Slashdot Mirror
PowerBook, Because Lives Are On The Line
WCityMike writes "Major Shawn Weed, an intelligence planner with the Third Infantry Division, eschewed his Panasonic Toughbook because it wasn't fast enough in processing giant satellite and reconnaissance images. He put in a requisition for and received a PowerBook G4, the only Apple currently being used in the entire Middle East theater. 'Frankly, lives are in the balance here, so the quicker I can get stuff done accurately, the better,' Weed says."
Um... well, the fastest Toughbooks out there are like 1.8GHz P4s.
If he's utilizing Altivec optimized code (quite possible), it's quite possible that his 1GHz PowerBook can outperform a 1.8GHz P4.
Which tasks are Altivec optimized? Photoshop, for one. Certain encryption/decryption tasks are another. Certain video tasks, as well.
It's certainly within the realm of likely possibility, given the description that "Weed declined to specify what he does exactly, but said he works with giant satellite and reconnaissance images,"
Sure, a P4 is fast but when you're talking about a 800MHz difference, the other things (like cache, registers, Altivec, pipeline depth, etc) make more of a difference.
Now, if they were talking about 2.4GHz P4Ms or 3.0GHz P4 (desktops), that would be different. However, Toughbooks don't scale that fast (yet).
GPL Deconstructed
I have had a Ti G4 for about 8 months. It has not stood up to travel and mobile use at all well. It has had the CD unit replaced (under warranty); currently it does not charge the battery and that will be fixed when I get back to somewhere that has a Mac repair facility; it did not do at all well to operating in high temps; the case is malformed, the paintwork does not stand up to normal use and the hinges are fragile, plus the screen ripples (despite being carried inside its own protective case inside a large carry-on and always carried with me). Overall, it is a good looking but quite fragile piece of kit.
On the other hand I had a G3 Wallstreet for 5 years and it looked and operated as good as new at the end when I passed it on. I wish sometimes that I still had it with me.
Apple puts out lovely stuff but sometimes design flair and form is not sacrificed to necessary function. I will have to think very hard before I spend so much money again on a Mac beauty. And don''t get me started on function versus form of the iPod. I'll wait until a degree of everyday ruggedness is built in again for my next Mac laptop.
I wish the US military all the best and hope they go with Mac. But . . .