Out here in Omaha, we have cable modem service provided by Cox@Home. Now, Omaha is a very PC heavy city... hell, colleges still require COBOL classes over C and C++. Up until CompUSA arrived, there was two places to buy Macs: a small Apple dealer and a furniture store.
So, when I found out that Cox would install a cable modem for my going on 3 year old Mac, I was almost shocked. What? You're actually going to do it? Supported and all?
See, the problem isn't that Mac's are harder to support or that they are so different that it costs twice as much, it's that people don't realize how similar they are to PCs when it comes to network standards. Yeah, I've heard the DHCP has it's problems, but it's workable.
The common attitude is that they think Macs use some sort of wierd form of networking that won't work with their system. Wrong. Standard TCP/IP, standard 10BaseT Ethernet, same http, same ftp, same smtp, same pop3.
Someone above said why bother with the other 10% of the market, especially when supporting that 90% is so easy. My opinion is why shut out 10% of the market, especially when learning the little differences is so easy that getting that 10% takes little or no effort.
BTW, what the hell on the PC makes getting the MAC address so easy? It's not on a label on the outside of the machine. Last I checked, it wasn't in the Network Neighborhood properties dialog box (or is it just hidden?). I do know that on the Mac, you can go into the System Profiler and it shows the addresses.
Also, another point that has been said is that this isn't just a Mac user whining. It's a non-Microsoft user that's being denied service. And a lot of Slashdot user's could easily find themselves in that group.
So, Apple decides to revise it's license agreement for future agreements and everyone thinks it's the end of FireWire.
Wrong.
Apple has created some very cool technology. And, after seeing all of the demos, I am convinced that this will be the future of Video/Computer convergence.
Remember folks, this is a standard put forth to connect high-quality video devices that just happens to work really good for other devices too (hard drives, CDR, computers, etc). The people buying these devices are already paying a premium, the fee is probally not even raise an eyebrow.
Apple has been working on FireWire since before the first PowerPC machines came out. If I'm not mistaken, it's been at least a good 6-7 years. Now Apple is trying to earn back some of it's investment by licensing the technology on a port by port basis. And everyone thinks its the end of the world.
Let me ask you this... knowing the majority of/. are Open Source advocates, would you be willing to give up 6-7 years of your life to develop a really cool technology, and then give it away? I don't mean spending a couple hours a night hacking at some code. I mean your full time job is working on this new cool technology. Most people would have a hard time doing this. Not that they wouldn't want to, it's just they couldn't. It's not economically feasable.
Now, look at it from Apple's point of view. They have spent millions of dollars developing FireWire. In this time, Apple almost went the way of Commodore and Atari. And they came back from the near dead. And FireWire was one of those core technologies that they didn't can. Considering what they had to go through, I think Apple deserves a buck.
1) There are four not three PCI slots. The fourth slot is a high speed PCI slot which contains the ATI card. If you want to replace the video, replace the card. Otherwise, try out dual-monitor support... it's a hell of a lot better on the Mac.
2) Yes, you'd have to take a slot for the SCSI controller, but EIDE is on the motherboard if speed isn't as big of a deal. Plus, now that Apple is shipping a viable machine with FireWire, high end devices should start appearing (ie, Hard Drives, CDR, etc).
3) Thanks to the iMac, more USB devices exist than did before.
4) I don't think you'll ever find a Mac user that has upgraded or had to upgrade their sound card. That's because it's a part of the Mac chipset and has been standard for quite a long time. Heck, even the original Mac can play sampled sound quite nicely.
This is a awesome machine. Apple has finally addressed the big issues that needed to be addressed. This machine comes standard with 64 megs of RAM. A kick ass video card. 100 megabit Ethernet. 100 mhz bus. And the list goes on. And the price is amazing for what you're getting. Just try to get a name brand PC for that price. The last time I checked, Compaq had a PII 450 with some of the features, but surely not the video card, of the new G3 and it was in the $2100 price range.
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Out here in Omaha, we have cable modem service provided by Cox@Home. Now, Omaha is a very PC heavy city... hell, colleges still require COBOL classes over C and C++. Up until CompUSA arrived, there was two places to buy Macs: a small Apple dealer and a furniture store.
So, when I found out that Cox would install a cable modem for my going on 3 year old Mac, I was almost shocked. What? You're actually going to do it? Supported and all?
See, the problem isn't that Mac's are harder to support or that they are so different that it costs twice as much, it's that people don't realize how similar they are to PCs when it comes to network standards. Yeah, I've heard the DHCP has it's problems, but it's workable.
The common attitude is that they think Macs use some sort of wierd form of networking that won't work with their system. Wrong. Standard TCP/IP, standard 10BaseT Ethernet, same http, same ftp, same smtp, same pop3.
Someone above said why bother with the other 10% of the market, especially when supporting that 90% is so easy. My opinion is why shut out 10% of the market, especially when learning the little differences is so easy that getting that 10% takes little or no effort.
BTW, what the hell on the PC makes getting the MAC address so easy? It's not on a label on the outside of the machine. Last I checked, it wasn't in the Network Neighborhood properties dialog box (or is it just hidden?). I do know that on the Mac, you can go into the System Profiler and it shows the addresses.
Also, another point that has been said is that this isn't just a Mac user whining. It's a non-Microsoft user that's being denied service. And a lot of Slashdot user's could easily find themselves in that group.
So, Apple decides to revise it's license agreement for future agreements and everyone thinks it's the end of FireWire.
/. are Open Source advocates, would you be willing to give up 6-7 years of your life to develop a really cool technology, and then give it away? I don't mean spending a couple hours a night hacking at some code. I mean your full time job is working on this new cool technology. Most people would have a hard time doing this. Not that they wouldn't want to, it's just they couldn't. It's not economically feasable.
Wrong.
Apple has created some very cool technology. And, after seeing all of the demos, I am convinced that this will be the future of Video/Computer convergence.
Remember folks, this is a standard put forth to connect high-quality video devices that just happens to work really good for other devices too (hard drives, CDR, computers, etc). The people buying these devices are already paying a premium, the fee is probally not even raise an eyebrow.
Apple has been working on FireWire since before the first PowerPC machines came out. If I'm not mistaken, it's been at least a good 6-7 years. Now Apple is trying to earn back some of it's investment by licensing the technology on a port by port basis. And everyone thinks its the end of the world.
Let me ask you this... knowing the majority of
Now, look at it from Apple's point of view. They have spent millions of dollars developing FireWire. In this time, Apple almost went the way of Commodore and Atari. And they came back from the near dead. And FireWire was one of those core technologies that they didn't can. Considering what they had to go through, I think Apple deserves a buck.
If I'm not mistaken, the G3 motherboards are the standard ATX form factor. And the drive bays are standard size too.
;)
I guess if you really wanted to, you could swap cases with a new G3 owner who thinks that the case is the worst looking case ever.
Actually, that would be a change... a PC in a blue G3 box... hmmm
Ok, a little clarification is needed...
1) There are four not three PCI slots. The fourth slot is a high speed PCI slot which contains the ATI card. If you want to replace the video, replace the card. Otherwise, try out dual-monitor support... it's a hell of a lot better on the Mac.
2) Yes, you'd have to take a slot for the SCSI controller, but EIDE is on the motherboard if speed isn't as big of a deal. Plus, now that Apple is shipping a viable machine with FireWire, high end devices should start appearing (ie, Hard Drives, CDR, etc).
3) Thanks to the iMac, more USB devices exist than did before.
4) I don't think you'll ever find a Mac user that has upgraded or had to upgrade their sound card. That's because it's a part of the Mac chipset and has been standard for quite a long time. Heck, even the original Mac can play sampled sound quite nicely.
This is a awesome machine. Apple has finally addressed the big issues that needed to be addressed. This machine comes standard with 64 megs of RAM. A kick ass video card. 100 megabit Ethernet. 100 mhz bus. And the list goes on. And the price is amazing for what you're getting. Just try to get a name brand PC for that price. The last time I checked, Compaq had a PII 450 with some of the features, but surely not the video card, of the new G3 and it was in the $2100 price range.