They take a costly and cool technology and produce it in such incredible quantity that it becomes affordable
Is 5% market share really "incredible quantity"? Eventually, when 5 percent of PC's ship with LCD's, then PC's will account for more LCD sales than macs will.
Plus, I don't think that Apple wants LCD prices to drop. They're not making a dime on CRT's right now, and need to pay for all that "open source" software development somehow...
They take a costly and cool technology and produce it in such incredible quantity that it becomes affordable
Remember that it's Apple's customers that subsidize the cost of new tech so that it ends up being affordable for the rest of the marketplace.
This year, mac buyers will shell out an extra $600 to get an LCD instead of a CRT.
Next year, they'll pay an extra $300.
In two years, LCD's will be cheap and commonplace, and PC's will ship with LCD's by default.
Should PC owners thank our wealthier (or less thrifty) mac bretheren for this?
Remember, crucial has cheap ram (esp. DDR), and is owned by Micron. Plus, you can get a 15% discount on your first purchase (http://www.crucial.com/webpromo).
...but when this news got to the late Mr. Sagan, he sued Apple...
I don't know if I'm more shocked that Mr. Sagan can somehow act from beyond the grave, or disappointed that our legal system allows deceased people to file lawsuits.
Why will it be shit? It looks to be just as capable as an imac. Actually, the video card is probably too good. You could cut almost $50 off the vidcard and still end up with a competitive PC.
The best thing about having a child in the house is that you can buy things like gameboys, RC trucks, etc and claim that it's for them. My recent TiVo and upcoming new PC will blow my toy budget for year, but my son will be turning 4 in June, so it looks like I will be getting a Gameboy Advance for me^H^H him.
I wouldn't mind ads that were bigger, as long as banner creators would clean up their act a bit. For starters:
- No deceptive ads, like "You won $100! Click here to collect"
- No fake GUI's. Ads with fake textboxes or button suck, and deceive novices.
- No blinking!
- Flash or shockwave ads must have a "pause" button
- Java ads shouldn't suck 100% CPU (ie: "shock the monkey" banner)
Many people will agree that the Ultima series went to crap after Ultima VI, because VII was the first non-turn-based Ultima. I also hated the transition to Ultima VII because the conversation system got dumbed down -- from the old "type anything" method to "click on keywords" (like in console RPG's).
It's obvious why Apple is getting the first batch of GeForce3's:
If NVidia supplies GeForce3's to the PC market, competition among manufacturers will quickly drive prices (and profits) down.
If NVidia supplies GeForce3's to Apple, then monopolistic pricing applies. They can charge whatever price they want. Mac users are quite accustomed to being gouged, so sales shouldn't really suffer.
I find it quite disturbing that despite the imac's increased graphics memory and CPU speed, "The Mac forums are blazing with commentary on the new iMac colors."
During college (ten years ago), I met a guy who was stockpiling 4004's. He used to work for BC Tel (a telco in Canada), and figured that they'd be worth something someday. I doubted that they would be.
While everyone is busy rejoicing Microsoft's departure from the land of Java, I'd like to remind them of what else Java is losing:
- Microsoft's innovations. Feel free to knock their OS'es, but their language experience is great. They built a wickedly fast (albeit nonstandard) JVM way before anyone else could.
- Top-notch tools. Dev studio is one of the slickest IDE's out there, and puts the other clumsy, bug-ridden java tools to shame (jbuilder, cafe).
- Exposure. Like it or not, Microsoft represents the majority. Losing MS won't make it any easier for java to gain mainstream acceptance. Wouldn't it be great if IE5 supported Java 2 right out of the box?
PC's are too noisy to even do justice to CD quality audio, let alone whatever niceness THX offers. I'm certain that this is why so many people can't tell the difference between MP3 and CD audio -- because they're sitting right next to a PC that has four fans and a couple 7200rpm hard drives.
Try bringing a hair dryer into the next symphony that you attend:)
If you count all of the places that sell colored/modded PC cases, there's at least a hundred varieties available. This means that if you buy one, there's almost no chance that you'll ever meet someone with the same case as yours (esp. since most folks just have plain, store-bought PC's anyways).
In the imac world, there's only a few colors available (bondi blue is the most common), so nobody really ends up with a unique case.
Has anyone made much progress with functional, practical PC mods, like how to keep the darn things quiet? Right now, I'm working in a room with about 4 PC's around me, and can barely hear myself think due to all the fan noise (no, I can't replace them with imacs). Here's the issues that I'm aware of:
- Power supply fan. Probably the biggest culprit. I understand that there are several manufacturers of quiet PSU's, and that 30dB is the target for a quiet PC. Is there such a thing as a PSU whose fan only turns on when necessary (at least turn off in sleep/suspend mode)?
- Other fans. Faster CPU's and video cards require better airflow, which require more/bigger fans, which increase noise. How do you get better airflow with less noise?
- Hard drives. Faster RPM hard drives create tons of noise, especially when it causes case vibration. I've heard of hard drive enclosures (Silent Drive?), but I don't think they work with 7200+RPM drives (too much heat)
- Case design. Does a bigger, heavier (metal vs. plastic?) case reduce noise? What about vibration?
That's because these mods are about *customized* cases that are used to differentiate your PC from anyone else's. Imacs are all identictal (except in fruity color), and are used as a symbol of membership in the Cult of Jobs.
BTW, case mods and colored PC's have existed *long* before the imac came out.
I'm a Canadian who currently lives in California, so I've experienced both medical systems quite a bit.
In the US, it's a two-tiered system. The middle and upper-class get very good medical service, while the bottom 25% of society are pretty much screwed.
In Canada, it's a single system. Everybody gets the same slow, crappy service.
As long as the Canadian medical system continues to be overloaded / underfunded, it will be plagued by long wait times and outdated equipment.
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Is 5% market share really "incredible quantity"? Eventually, when 5 percent of PC's ship with LCD's, then PC's will account for more LCD sales than macs will.
Plus, I don't think that Apple wants LCD prices to drop. They're not making a dime on CRT's right now, and need to pay for all that "open source" software development somehow...
Remember that it's Apple's customers that subsidize the cost of new tech so that it ends up being affordable for the rest of the marketplace.
This year, mac buyers will shell out an extra $600 to get an LCD instead of a CRT.
Next year, they'll pay an extra $300.
In two years, LCD's will be cheap and commonplace, and PC's will ship with LCD's by default.
Should PC owners thank our wealthier (or less thrifty) mac bretheren for this?
Remember, crucial has cheap ram (esp. DDR), and is owned by Micron. Plus, you can get a 15% discount on your first purchase (http://www.crucial.com/webpromo).
You'll be hard-pressed to find an Ultima fan who would agree that U8 was a brilliant success.
I don't know if I'm more shocked that Mr. Sagan can somehow act from beyond the grave, or disappointed that our legal system allows deceased people to file lawsuits.
Why? We all know that mac folk (escpecially the self-proclaimed "rabid" ones) have lots of money to burn.
Why will it be shit? It looks to be just as capable as an imac. Actually, the video card is probably too good. You could cut almost $50 off the vidcard and still end up with a competitive PC.
I propose "f*ckedemployee.com"
Don't you remember? "All these worlds are yours--except EUROPA. Attempt no landings there."
The best thing about having a child in the house is that you can buy things like gameboys, RC trucks, etc and claim that it's for them. My recent TiVo and upcoming new PC will blow my toy budget for year, but my son will be turning 4 in June, so it looks like I will be getting a Gameboy Advance for me^H^H him.
- No deceptive ads, like "You won $100! Click here to collect"
- No fake GUI's. Ads with fake textboxes or button suck, and deceive novices.
- No blinking!
- Flash or shockwave ads must have a "pause" button
- Java ads shouldn't suck 100% CPU (ie: "shock the monkey" banner)
Many people will agree that the Ultima series went to crap after Ultima VI, because VII was the first non-turn-based Ultima. I also hated the transition to Ultima VII because the conversation system got dumbed down -- from the old "type anything" method to "click on keywords" (like in console RPG's).
If NVidia supplies GeForce3's to the PC market, competition among manufacturers will quickly drive prices (and profits) down.
If NVidia supplies GeForce3's to Apple, then monopolistic pricing applies. They can charge whatever price they want. Mac users are quite accustomed to being gouged, so sales shouldn't really suffer.
Is this what "Think different" is about?
During college (ten years ago), I met a guy who was stockpiling 4004's. He used to work for BC Tel (a telco in Canada), and figured that they'd be worth something someday. I doubted that they would be.
Knight rider carries superconducting cables to Detriot? Wow, it's good to see that Hasselhoff found new work after baywatch got canned last week...
Nowadays, unions serve to enable employees to exploit employers.
Unions are a great way for a group of paint-sniffin' dropouts to use strongarm tactics to get more than their fair share out of life.
Considering that most tech folks (especially programmers) are wildly overpaid, I don't think they'll need to resort to union tactics anytime soon.
- Microsoft's innovations. Feel free to knock their OS'es, but their language experience is great. They built a wickedly fast (albeit nonstandard) JVM way before anyone else could.
- Top-notch tools. Dev studio is one of the slickest IDE's out there, and puts the other clumsy, bug-ridden java tools to shame (jbuilder, cafe).
- Exposure. Like it or not, Microsoft represents the majority. Losing MS won't make it any easier for java to gain mainstream acceptance. Wouldn't it be great if IE5 supported Java 2 right out of the box?
'nuff said.
Try bringing a hair dryer into the next symphony that you attend :)
"Admiral, there be whales here".
In the imac world, there's only a few colors available (bondi blue is the most common), so nobody really ends up with a unique case.
- Power supply fan. Probably the biggest culprit. I understand that there are several manufacturers of quiet PSU's, and that 30dB is the target for a quiet PC. Is there such a thing as a PSU whose fan only turns on when necessary (at least turn off in sleep/suspend mode)?
- Other fans. Faster CPU's and video cards require better airflow, which require more/bigger fans, which increase noise. How do you get better airflow with less noise?
- Hard drives. Faster RPM hard drives create tons of noise, especially when it causes case vibration. I've heard of hard drive enclosures (Silent Drive?), but I don't think they work with 7200+RPM drives (too much heat)
- Case design. Does a bigger, heavier (metal vs. plastic?) case reduce noise? What about vibration?
Can anyone offer any tips here?
BTW, case mods and colored PC's have existed *long* before the imac came out.
In the US, it's a two-tiered system. The middle and upper-class get very good medical service, while the bottom 25% of society are pretty much screwed.
In Canada, it's a single system. Everybody gets the same slow, crappy service.
As long as the Canadian medical system continues to be overloaded / underfunded, it will be plagued by long wait times and outdated equipment.