Well, Amelio sure as hell wasn't listening to the customers.
Jobs came in and made many many cuts of some rather good-sounding projects. He cut dead wood and still brought out great products that the consumers loved. I seriously doubt that they could have done that without Jobs. If Apple produced the iMac and kept all the other things that were really dragging them down, it wouldn't have had nearly the impact.
Listening to customers is the best way to get them to buy your products, of course, and Jobs did that (really, anyone could have done that, but he did) but to make a company profitable (especially one in the not-so-savory condition Apple was in), you need more than that.
Most users don't need and don't want to put their hands in the system, and Apple knows that.
That's the kind of thing I like to hear... too many people say the iMac is crap (for the wrong reasons). And always, and without exception, their first reason is that it doesn't have a floppy drive. Usually second is that it doesn't have a lot of upgrade options. I have a floppy drive, and I've used it maybe twice in the time I've used it. Far too many people (usually geeks) forget that "normal" people have to use computers too. People who would rather spend time with other things besides their computers (hell, some people are actually afraid of the things!). Simplicity is what will get more people using computers. As well as Linux runs, someone who doesn't know what to do will be content with using Windows (even through the crashes) or MacOS (they don't care if it's preemptive and memory protected).
But, say what you want about Apple (btw, it's the G3 that was "sabotaged" to not accept the G4, not the other way around)... that they are greedier and more coporate, etc... but then, Jobs isn't a 20-year-old hippie from Berkeley anymore. You can't deny that they haven't tried to bring computers to the more computer ignorant, though. And damn it, I think they did a good job.
Aside from the fact that there are third parties that have used/made G4 upgrades in those "tampered" Blue & Whites, this doesn't dismiss the fact that a G4 put on a Yosemite (Blue & White) motherboard does not give you much of a perceptible speed gain. In FPS's like Quake and Unreal, you get about 10% and that's it. The 400mhz G4 Apple is shipping now proves that (of course, there isn't much AltiVec-enabled software to test that yet.
To get the real power out of the G4, you need a Sawtooth motherboard, which takes advantage of all the G4's new features (increased memory bandwidth, etc.), and also gives AGP, btw. If I were to get a G4 upgrade and slap it into my Beige G3 system, I wouldn't get much of a difference than if I bought a similar-speed G3 upgrade.
Although, yes, I would still see a large speedup with AltiVec-enabled programs, but until I got some of those (Q3 probably isn't one of them, and I don't do much video editing right now) it's not much of a difference. You could see this as Apple making sure that the ones who want the best processor they can buy also get the system that will let them use it to the fullest. I would feel gipped if I have a hugely fast processor and find out that I'm not using a lot of what it can do because my older architecture is preventing the processor for really churning out numbers.
Before you all start smacking Apple for something, think about what it means in some other terms than your anti-corporation (they only want money), free-everything view.
You don't care about anything but Linux (or, dare I say, DOS?) anyway, so why are you commenting?
I've used the MacOS almost my entire computing life and, true, a CLI is a useful thing, but I can get FAR more done with the MacOS GUI than I could with a CLI.
I've done many useful things without a CLI, you apparently don't know how to fully use a GUI. I'm not saying this as a flame or flame-bait, but seriously, if you can't do anything without a CLI, you don't have GUI-using skills and you're baised against them. You won't even acknowledge the usefulness of a GUI.
And as for the G3 vs P2, that's true. It was twice as fast, in integer benchmarks. But the G4 was tested using Intel's tests and came out twice as fast. The side by side demos during Jobs' keynote were quite impressive.
I'm tired of Apple basically admitting in court that "trade dress" is all they have to differentiate their product in the marketplace
Ok, say you weren't the intelligent reader of/. you are today. Say you have little to no knowledge of computers (except how to use Word and that Windows crashes when you don't want it to). You look at these two computers. They look very much alike, but you don't know the difference between a MHz and a CDROM.
At this point, all Apple has is the designs of its case. With people who don't know these things, technical merit means squat. You and I (and hopefully everyone on/.) know what's what. The difference is that the iMac isn't being marketed to us (which is why I dismiss techies who complain about the iMac's lack of floppy drive). It's being marketed to the entry-level consumer market.
If you want quality, buy quality, Joe Schmoe who has never touched a computer in his life but really wants one will definately be going at least partly on looks.
The purpose of government, as stated in the declaration of independance is to secure the rights of the people, NOT implement the will of the people. If the will of the people were simplistically implemented, a tyranny of the majority would be short following.
The problem, of course, lying the fact that that the right that the people want secured is exactly that: what they want. It was the whole purpose of having elected leaders. When the elected person wasn't voting for what the people wanted, s/he would be replaced.
And although I hold to my belief that people, in general, are idiots, I would rather listen to a whole lot of them then a few people who might be gone in a year tell me that it's not ok that my kids can blow stuff up or learn about different religions that fit them better than Christianity.
It is precisely the will of the people that we hired those boobs to uphold, mostly because those people don't want anything bad to happen to themselves and in the process, securing their rights.
What I don't like about this is the fact that people would rather use their elected officials to get a blanket movement to cover something that the parents themselves should be doing anyway... that way they can keep working until 8 at night and say "My kids are taken care of."
And at least everyone in that mass making up "the people's will" is looking out for themselves. And since they are, and they are still "normal" people, then if they want something protected for them, they protect it for me too. A dictator looks for himself. I'm not a dictator, so it's unlikely that what he wants is what I want. A farmer in Ohio wants lower taxes, well... what can I say. Doesn't everyone?
And if the majority is tyrranizing, at least most of the people will be happy.
Slashdot Mirror
Well, Amelio sure as hell wasn't listening to the customers.
Jobs came in and made many many cuts of some rather good-sounding projects. He cut dead wood and still brought out great products that the consumers loved. I seriously doubt that they could have done that without Jobs. If Apple produced the iMac and kept all the other things that were really dragging them down, it wouldn't have had nearly the impact.
Listening to customers is the best way to get them to buy your products, of course, and Jobs did that (really, anyone could have done that, but he did) but to make a company profitable (especially one in the not-so-savory condition Apple was in), you need more than that.
The Happy Blues Man
Most users don't need and don't want to put their hands in the system, and Apple knows that.
That's the kind of thing I like to hear... too many people say the iMac is crap (for the wrong reasons). And always , and without exception, their first reason is that it doesn't have a floppy drive. Usually second is that it doesn't have a lot of upgrade options. I have a floppy drive, and I've used it maybe twice in the time I've used it. Far too many people (usually geeks) forget that "normal" people have to use computers too. People who would rather spend time with other things besides their computers (hell, some people are actually afraid of the things!). Simplicity is what will get more people using computers. As well as Linux runs, someone who doesn't know what to do will be content with using Windows (even through the crashes) or MacOS (they don't care if it's preemptive and memory protected).
But, say what you want about Apple (btw, it's the G3 that was "sabotaged" to not accept the G4, not the other way around)... that they are greedier and more coporate, etc... but then, Jobs isn't a 20-year-old hippie from Berkeley anymore. You can't deny that they haven't tried to bring computers to the more computer ignorant, though. And damn it, I think they did a good job.
The Happy Blues Man
Aside from the fact that there are third parties that have used/made G4 upgrades in those "tampered" Blue & Whites, this doesn't dismiss the fact that a G4 put on a Yosemite (Blue & White) motherboard does not give you much of a perceptible speed gain. In FPS's like Quake and Unreal, you get about 10% and that's it. The 400mhz G4 Apple is shipping now proves that (of course, there isn't much AltiVec-enabled software to test that yet.
To get the real power out of the G4, you need a Sawtooth motherboard, which takes advantage of all the G4's new features (increased memory bandwidth, etc.), and also gives AGP, btw. If I were to get a G4 upgrade and slap it into my Beige G3 system, I wouldn't get much of a difference than if I bought a similar-speed G3 upgrade.
Although, yes, I would still see a large speedup with AltiVec-enabled programs, but until I got some of those (Q3 probably isn't one of them, and I don't do much video editing right now) it's not much of a difference. You could see this as Apple making sure that the ones who want the best processor they can buy also get the system that will let them use it to the fullest. I would feel gipped if I have a hugely fast processor and find out that I'm not using a lot of what it can do because my older architecture is preventing the processor for really churning out numbers.
Before you all start smacking Apple for something, think about what it means in some other terms than your anti-corporation (they only want money), free-everything view.
The Happy Blues Man
You don't care about anything but Linux (or, dare I say, DOS?) anyway, so why are you commenting?
I've used the MacOS almost my entire computing life and, true, a CLI is a useful thing, but I can get FAR more done with the MacOS GUI than I could with a CLI.
I've done many useful things without a CLI, you apparently don't know how to fully use a GUI. I'm not saying this as a flame or flame-bait, but seriously, if you can't do anything without a CLI, you don't have GUI-using skills and you're baised against them. You won't even acknowledge the usefulness of a GUI.
And as for the G3 vs P2, that's true. It was twice as fast, in integer benchmarks. But the G4 was tested using Intel's tests and came out twice as fast. The side by side demos during Jobs' keynote were quite impressive.
The Happy Blues Man
I'm tired of Apple basically admitting in court that "trade dress" is all they have to differentiate their product in the marketplace
/. you are today. Say you have little to no knowledge of computers (except how to use Word and that Windows crashes when you don't want it to). You look at these two computers. They look very much alike, but you don't know the difference between a MHz and a CDROM.
/.) know what's what. The difference is that the iMac isn't being marketed to us (which is why I dismiss techies who complain about the iMac's lack of floppy drive). It's being marketed to the entry-level consumer market.
Ok, say you weren't the intelligent reader of
At this point, all Apple has is the designs of its case. With people who don't know these things, technical merit means squat. You and I (and hopefully everyone on
If you want quality, buy quality, Joe Schmoe who has never touched a computer in his life but really wants one will definately be going at least partly on looks.
The purpose of government, as stated in the declaration of independance is to secure the rights of the people, NOT implement the will of the people. If the will of the people were simplistically implemented, a tyranny of the majority would be short following.
The problem, of course, lying the fact that that the right that the people want secured is exactly that: what they want. It was the whole purpose of having elected leaders. When the elected person wasn't voting for what the people wanted, s/he would be replaced.
And although I hold to my belief that people, in general, are idiots, I would rather listen to a whole lot of them then a few people who might be gone in a year tell me that it's not ok that my kids can blow stuff up or learn about different religions that fit them better than Christianity.
It is precisely the will of the people that we hired those boobs to uphold, mostly because those people don't want anything bad to happen to themselves and in the process, securing their rights.
What I don't like about this is the fact that people would rather use their elected officials to get a blanket movement to cover something that the parents themselves should be doing anyway... that way they can keep working until 8 at night and say "My kids are taken care of."
And at least everyone in that mass making up "the people's will" is looking out for themselves. And since they are, and they are still "normal" people, then if they want something protected for them, they protect it for me too. A dictator looks for himself. I'm not a dictator, so it's unlikely that what he wants is what I want. A farmer in Ohio wants lower taxes, well... what can I say. Doesn't everyone?
And if the majority is tyrranizing, at least most of the people will be happy.
You'd think if Billy were a nice guy he'd pay for it himself. Subsidize the costs out of his own pocket... but that would be too much to hope for.
Then again, instead of paying higher costs, this would give people an opportunity to consider a different OS.