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Dvorak: Discontinue the Mac
paradesign writes "In an 'E-Mac, i-Mac, No Mac', John C. Dvorak makes the claim that the Macintosh should be discontinued. He adds, 'I'm not writing this column as a Mac basher to get attention, although plenty of people will accuse me of doing that.' Worth a read, but keep in mind where its published." I am not posting this as a Dvorak basher to make people realize he is clueless, although plenty of people will accuse me of that.
John C. Dvorak has been saying this for like 15 years. He's a DOS fanatic through and through. I guess getting attention was just a side effect, anyway. Haha.
So if he ran Apple, he would do what? Concentrate on selling on OS that ran on discontinued computers? I guess he hasn't been watching Apple's annual reports lately.
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
Remember kiddies, don't smoke crack before writing a magazine article like Mr. Dvorak.
"Why, exactly, does Apple maintain this line of machines instead of starting fresh or at least introducing something new with fresh legs."
The G4s of today are a far cry beyond the Motorolla 68000 based Macs of the early eighties.
If it's software that's his problem, OSX is the very fresh start that he speaks of, but he is too blind of biased to see this. Apple has managed to maintain some backward compatability with OS9 and step into the UNIX world with one fell swoop.
Just what the hell is the bug up his ass?
The only thing Apple could do that would be more progressive is a full port of OSX to the x86. But that would mean war with Microsoft.
That would be a hell of a thing to see.
I was wondering if I should send my advertisement to them in a format that is no longer going to be around. It seem like I would have to pay extra to send a Windows native file.
This is in their media kit
Ziff Davis Media publications are produced in a 100% digital pre-press, computer-to-plate environment. We therefore require digital materials for advertisements running in our publications.
Preferred digital file formats for advertisements are:
TIFF/IT P1, Scitex CT/LW, & QuarkXPress 4.04 Mac Native files, collected for output, including all fonts & graphics. Please contact Production Department before sending any digital files besides these Preferred Mac application files (additional charges may apply).
John Dvorak, noted PC World columnist, has reported for the very first time that Apple is irrelevant.
Dvorak could not be reached for comment, although his agent noted that "John's probably just off his meds again".
Seriously. Dvorak seems to forget that Apple HAS reinvented the Mac into something quite different and novel - through Mac OS X.
A Mac in OS 9 is one thing...but a Mac in OS X is a completely different computer. Dvorak either needs some hits on his portion of the PC Magazine web site, or he's just feeling mean.
1) Releasing the eMac after original not: they did it becuase they're pushing the envelope so much by having their entire line use LCDs that they've hit up against the bleeding-edge problem of LCD supplies and prices not meeting expectations. I think flexability and admitting you didn't make a good decision is a good thing. In any case, it seems like he should at least wait for the sales figures before he calls it a bad decision.
2) The OS isn't moving forward: Need I comment? Well, I will because it's just too stupid to pass up. Apple's moving to a more UNIX-centric OS. So is Sun (embracing Linux, they already had Solaris), IBM (embracing Linux over AS400/AIX/etc.) and the rest of the market (see growth of Linux). I just saw an article in Network World (I think) that projected 12 million Linux installations by 2006. Clue: if you think everyone but you is crazy, you may have it backwards.
3) Why can't Apple bring about an entirely new machine: well, I think other people have made good points about the digital hub. It strikes me that he wants something here but doesn't know what. Yes, I'd like the computer from Star Trek too, but we can't have it yet.
4) There's a post (supposedly from him) pointing to an article on The Register that implies that Apple's given up on advertising to anyone but "Dummies and Losers". Quite the oposite: I've seen Apple in more technical places lately than I ever have. I'm a Java programmer, so I'll talk from that angle. They were HUGE at JavaOne. They've a two-page spread in almost every Java developer magazine talking about the virtues of Mac OS X. It's just not true! Just like Dell's got the "Dell Dude" and yet hits the server market pretty hard, Apple has a two-sided strategy.
Well, I've ranted long enough, but hopefully you got the point that I think this guy is full of crap.
"Let your heart soar as high as it will. Refuse to be average." - A. W. Tozer
hmmmm, the car metaphor.
I liken stock PCs to the Kias and Hyundais out there. I liken macs to the mercedes and ferarris. Why? Because SGI and Sun make 18 wheelers. They can haul a bunch of ferarris for thousands of miles without stopping at the speed of a fast Hyundai.
Makes sense? good. Also, macs Suns and SGI boxes have manual transmissions, PCs have automatic transmissions.
hmmm..........and my mac plus is a tricycle made by a german toy company..........
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so basically he is right (accidentally) because he touches on the issue of confused marketing behind the use of the "macintosh" brand
understandable. I think apple has muddled the waters in what it means to be a "mac". this doesn't mean the "mac" is dead, but I think it's entirely warranted that they re-evaluate the brand name.
why not start at their OS level. MacOSX and MacOSXS. Hell. Remove the "mac". OSXS should not be run on what is quintessentially the macintosh... a little home computer that has a smiley face when you boot it up and originally came with a built in handle.
MacOSXS running on XServe... you hardly want to bring the idea of a "mac" into the picture, you want it to be seen as a serious piece of computing equipment with a serious operating system. Kill the bouncing shit in the docking bar on the server. Kill the fluffy shit. A little less "mac" and a little more serious.
anyway, it's getting late and this is just a rant now. enjoy.
I know you want to believe that, but before Windows had USB support, Apple introduced the iMac and forced Mac users to use USB. Yes, PCs had USB ports, but you couldn't do anything with them, and there were no USB peripherals available anyway.
Do you notice how all those early USB peripherals were translucent and came in colors? Did that have anything to do with Windows 98? Of course not! All that stuff was made for the iMac craze... it took a few years for PCs to catch up with USB, just like with Firewire.
-- if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic - Lewis Carrol
For that matter, my TI 99/4A with the Speech Synthesizer add-on could say anything that I typed, and that was 20 years ago! It just required a short BASIC program, about 6 or 7 lines.
I guess you're also using OmniWeb? I'd never tried the Speech tool before tonight. Works pretty good, but I don't plan to use it often.
"Common Sense Ain't" -Unknown