I've admitted that Apple hasn't held the speed record. But yet you seem unwilling to believe/accept that they may hold it now. I'll let you decide who's being unreasonable.
How does using a complier that is platform-agnostic benefit one side or the other?
And while you're chewing on that one, google around a bit for news on just how useful Intel's tweaked-out compiler is for anything other than SPEC2000 scores.
And it seems to me that you can't get over the fact that maybe, just maybe, Intel isn't the top of heap (again).
I'm one of the few Mac fanboys who will admit that for the last two years or so, the G4 (#@!#$! Motorola) and corresponding architecture has lagged behind the Intel world in terms of raw speed.
But not now. Once the 2x2ghz G5's can be tested widely, it'll be a repeat of the introduction of the G4, when Apple was clearly in front of x86.
And their modifications to the Dell? Since they got it as it shipped, and they modified it, they didn't test it as it shipped.
Yep. They modified. For better performance on their tests, while the same is not true of the G5. They made that as stock as possible.
Apple did all they could to make the test even, from using the came compiler to making the G5 match shipping units to insuring the Dell box had all the speed tweaks it could. And it *still* lost.
Get over it. x86 hasn't always been the reigning speed champ.
And there is the fundamental difference between iTMS and all other major label efforts to date. Simple, consistent, non-invasive DRM. I strongly doubt that the creators of Palladium have the same DRM in mind that Apple uses.
Sure, they'll use it, just like Buy Music does. And more than likely, they'll re-create Buymusic's spectacular LACK of success, too.
It's not enough to beat consumers into legal downloads with a stick. Unless there are positive reasons to switch to legal downloads, people won't do it.
There was a Jerry Pournelle non-fiction short story from way back about what the future with networking everywhere could be like. I thought it amazing, and couldn't wait for it to happen.
It did, and the widespread use of the Internet is definitely the defining element in the last ten years of computing.
Now the question is, what are we going to do with it (besides more pr0n, of course)? The social changes brought on by a constantly networked world have only begun to form. Bell had no idea that 1800HOTSTUD was a possiblity when the phone was invented. The Wright brothers never imagined 9/11. What the Internet will bring us in ten years is beyond our dreaming.
I needed a second machine for my home, and we went with the iMac. It's worth the extra $$$ for the small footprint, my home is getting crowded. And it was my wife, not me, who insisted we get a Mac. I wanted a Wintel box for testing, she wanted a Mac because "They just work."
The size, features and price/point of the Apple notebooks are outstanding, though. If you're looking at Apple, I'd start there. Wait a month or so, as they'll be updated soon. Having access to Apache, PHP, all my design apps (Photoshop, Illustrator) and MS Office all at once and on one machine is wonderful.
Ummmn, you've never owned a Mac, and yet you claim the iBook is a dog?
Okaaaaayy.
My 700 mhz iBook was very comparable in actual performance to the laptops of the time, and at 900 mhz, it's kept pace. The battery life, size and weight of an iBook set the standards for years in the industry. If you like a space heater in you lap, by all means, get an X86. If you want to work for an afternoon without stopping to hunt for an electrical outlet, get an iBook.
"Give me a 1Ghz+ G4 with 512MB, 40GB+ hard drive with a DVD/CDRW for around $1,200 and I would buy it in a heart beat. I can get this type of setup on X86 for $700 or so,
In general, yes. I used to work selling cameras, and we loved it when the sucker, errrr, customer, bought an extended warrranty.
On my iMac, I don't have AppleCare. It just sits there, not much to go wrong
On my iBook? Oh yeah. I abuse the hell out of the poor thing daily, toting it around with me wherever I go. Apple's been very good on repair, too. It's easily worth the price to pay for insurance on something that's this valuable (not in terms of $$$, but convienence) to me. AppleCare on a portable is the way to go.
TIF / RAW files are the best quality, far more so than even lightly compressed JPEG's. And there's no time when shooting people to re-save as another file format. We tried Firewire for a while, but ended up with Gigabit EtherNet.
1) Use a 12" powerbook as your server. Set the PB to run while closed, switch the Airport card into access point mode, and enable FTP server. You now have a 60GB storage point nearby. The photog can either carry the PB himself, or an assistant can carry it. Several photographers can be supported by a single PowerBook.
I have yet to see anyone run a PowerBook (or any Apple laptop) fully closed. All of them go to sleep with the cover closed. The work arounds for this are all low-tech, usually a pencil or piece of foam that blocks the lid slightly open.
2) Bluetooth should be next. As GPRS data rates fall, I should be able to connect my camera to my T68i and upload data to my servers back at the office rather than carry a bulky powerbook.
And then wait awhile as the 18meg RAW transers.
3) Police State Beware! Around the world there has been a proliferation of surveylence cameras spying on the civilian population. Now an individual can take this camera to Area 51 or the Aswan High Dam and start taking pictures. When the police show up to confiscate the film, they find nothing because the images are already gone. Most useful application is keeping protests peaceful.
4) WTF is up with the digital SLRs? I want nothing to do with the weight and bulk of an SLR's mirror and prism, nor the minimum distance between the back of the lens and the film plane. Voigtlander needs to bring their Leica clones into the digital world, enabling compact interchangable lens cameras with ultra-wide lenses.
I've never owned a Leica, but I love my Contax G2, and have owned a multitude of small cameras (XA2 and the like). I agree, I'd love to see that. But a rangefinder is useless to a sports photog, and they're a good percentage of the pro digital market right now. In the meantime, I've found that the Canon G2 Powershot is a good alternative to the digital SLR
The studio I work at is all digital. We use PhaseOne backs on Hassies and Sinar for the big stuff, and D1's for smaller shots.
In the beginning, we tried moving files from the production Macs to ones in another room for client viewing during the shoot.
It failed miserably. There is no way the bandwidth of even 802.11g can keep up with the file sizes of even the D1. We ended up running Gigabit Ethernet between the client computers and the production stations.
Now, we have a client who carries an AirPort equipped PowerBook with him, and it was neat to shoot, edit and then transfer the final image over to him via wireless, and then have him walk out the door with the photo already placed in Quark.
Ugh. You hit the nail on the head. I enjoy the freedom I get when I shoot editorial. I lose it when I shoot in the studio, especially since we've went digital there. The Art Director acts more like a movie director in that setting, watching the photos as the pop up on the screen. The photographer has been moved down a peg to a kind of still-frame cinematographer, ceeding a portion of the creative work to his client. With Polaroids, what was on the final frame was still up to you, but with digital, the AD can (And often does) tweak every last detail to his liking, and no longer relies on the photographer's skill.
The effects this "innovation" will have on reportage is chilling. No longer will it be a shooter in the field relying on his grasp of the situation, empathy with his subject, and skill and timing to get the shot, but rather it will be an editor by the pool with a laptop who will decide what gets shot and how.
"1957 brought to the silver screen his 'I Bianche Notre' adapted by Dostoyevsky, a mannered and romantic melancholy of snow and mist and moonlit encounters on canal bridges. 'Boccaccio 70' followed five years later and the following year saw 'The Leopard'! So impressed was I with this motion picture treatment of the Risorgimento that I went along to Somerset House and changed me own name to Leopard, preferring it to me original handle, 'Panther' (Aargh). I digress."
Big props to here for transcribing one of the best Monty Python episodes, ever.
RTFA. The compilers Dell and Intel uses for their SPEC tests are notorious for being tweaked to the point of uselessness in comparing real world performance. And your logic is inherently flawed, btw, when you argue that Apple's specs, from their website, are not valid, yet Dell's, from their website, are.
And while you're busy mulling that over in your mind, I agree, let's wait 'til a third party sees these, and can compare side by side.
I wonder when (not if, when) dirt-cheap computer (not inexpensive, cheap) you built goes kablooey, who can the sucker, eerrr, customer you built it for call to for fix it? Nope, they'll just chuck it out, curse themselves, and try again, this time hoping for a better result. In the mean time, my little iBook will keep rolling, despite the abuse I heap on it daily, knowing that if anything does go wrong, I have the best customer care in the business (Consumer Reports sayeth so) behind it.
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I've admitted that Apple hasn't held the speed record. But yet you seem unwilling to believe/accept that they may hold it now. I'll let you decide who's being unreasonable.
And while you're chewing on that one, google around a bit for news on just how useful Intel's tweaked-out compiler is for anything other than SPEC2000 scores.
And it seems to me that you can't get over the fact that maybe, just maybe, Intel isn't the top of heap (again).I'm one of the few Mac fanboys who will admit that for the last two years or so, the G4 (#@!#$! Motorola) and corresponding architecture has lagged behind the Intel world in terms of raw speed.
But not now. Once the 2x2ghz G5's can be tested widely, it'll be a repeat of the introduction of the G4, when Apple was clearly in front of x86.
Yep. They modified. For better performance on their tests, while the same is not true of the G5. They made that as stock as possible.
Apple did all they could to make the test even, from using the came compiler to making the G5 match shipping units to insuring the Dell box had all the speed tweaks it could. And it *still* lost.Get over it. x86 hasn't always been the reigning speed champ.
Okay, how about NASA ?
That's not something I'd admit to in a public forum such as this.
In the words of Bullwinkle "this time, for sure!"
and there wasn't any BS DRM making them unusable
And there is the fundamental difference between iTMS and all other major label efforts to date. Simple, consistent, non-invasive DRM. I strongly doubt that the creators of Palladium have the same DRM in mind that Apple uses.It's not enough to beat consumers into legal downloads with a stick. Unless there are positive reasons to switch to legal downloads, people won't do it.
Since when do "Reason" and "Microsoft" go together? ;-)
There was a Jerry Pournelle non-fiction short story from way back about what the future with networking everywhere could be like. I thought it amazing, and couldn't wait for it to happen.
It did, and the widespread use of the Internet is definitely the defining element in the last ten years of computing.
Now the question is, what are we going to do with it (besides more pr0n, of course)?
The social changes brought on by a constantly networked world have only begun to form.
Bell had no idea that 1800HOTSTUD was a possiblity when the phone was invented. The Wright brothers never imagined 9/11. What the Internet will bring us in ten years is beyond our dreaming.
The size, features and price/point of the Apple notebooks are outstanding, though. If you're looking at Apple, I'd start there. Wait a month or so, as they'll be updated soon. Having access to Apache, PHP, all my design apps (Photoshop, Illustrator) and MS Office all at once and on one machine is wonderful.
"Oh, wait, 11 *pounds*? Damn, we did all our calculations for an 11 *kilo* plane!" (sound of a spash)
Okaaaaayy.
My 700 mhz iBook was very comparable in actual performance to the laptops of the time, and at 900 mhz, it's kept pace. The battery life, size and weight of an iBook set the standards for years in the industry. If you like a space heater in you lap, by all means, get an X86. If you want to work for an afternoon without stopping to hunt for an electrical outlet, get an iBook."Give me a 1Ghz+ G4 with 512MB, 40GB+ hard drive with a DVD/CDRW for around $1,200 and I would buy it in a heart beat. I can get this type of setup on X86 for $700 or so,
Okay, You got it. Now go buy it.On my iMac, I don't have AppleCare. It just sits there, not much to go wrong
On my iBook? Oh yeah. I abuse the hell out of the poor thing daily, toting it around with me wherever I go. Apple's been very good on repair, too. It's easily worth the price to pay for insurance on something that's this valuable (not in terms of $$$, but convienence) to me. AppleCare on a portable is the way to go.
TIF / RAW files are the best quality, far more so than even lightly compressed JPEG's. And there's no time when shooting people to re-save as another file format. We tried Firewire for a while, but ended up with Gigabit EtherNet.
I have yet to see anyone run a PowerBook (or any Apple laptop) fully closed. All of them go to sleep with the cover closed. The work arounds for this are all low-tech, usually a pencil or piece of foam that blocks the lid slightly open.
2) Bluetooth should be next. As GPRS data rates fall, I should be able to connect my camera to my T68i and upload data to my servers back at the office rather than carry a bulky powerbook.And then wait awhile as the 18meg RAW transers.
3) Police State Beware! Around the world there has been a proliferation of surveylence cameras spying on the civilian population. Now an individual can take this camera to Area 51 or the Aswan High Dam and start taking pictures. When the police show up to confiscate the film, they find nothing because the images are already gone. Most useful application is keeping protests peaceful.4) WTF is up with the digital SLRs? I want nothing to do with the weight and bulk of an SLR's mirror and prism, nor the minimum distance between the back of the lens and the film plane. Voigtlander needs to bring their Leica clones into the digital world, enabling compact interchangable lens cameras with ultra-wide lenses.
I've never owned a Leica, but I love my Contax G2, and have owned a multitude of small cameras (XA2 and the like). I agree, I'd love to see that. But a rangefinder is useless to a sports photog, and they're a good percentage of the pro digital market right now. In the meantime, I've found that the Canon G2 Powershot is a good alternative to the digital SLR
In the beginning, we tried moving files from the production Macs to ones in another room for client viewing during the shoot.
It failed miserably. There is no way the bandwidth of even 802.11g can keep up with the file sizes of even the D1. We ended up running Gigabit Ethernet between the client computers and the production stations.Now, we have a client who carries an AirPort equipped PowerBook with him, and it was neat to shoot, edit and then transfer the final image over to him via wireless, and then have him walk out the door with the photo already placed in Quark.
The effects this "innovation" will have on reportage is chilling. No longer will it be a shooter in the field relying on his grasp of the situation, empathy with his subject, and skill and timing to get the shot, but rather it will be an editor by the pool with a laptop who will decide what gets shot and how.
Let the currency exchange jokes commence!
;-)"1957 brought to the silver screen his 'I Bianche Notre' adapted by Dostoyevsky, a mannered and romantic melancholy of snow and mist and moonlit encounters on canal bridges. 'Boccaccio 70' followed five years later and the following year saw 'The Leopard'!
Big props to here for transcribing one of the best Monty Python episodes, ever.So impressed was I with this motion picture treatment of the Risorgimento that I went along to Somerset House and changed me own name to Leopard, preferring it to me original handle, 'Panther' (Aargh).
I digress."
RTFA. Dell's benchmarks use a highly suspect, overly optimized compiler.
And while you're busy mulling that over in your mind, I agree, let's wait 'til a third party sees these, and can compare side by side.
There is a reason why they didn't compare the G5 to a chip that is not out yet.
Think.
There's a reason for that. I'll let you figure out what it is.
I wonder when (not if, when) dirt-cheap computer (not inexpensive, cheap) you built goes kablooey, who can the sucker, eerrr, customer you built it for call to for fix it? Nope, they'll just chuck it out, curse themselves, and try again, this time hoping for a better result. In the mean time, my little iBook will keep rolling, despite the abuse I heap on it daily, knowing that if anything does go wrong, I have the best customer care in the business (Consumer Reports sayeth so) behind it.