused
Apr 19, 03:19 PM
Which is about a month away. I wonder how many buyers on the fence for this refresh will have the patience to wait even longer for the promotion.
Oh, and that's right, Lion should also be out in about 1-2 months after that as well. ;)
And then it'll be ivy bridge and then they'll release a 30" version and the wait goes on...i'm getting a 27" refurb july 2010 model once the new ones come out, hopefully for a further discounted price. It'll do the trick for me.
Oh, and that's right, Lion should also be out in about 1-2 months after that as well. ;)
And then it'll be ivy bridge and then they'll release a 30" version and the wait goes on...i'm getting a 27" refurb july 2010 model once the new ones come out, hopefully for a further discounted price. It'll do the trick for me.
MCIowaRulz
Apr 12, 10:03 PM
Well i'll tell you this FCP 5 (floating around in places i won't mention) is around 1.5 GB so If it is on the App store It will be 1 BIG download for me.
(3 Mbps cable line here)
(3 Mbps cable line here)
paradillon
Oct 23, 09:17 PM
I was helping a neighbor to order an iMac for his son tonight.
We logged into his apple account to look at the config on his previous order for his other son.
We got a notice saying the web and phone order system was down while being upgraded.
:eek:
We logged into his apple account to look at the config on his previous order for his other son.
We got a notice saying the web and phone order system was down while being upgraded.
:eek:
MattInOz
Jun 23, 05:35 AM
The form factor of an iMac just doesn't work nicely with the general way iOS is meant to be used. As mentioned by moneyman, there seems to be a rough adaptation for it if it's used in conjunction with a touch pad, but this still doesn't seem very likely. The only platform that would benefit largely with an iOS layer would be the MacBook line, which could easily enough use a touch-screen interface directly on the existing display without worrying about tired arms. However, this brings up another issue: It would cannibalize iPad sales and blur the defining line for that "intermediate" category of devices between iPhone and Mac that Jobs just finished touting about.
So in summation, my opinion is that it's highly unlikely.
I could see Two reference designs for this idea.
One the iMac 3G
Screen on floating arm is a Standalone iOS device that is the interface to the OS X device in the dome.
But that is really a MacMini in a stand and Biggier iPad or a range of bigger iPads to work with in.This would work better with say Lightpeak for the connection.
Not sure it would be an iMac in that I can't see them jumping the iPad up to 20inch range screens or dropping the iMac back to 15inch range screens.
A new product maybe.
So reference design two would be a wedge so it could also stand up or lie sloped on the table with the thicker part of the wedge for the x86 processor and power supply.
They do need to offer a station wagon or a ute before some people are going to give up their trucks for cars.
So in summation, my opinion is that it's highly unlikely.
I could see Two reference designs for this idea.
One the iMac 3G
Screen on floating arm is a Standalone iOS device that is the interface to the OS X device in the dome.
But that is really a MacMini in a stand and Biggier iPad or a range of bigger iPads to work with in.This would work better with say Lightpeak for the connection.
Not sure it would be an iMac in that I can't see them jumping the iPad up to 20inch range screens or dropping the iMac back to 15inch range screens.
A new product maybe.
So reference design two would be a wedge so it could also stand up or lie sloped on the table with the thicker part of the wedge for the x86 processor and power supply.
They do need to offer a station wagon or a ute before some people are going to give up their trucks for cars.
jgould
Feb 27, 09:52 PM
Looks like you do a fair bit of typing on that thing!
My old one started looking like that but then Apple replaced it with a new one. I bought a keyboard cover. Not because I hate shiny keys, but because hair and stuff was falling in the keys.
My keyboard on my White 2006 MacBook would get like that, and then the top case would crack and would be replaced. It didn't stay like that for long...
My old one started looking like that but then Apple replaced it with a new one. I bought a keyboard cover. Not because I hate shiny keys, but because hair and stuff was falling in the keys.
My keyboard on my White 2006 MacBook would get like that, and then the top case would crack and would be replaced. It didn't stay like that for long...
dalvin200
Oct 23, 09:33 AM
http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/intelcoreduo.html
That no longer exists. Go to the mbp page and click the core duo icon, and I get a page not found.
This will probably change by the time anyone verifies it. :rolleyes:
same here..
That no longer exists. Go to the mbp page and click the core duo icon, and I get a page not found.
This will probably change by the time anyone verifies it. :rolleyes:
same here..
hynke
Apr 27, 06:17 AM
As far as I know the "App Store" trademark hasn't been granted to Apple yet, therefore Amazon can use it for now. On the other hand Apple just cannot sit there and do nothing about it, they must deffend the trademark they are trying to register even if it hasn't been registered yet.
I also have to admit that it surely is a very good publicity stunt by Amazon. Their new "Appstore" is now all over the web.
I also have to admit that it surely is a very good publicity stunt by Amazon. Their new "Appstore" is now all over the web.
odo
Aug 7, 05:23 AM
Anyone dares to read "Vista 2" as "Vista too"?
Virtualisation built-in so Leopard does Vista too?
Would surprise me, but still...
Virtualisation built-in so Leopard does Vista too?
Would surprise me, but still...
Doctor Q
Mar 22, 04:58 PM
I guess I'm glad about this news.
However, I don't know anybody who has bought an iPod in the past couple of years.
However, I don't know anybody who has bought an iPod in the past couple of years.
poppe
Sep 1, 12:43 PM
hopefully this 23 inch one adds something more than just a bigger screen....such as component RGB input which would allow me to hook my my xbox 360 to play. that would RULE.
of course, that is unlikely.
does anyone actually know how to use iMac screen to play xbox 360?
I doubt this will ever happen until they come out with ACD that have component or composite.
I've heard alot of people ask about the 360 being hooked up to it, but what i've heard it wont work with out lagging. I wanted to hook up my gCube and soon to be Wii to my MBP with the elegato(or what ever its called) but all I heard was lag stories....
of course, that is unlikely.
does anyone actually know how to use iMac screen to play xbox 360?
I doubt this will ever happen until they come out with ACD that have component or composite.
I've heard alot of people ask about the 360 being hooked up to it, but what i've heard it wont work with out lagging. I wanted to hook up my gCube and soon to be Wii to my MBP with the elegato(or what ever its called) but all I heard was lag stories....
jxyama
Mar 19, 09:26 AM
Apple Computer, Inc.: Proudly dying since 1976. :rolleyes:
if apple really was dying, the last thing it needs to do is to listen to amateur marketing gurus and online petitions.
is the apple marketshare lower than it used to be in the 90s? yes, absolutely. that doesn't mean apple is dying - that it's on the blink of an extinction. a company with nearly $4 billion in cash reserve with no debt will be able to carry on for quite some time... (gee, how long have gateway been dying?)
funny you mention japan. last time i went to tokyo (oct. '03), i was hard pressed to find any store with an electronics/computer department that didn't carry any macs.
if apple really was dying, the last thing it needs to do is to listen to amateur marketing gurus and online petitions.
is the apple marketshare lower than it used to be in the 90s? yes, absolutely. that doesn't mean apple is dying - that it's on the blink of an extinction. a company with nearly $4 billion in cash reserve with no debt will be able to carry on for quite some time... (gee, how long have gateway been dying?)
funny you mention japan. last time i went to tokyo (oct. '03), i was hard pressed to find any store with an electronics/computer department that didn't carry any macs.
lordonuthin
Apr 1, 06:43 PM
sorry to hear about the errors. i hope everything gets worked out. you're putting out the points again! love to see that!
No kernel panics here, but I noticed some a3 core units being send back early, usually in the first 10%, it started before 10.6.3
Ok, I think the panics were caused by something I did, not the update, that is what I get for making too many changes at once, I'll have to test the configurations to see what caused them. All is well at the moment.
yeah, that's not a bad idea to sell your current mac pro to help pay for the newer one. i hope you get the 12 core if they release one (and they better)Definitely the 12 core ;)
I moved the 2 GPU machines to the basement where it is much cooler (I know the dust and spiders might kill them, but... hopefully no snakes...) and it is almost quiet upstairs now! The mac pro is soooo quiet! No other Mac that I remember having has been so quiet. I had to run the KVM and network cables between an air duct and the floor, it's kinda goofy but better than a new hole in the floor. Oh, and I accidentally created a network loop, not a good thing as it took me a while to fix. Downtime was only about 2 1/2 hrs, should have been less but I wasn't very well prepared; it was getting way too hot upstairs already.
No kernel panics here, but I noticed some a3 core units being send back early, usually in the first 10%, it started before 10.6.3
Ok, I think the panics were caused by something I did, not the update, that is what I get for making too many changes at once, I'll have to test the configurations to see what caused them. All is well at the moment.
yeah, that's not a bad idea to sell your current mac pro to help pay for the newer one. i hope you get the 12 core if they release one (and they better)Definitely the 12 core ;)
I moved the 2 GPU machines to the basement where it is much cooler (I know the dust and spiders might kill them, but... hopefully no snakes...) and it is almost quiet upstairs now! The mac pro is soooo quiet! No other Mac that I remember having has been so quiet. I had to run the KVM and network cables between an air duct and the floor, it's kinda goofy but better than a new hole in the floor. Oh, and I accidentally created a network loop, not a good thing as it took me a while to fix. Downtime was only about 2 1/2 hrs, should have been less but I wasn't very well prepared; it was getting way too hot upstairs already.
.JPG "were dating justin bieber")
bassjunky
Mar 23, 08:33 AM
Apple is totally a lone player in this market of HDD-based high capacity MP3 player. The only thing prohibiting me from nabbing one of these is the highly scratchable chrome back. If Apple goes with full unibody aluminum enclosure, I'll nab one for sure.
Seriously? The only reason that you haven't picked up a high-capacity iPod is because you might scratch the back side? :confused:
Seriously? The only reason that you haven't picked up a high-capacity iPod is because you might scratch the back side? :confused:
ipedro
Apr 12, 08:41 PM
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8G4 Safari/6533.18.5)
I used to think just like you until I sat down and used it. You should give it a try. It is a very powerful editor.
I know this thread is probably full of pro video geeks so don't eat me alive here. What's the primary difference between FCP and Express aside from the fact that Final Cut Pro is packaged in a suite of applications?
I used to think just like you until I sat down and used it. You should give it a try. It is a very powerful editor.
I know this thread is probably full of pro video geeks so don't eat me alive here. What's the primary difference between FCP and Express aside from the fact that Final Cut Pro is packaged in a suite of applications?
NebulaClash
Sep 14, 12:03 PM
I think you are a minority of one on this interpretation.
Then you should read the entire thread and see that you are wrong in this thought.
Then you should read the entire thread and see that you are wrong in this thought.
lordonuthin
Dec 28, 06:53 PM
nice. glad it worked for you!
and congrats to mc68k for 9 million points!
and congrats to whiterabbit for 5 million points!
Sorry you couldn't have stayed in 4th place for longer lyzardking... but at least you can claim you were there! :D And you are getting more points for the team!
And it looks like mc68k is definitly going to be our first to the big 10 mil!! You are cooking right now with over 600k ppw - as Jim Carey would say (in Mask) "smokin"!
I have now organized my machines with five (linux) in the cold basement, and the 2 win/gpu machines in 4u boxes I got on ebay in the rack with the mac. I spent christmas day, snowbound, rerouting the wiring (and cleaning the "computer room" so everything at least looks much better. I actually got 4 4u cases so I have room to grow, they were $28 each plus $17? each for shipping. 4u is about the same size as a normal tower case so everything fits in nicely. I will post some pics soon.
and congrats to mc68k for 9 million points!
and congrats to whiterabbit for 5 million points!
Sorry you couldn't have stayed in 4th place for longer lyzardking... but at least you can claim you were there! :D And you are getting more points for the team!
And it looks like mc68k is definitly going to be our first to the big 10 mil!! You are cooking right now with over 600k ppw - as Jim Carey would say (in Mask) "smokin"!
I have now organized my machines with five (linux) in the cold basement, and the 2 win/gpu machines in 4u boxes I got on ebay in the rack with the mac. I spent christmas day, snowbound, rerouting the wiring (and cleaning the "computer room" so everything at least looks much better. I actually got 4 4u cases so I have room to grow, they were $28 each plus $17? each for shipping. 4u is about the same size as a normal tower case so everything fits in nicely. I will post some pics soon.
nick9191
Mar 22, 12:50 PM
a country (United States) founded on Christianity.
Where you lost all credibility.
Where you lost all credibility.
Chris Bangle
Sep 5, 03:13 AM
2pm GMT
ingenious
Apr 8, 12:53 PM
I think he did. He said something like "okay, I've read the other side. Now can we go back to talking about my half baked misguided ideas?"
ya i know but i was talking about when i put:
Thats not true ! Ive been reading everyone's posts but you just don't want to see both sides of the story. I just want Apple to do better...
Look at this business weekly online story about Apple - very interesting
http://www.businessweek.com/technol..._5468_tc056.htm
really, this is what Ive been taking about...I think that most Mac users don't want to hear it
and this one too
http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/main...cfm?NewsID=8372
ok, YOU listen to "our side" of the story now!!!!! The point is, apple is NOT dying, they do not need saving, blah blah blah. just read the 100 posts above mine explaining this to you, but you refusing to listen. If you want apple to do better, then think that and leave the rest of us alone. I myself wouldn't mind having more of my contacts using a mac so i wouldn't have to do tech support for them all the time, but then again, that would cut down on people who force money on me for it.
ya i know but i was talking about when i put:
Thats not true ! Ive been reading everyone's posts but you just don't want to see both sides of the story. I just want Apple to do better...
Look at this business weekly online story about Apple - very interesting
http://www.businessweek.com/technol..._5468_tc056.htm
really, this is what Ive been taking about...I think that most Mac users don't want to hear it
and this one too
http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/main...cfm?NewsID=8372
ok, YOU listen to "our side" of the story now!!!!! The point is, apple is NOT dying, they do not need saving, blah blah blah. just read the 100 posts above mine explaining this to you, but you refusing to listen. If you want apple to do better, then think that and leave the rest of us alone. I myself wouldn't mind having more of my contacts using a mac so i wouldn't have to do tech support for them all the time, but then again, that would cut down on people who force money on me for it.
Small White Car
Apr 12, 09:34 PM
People detection or NSA spoofer code. People should have the right to turn this stuff off. Hope FCP doesn't impose it without an option to disable.
I like that you're paranoid enough to think the NSA has inserted spyware into Final Cut Pro but not paranoid enough to think that they'd just ignore an 'off switch' in the program. ;)
I like that you're paranoid enough to think the NSA has inserted spyware into Final Cut Pro but not paranoid enough to think that they'd just ignore an 'off switch' in the program. ;)
Blue Velvet
Jan 1, 05:22 PM
The Apple Product Cycle
An obscure component manufacturer somewhere in the Pacific Rim announces a major order for some bleeding-edge piece of technology that could conceivably become part of an expensive, digital-lifestyle-enhancing nerd toy.
Some hardware geek, the sort who actually reads press releases from obscure Pacific Rim component manufacturers, posts a link to the press release in a Mac Internet forum.
The Mac rumor sites spring into action. Liberally quoting �reliable� sources inside Cupertino, irrelevant �experts,� and each other, they quickly transform baseless speculation into widely accepted fact.
Eager Mac-heads fan the flames by flooding the Mac discussion forums with more groundless conjecture. Threads pop up around feature wish lists, favorite colors, and likely retail price points. In a matter of days, a third-hand, unsubstantiated rumor blossoms into a hand-held device that can do everything except find a girlfriend for a fat, smelly nerd.
Apple issues it customary �we don�t comment on possible future products� statement in response to inquiries about the hypothetical new product. Mac fanatics are convinced that they're onto something.
The haters enter the fray to introduce fear, uncertainty and doubt. How expensive will the product be? Will it support Windows file formats? Will it work with my ten-year-old Quadra 840AV running Mac OS 8.1?
As Macworld or the Worldwide Developer�s Conference draws near, the chatter builds to a fever pitch. Rumor sites jockey for position, posting a new unverifiable, contradictory rumor every hour or so. eBay is flooded with six-month-old, slightly used gadgets as college students, underemployed web designers and independent musicians struggle to clear credit card space.
On the morning of Steve Jobs�s keynote presentation, the online Apple store grinds to a halt as Mac-heads set their browsers to refresh every 15 seconds.
Steve Jobs spends the first half-hour of his keynote crowing about how many iPods shipped during the previous six months and how many �native applications� have been developed for OS X. Attempting to appear as though it�s just an afterthought, he finally introduces the new Apple product. The product has sleek, clean lines, a diminutive form factor, and less than half of the useful features that everyone was expecting. Jobs announces that the product is available �immediately.�
Five minutes later, the new product appears on the online Apple store. Orders have an estimated ship date that is four weeks away.
The online Apple store takes 50,000 orders in the first 24 hours.
Apple�s stock surges as Wall Street analysts proclaim the new device will be �Apple�s savior� and the key to turning around the decades-long decline in Apple�s share of the global PC market.
The haters offer their assessment. The forums are ablaze with vitriolic rage. Haters pan the device for being less powerful than a Cray X1 while zealots counter that it is both smaller and lighter than a Buick Regal. The virtual slap-fight goes on and on, until obscure technical nuances like, �Will it play multiplexed Ogg Vorbis streams?� become matters of life and death.
The editors of popular Mac magazines hail the new device as the next great step toward our utopian digital future. Wired News runs exclusive interviews with the Apple design team. Fortune publishes another glowing fluff piece about Steve Jobs, proclaiming him to be the great visionary behind all technological innovation. Newsweek declares the device the new �must have� item for any self-respecting urban technophile. All of this is written before anybody outside of Cupertino has held the new device in his or her hand.
Business Week publishes an article stating that unless Apple immediately releases a Windows version of the new product its market share will continue to shrink and Apple will be out of business within six months. Mac zealots howl with fury and crash Business Week�s email server with their angry rebuttals.
In the wee hours of the morning on the initial ship date, as the Mac heads lay snug in their beds or take MDMA and dance to bad music, Apple delays everybody�s ship date by four weeks.
Rage reigns in the Mac forums. Lifelong Mac users who would never consider purchasing anything made by Microsoft or Dell, regardless of how shabbily Apple treats them, vent their anguish and frustration. Failing utterly to see the irony of the situation, they prattle on until their panties are twisted in knots.
The rumor sites abound with half-baked theories blaming the shipping delay on everything from heat dissipation problems to SARS. The most obvious explanation, that Apple lied about the initial shipment dates, is ignored in favor of more elaborate and unlikely scenarios.
Apple�s stock plummets as Wall Street analysts fret about the company�s supply chain problems. The same analysts who were raising their targets on Apple three weeks earlier appear on CNBC and predict that Apple could file for bankruptcy as soon as the week after next.
A week before the revised ship date rolls around, small quantities of the new product begin to appear in Apple�s retail stores. Chaos ensues as crazed Mac-heads queue up hours before the stores open, hoping to get their hands on one of the prized gizmos. The bedwetting in Mac Internet forums reaches tidal proportions as people post empty threats to cancel their online orders. The devices begin to appear on eBay and get bid up to absurd premiums over MSRP.
Pointless outrage slowly turns to pointless optimism. Driven insane by the lack of instant gratification, would-be customers profess their willingness to gun down the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny if it would hasten the arrival of the FedEx delivery person.
Nerd porn threads appear in the Mac forums. Some lunatic with too much time and money on his hands disassembles the new device down to the bare, soldered components and posts pictures.
The obligatory �I�m waiting for Rev. B� discussion appears in the Mac forums. People who�ve been burned by first-generation Apple products open up their old wounds and bleed their tales of woe. Unsympathetic technophiles fire back with, �if you can�t handle the heat, stay out of the kitchen. *****.� Everyone has this stupid argument for the twenty-third time.
Apple issues a press release to announce that they have now taken orders for over 100,000 of the new devices and shipped at least eight or nine dozen. Backorders and waiting lists stretch into months.
Movie stars, professional athletes and rappers begin accessorizing with Apple�s new gadget. Shaquille O�Neal appears on the cover of ESPN The Magazine using one. Mac fans unconditionally forgive him for Kazaam.
Wall Street analysts appear on CNBC wearing big smiles and bright spring colors to announce that Apple's new device will drive Apple's sales to unprecedented levels and might be the key to turning around the decades-long decline in Apple�s share of the global PC market. Apple's share price surges. People who understand the root cause of the dot com bubble shake their heads in silent disgust.
Trade publications and business magazines begin to refer to the market for Apple's new product as a "space."
A minor, rarely occurring flaw in the device begins to be discussed in the Apple support forums. Whiny, artistic types post lengthy diatribes about how this terrible design flaw has made the device unusable and scarred them emotionally. Electronic petitions are created demanding that Apple replace the devices for free, plus pay for counseling to help traumatized users overcome their emotional distress.
Taken completely by surprise at the success of Apple's new gadget, executives from Dell or Sony or Microsoft appear on CNBC and offer vague suggestions that they are beginning development of a new product to compete with Apple. In its next issue, PC Week magazine publishes an article declaring that Apple's dominance of the [insert gadget here] space is in jeopardy.
Weeks before most users are able to hold Apple's new gadget in their hands, "What features would you like in the next version?" discussions take place on Mac mailing lists. Mac-heads cook up droves of far-fetched, often bizarre ideas. A cursory reading makes it readily apparent why Apple executives pay no attention to their fanatical customers.
Apple releases the first software update for the new device through its Software Update control panel. Several hours later, it pulls the updater. A small number of people who applied the update experience crashes, data loss, headaches and ennui. The Apple support forums are filled with outraged posts. A day or so later, Apple releases a revised installer without comment, then quietly removes the angry posts from its support forums.
Somebody starts a thread on a Mac chat board that asks whether anyone knows of a way to use the new device with some other nerd toy in a way that makes no sense whatsoever. Out of the blue, somebody writes a hack that facilitates the unholy combination and offers it as $39 shareware. Seven of the nine people who actually try to use the hack download it off of BitTorrent and use a pirate serial number. Advocates point to this as an example of how independent Mac software development is thriving.
Dell or Sony or Microsoft releases a competing device which costs $100 less and is based on completely incompatible, Windows-only technology. Business Week declares Apple's dominance of the [insert gadget here] space over. Angry Mac zealots make plans to surround Business Week's corporate offices with torches and pitchforks until someone points out that fire and garden tools are so un-digital.
Wall Street analysts appear on CNBC to explain that Apple's device will never be able to compete with the onslaught of cheaper Windows-based competitors. Apple's stock plummets. Idiot technology investors experience a brief moment of deja vu before they return to masturbating to photos of Maria Bartiromo.
Consumers discover that the Windows-based competitor to Apple's device contains a proprietary digital rights management technology that prevents them from using the device to do anything expect except look at family photographs taken in the last 20 minutes.
An obscure component manufacturer somewhere in the Pacific Rim announces a major order for some new bleeding-edge piece of technology that could conceivably become part of some expensive, digital-lifestyle-enhancing nerd toy. The fun begins again...
http://www.misterbg.org/AppleProductCycle/
:D
An obscure component manufacturer somewhere in the Pacific Rim announces a major order for some bleeding-edge piece of technology that could conceivably become part of an expensive, digital-lifestyle-enhancing nerd toy.
Some hardware geek, the sort who actually reads press releases from obscure Pacific Rim component manufacturers, posts a link to the press release in a Mac Internet forum.
The Mac rumor sites spring into action. Liberally quoting �reliable� sources inside Cupertino, irrelevant �experts,� and each other, they quickly transform baseless speculation into widely accepted fact.
Eager Mac-heads fan the flames by flooding the Mac discussion forums with more groundless conjecture. Threads pop up around feature wish lists, favorite colors, and likely retail price points. In a matter of days, a third-hand, unsubstantiated rumor blossoms into a hand-held device that can do everything except find a girlfriend for a fat, smelly nerd.
Apple issues it customary �we don�t comment on possible future products� statement in response to inquiries about the hypothetical new product. Mac fanatics are convinced that they're onto something.
The haters enter the fray to introduce fear, uncertainty and doubt. How expensive will the product be? Will it support Windows file formats? Will it work with my ten-year-old Quadra 840AV running Mac OS 8.1?
As Macworld or the Worldwide Developer�s Conference draws near, the chatter builds to a fever pitch. Rumor sites jockey for position, posting a new unverifiable, contradictory rumor every hour or so. eBay is flooded with six-month-old, slightly used gadgets as college students, underemployed web designers and independent musicians struggle to clear credit card space.
On the morning of Steve Jobs�s keynote presentation, the online Apple store grinds to a halt as Mac-heads set their browsers to refresh every 15 seconds.
Steve Jobs spends the first half-hour of his keynote crowing about how many iPods shipped during the previous six months and how many �native applications� have been developed for OS X. Attempting to appear as though it�s just an afterthought, he finally introduces the new Apple product. The product has sleek, clean lines, a diminutive form factor, and less than half of the useful features that everyone was expecting. Jobs announces that the product is available �immediately.�
Five minutes later, the new product appears on the online Apple store. Orders have an estimated ship date that is four weeks away.
The online Apple store takes 50,000 orders in the first 24 hours.
Apple�s stock surges as Wall Street analysts proclaim the new device will be �Apple�s savior� and the key to turning around the decades-long decline in Apple�s share of the global PC market.
The haters offer their assessment. The forums are ablaze with vitriolic rage. Haters pan the device for being less powerful than a Cray X1 while zealots counter that it is both smaller and lighter than a Buick Regal. The virtual slap-fight goes on and on, until obscure technical nuances like, �Will it play multiplexed Ogg Vorbis streams?� become matters of life and death.
The editors of popular Mac magazines hail the new device as the next great step toward our utopian digital future. Wired News runs exclusive interviews with the Apple design team. Fortune publishes another glowing fluff piece about Steve Jobs, proclaiming him to be the great visionary behind all technological innovation. Newsweek declares the device the new �must have� item for any self-respecting urban technophile. All of this is written before anybody outside of Cupertino has held the new device in his or her hand.
Business Week publishes an article stating that unless Apple immediately releases a Windows version of the new product its market share will continue to shrink and Apple will be out of business within six months. Mac zealots howl with fury and crash Business Week�s email server with their angry rebuttals.
In the wee hours of the morning on the initial ship date, as the Mac heads lay snug in their beds or take MDMA and dance to bad music, Apple delays everybody�s ship date by four weeks.
Rage reigns in the Mac forums. Lifelong Mac users who would never consider purchasing anything made by Microsoft or Dell, regardless of how shabbily Apple treats them, vent their anguish and frustration. Failing utterly to see the irony of the situation, they prattle on until their panties are twisted in knots.
The rumor sites abound with half-baked theories blaming the shipping delay on everything from heat dissipation problems to SARS. The most obvious explanation, that Apple lied about the initial shipment dates, is ignored in favor of more elaborate and unlikely scenarios.
Apple�s stock plummets as Wall Street analysts fret about the company�s supply chain problems. The same analysts who were raising their targets on Apple three weeks earlier appear on CNBC and predict that Apple could file for bankruptcy as soon as the week after next.
A week before the revised ship date rolls around, small quantities of the new product begin to appear in Apple�s retail stores. Chaos ensues as crazed Mac-heads queue up hours before the stores open, hoping to get their hands on one of the prized gizmos. The bedwetting in Mac Internet forums reaches tidal proportions as people post empty threats to cancel their online orders. The devices begin to appear on eBay and get bid up to absurd premiums over MSRP.
Pointless outrage slowly turns to pointless optimism. Driven insane by the lack of instant gratification, would-be customers profess their willingness to gun down the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny if it would hasten the arrival of the FedEx delivery person.
Nerd porn threads appear in the Mac forums. Some lunatic with too much time and money on his hands disassembles the new device down to the bare, soldered components and posts pictures.
The obligatory �I�m waiting for Rev. B� discussion appears in the Mac forums. People who�ve been burned by first-generation Apple products open up their old wounds and bleed their tales of woe. Unsympathetic technophiles fire back with, �if you can�t handle the heat, stay out of the kitchen. *****.� Everyone has this stupid argument for the twenty-third time.
Apple issues a press release to announce that they have now taken orders for over 100,000 of the new devices and shipped at least eight or nine dozen. Backorders and waiting lists stretch into months.
Movie stars, professional athletes and rappers begin accessorizing with Apple�s new gadget. Shaquille O�Neal appears on the cover of ESPN The Magazine using one. Mac fans unconditionally forgive him for Kazaam.
Wall Street analysts appear on CNBC wearing big smiles and bright spring colors to announce that Apple's new device will drive Apple's sales to unprecedented levels and might be the key to turning around the decades-long decline in Apple�s share of the global PC market. Apple's share price surges. People who understand the root cause of the dot com bubble shake their heads in silent disgust.
Trade publications and business magazines begin to refer to the market for Apple's new product as a "space."
A minor, rarely occurring flaw in the device begins to be discussed in the Apple support forums. Whiny, artistic types post lengthy diatribes about how this terrible design flaw has made the device unusable and scarred them emotionally. Electronic petitions are created demanding that Apple replace the devices for free, plus pay for counseling to help traumatized users overcome their emotional distress.
Taken completely by surprise at the success of Apple's new gadget, executives from Dell or Sony or Microsoft appear on CNBC and offer vague suggestions that they are beginning development of a new product to compete with Apple. In its next issue, PC Week magazine publishes an article declaring that Apple's dominance of the [insert gadget here] space is in jeopardy.
Weeks before most users are able to hold Apple's new gadget in their hands, "What features would you like in the next version?" discussions take place on Mac mailing lists. Mac-heads cook up droves of far-fetched, often bizarre ideas. A cursory reading makes it readily apparent why Apple executives pay no attention to their fanatical customers.
Apple releases the first software update for the new device through its Software Update control panel. Several hours later, it pulls the updater. A small number of people who applied the update experience crashes, data loss, headaches and ennui. The Apple support forums are filled with outraged posts. A day or so later, Apple releases a revised installer without comment, then quietly removes the angry posts from its support forums.
Somebody starts a thread on a Mac chat board that asks whether anyone knows of a way to use the new device with some other nerd toy in a way that makes no sense whatsoever. Out of the blue, somebody writes a hack that facilitates the unholy combination and offers it as $39 shareware. Seven of the nine people who actually try to use the hack download it off of BitTorrent and use a pirate serial number. Advocates point to this as an example of how independent Mac software development is thriving.
Dell or Sony or Microsoft releases a competing device which costs $100 less and is based on completely incompatible, Windows-only technology. Business Week declares Apple's dominance of the [insert gadget here] space over. Angry Mac zealots make plans to surround Business Week's corporate offices with torches and pitchforks until someone points out that fire and garden tools are so un-digital.
Wall Street analysts appear on CNBC to explain that Apple's device will never be able to compete with the onslaught of cheaper Windows-based competitors. Apple's stock plummets. Idiot technology investors experience a brief moment of deja vu before they return to masturbating to photos of Maria Bartiromo.
Consumers discover that the Windows-based competitor to Apple's device contains a proprietary digital rights management technology that prevents them from using the device to do anything expect except look at family photographs taken in the last 20 minutes.
An obscure component manufacturer somewhere in the Pacific Rim announces a major order for some new bleeding-edge piece of technology that could conceivably become part of some expensive, digital-lifestyle-enhancing nerd toy. The fun begins again...
http://www.misterbg.org/AppleProductCycle/
:D
BC2009
Apr 26, 01:11 PM
First the Verizon iPhone rumors come to fruition. Now comes the long-awaited White iPhone 4......
Now we can all start rumors about if and when "App Store" will become a trademark. Personally, I think Apple should get the trademark given precedents out there, but if they don't, I really don't care. After a decision is rendered in this case it will be old news in 48 hours and nobody will care.
What strikes me is how clear it is that Apple is leading the way and trying to fend off so many folks who are trying to mimic and dilute their brand or copy their every move. Everybody wants to ride the wave that is Apple's success.
Personally, I applaud Microsoft a bit here. Sure they have copied Mac OS X elements in Windows for years, but Windows Phone has its own unique user interface and Kinect is an extremely innovative accomplishment. Would be nice if more companies were innovating and making cool stuff for us to buy, rather than just trying to copy Apple. I'm so tired of Google's "let's make it close enough to iOS and claim it runs Flash and is 'open'" strategy and Samsung's "let's just make it look like an Apple device" strategy.
Now we can all start rumors about if and when "App Store" will become a trademark. Personally, I think Apple should get the trademark given precedents out there, but if they don't, I really don't care. After a decision is rendered in this case it will be old news in 48 hours and nobody will care.
What strikes me is how clear it is that Apple is leading the way and trying to fend off so many folks who are trying to mimic and dilute their brand or copy their every move. Everybody wants to ride the wave that is Apple's success.
Personally, I applaud Microsoft a bit here. Sure they have copied Mac OS X elements in Windows for years, but Windows Phone has its own unique user interface and Kinect is an extremely innovative accomplishment. Would be nice if more companies were innovating and making cool stuff for us to buy, rather than just trying to copy Apple. I'm so tired of Google's "let's make it close enough to iOS and claim it runs Flash and is 'open'" strategy and Samsung's "let's just make it look like an Apple device" strategy.
Machead III
Sep 7, 08:38 AM
A good idea, just poorly executed.
Actually makes more sense than the system we have now.
Agreed.
Actually makes more sense than the system we have now.
Agreed.
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