It's true, Jobs cheated Woz out of some money. Back in the day, before Apple, Woz wrote the first Breakout game. Jobs asked Woz if he could sell it and keep half the money; he took it to Nolan Bushnell and sold it to him for $5000. Jobs then went back to Woz, gave him $350, and said, "There's your half!"
Many years later, Woz (then rich and famous) was flying on a plane when he picked up a magazine and read the story for the first time; he reportedly wept when he read it.
College isn't just about the degree and the career. College is about a way of critically evaluating the world around you.
Of course, you get out of it what you put into it, but I'm willing to bet that most everyone who dropped out of college after the first year will wish, within the following ten years, that they had stuck with it.
AFAIK, Apple has NEVER serialized OS releases, not even developer seeds. Unless someone specifically says that this one is serialized, I think you can assume that it's not.
The trick is going to be, does it run with your particular hardware setup?
that Apple won't threaten Linux on the desktop is that you still have to buy a proprietary box to run OS X x86.
If/when Apple wakes up to the fact that they just invaded the other 97% of the market, and that they could possibly make up for the lost hardware revenue by selling shrink-wrapped OS X copies in volume, then they might be a threat to Linux.
Until that day, Apple is going to continue to sell premium-priced hardware that won't appeal to the average Linux geek.
OS X will install and boot up on generic PPC systems (is it CHRP or PReP? I always forget...). And that without OpenFirmare or any proprietary chips. Apple removed that restriction a looooong time ago.
If Apple has added any hardware-checking to the x86 version, it's code that doesn't exist in the PPC version.
Jobs just gave you 2 years' notice on this, so it's not like this is catching you by surprise. Do you think that G5 will last you another two years? Or even one year, when the first Apple x86 box comes out?
Let's be real, when I start up the Mac, I could care less about the brand of processor inside. It's about the user experience, and that part isn't going to change.
At least you can take comfort in the fact that the CPU is not going to be the limiting factor with Macs anymore. Motorola was a miserable partner. IBM, sadly, wasn't much better.
I've been a Mac user since 1984, so admittedly, the news is a little strange to me, but I generally see this as a positive move.
The Itanium angle is interesting, especially considering that the Itanium was jointly developed by Intel and HP, and Apple already has a partnership with HP, selling iPods.
However, one of the bigger problems that Apple is having with IBM is that laptop sales are overtaking desktop sales in the PC market, but IBM has yet to furnish Apple with a low-power G5 suitable for laptops.
Is the Itanium any more suitable for laptops than the G5? It's supposed to be more of a server chip, so I'm guessing not. And if Apple has to fall back on the Pentium M for its PowerBook line, then that pretty much wipes away the advantage of the Itanium, as all software will have to be recompiled for little endian x86, anyway.
Console gaming is for those who just want a plug-and-play gaming experience at a reasonable cost.
PC gaming is never going to go away. Simply put, there is an installed base of several hundred million users. Is any rational CEO of a software company (gaming or otherwise) simply going to pack up and leave all that money on the table? Absolutely not.
He assumes that Windows has a high variable cost (that is, a high cost of manufacturing per unit sold, as an automobile does). It does not. The only variable cost associated with distributing Windows via OEM channels is the cost of the CD and packaging, and even there, Microsoft doesn't have to mass produce those. Dell has for a long time produced their own Windows CD's, so the variable cost to Microsoft could be the cost of a single CD Master.
The fixed cost of Windows is fairly high, as I'm sure hundreds of millions have gone into its development. However, the fixed cost is easily recovered through volume sales. If I write a shareware program, and my investment of time is ~$1,000, and 1,000 people pay me a dollar to register it, I've recovered my fixed costs; everything else is gravy.
If there is an emerging market of sub-$200 PC's, Microsoft can easily drop the price of Windows to penetrate it. A sub-$200 PC market is likely to be pretty hot, so sales volume would be high, and fixed costs would be easily recovered.
The reason Microsoft charges as much as they do for Windows is because they can. If Linux ever took 20% marketshare or more, I think you'd be surprised how far and how fast the price of Windows would drop.
Look at it this way; Apple probably puts just as much effort into developing Mac OS X as Microsoft puts into Windows. Mac OS X sells for $116, and they only have less than 5% marketshare of PC's. Microsoft has 90% marketshare of PC's, and sells Windows XP Professional for $309. And the ONLY reason MS sells Windows XP Home is to justify the higher price point of Windows XP Professional. XP Home is probably MORE expensive to develop than XP Professional, because Home is simply a version of Professional that's been hobbled.
"The Gnoth-eastern cold front is pushing this Kloud front into our area... it's gonna be Kold enough for the penguins folks! Be sure to wear your Red Hats tomorrow."
"Have a Sun-ny day! I'm Richard Stallman, and now for Mac Sports... take it away, Steve!"
just plugging a network cable into your computer suddenly makes it "unsafe". But Mac and Linux are significantly safer, which is an important distinction.
I've been managing Macs on the network for almost a decade, and have yet to deal with spyware. Viruses, I think I've had 5 or 6 incidents, and most of those were Word macro viruses, which are relatively benign on the Mac because of the different file system structure.
Slashdot Mirror
It's true, Jobs cheated Woz out of some money. Back in the day, before Apple, Woz wrote the first Breakout game. Jobs asked Woz if he could sell it and keep half the money; he took it to Nolan Bushnell and sold it to him for $5000. Jobs then went back to Woz, gave him $350, and said, "There's your half!"
Many years later, Woz (then rich and famous) was flying on a plane when he picked up a magazine and read the story for the first time; he reportedly wept when he read it.
I was thinking it was more an explanation of this.
...whether they are prepared for it or not.
College isn't just about the degree and the career. College is about a way of critically evaluating the world around you.
Of course, you get out of it what you put into it, but I'm willing to bet that most everyone who dropped out of college after the first year will wish, within the following ten years, that they had stuck with it.
...was that he knew Steve Wozniak. Without Woz, Jobs would probably be just a sales account rep somewhere.
Jobs most definitely cruised to fame and fortune of Woz's coattails.
AFAIK, Apple has NEVER serialized OS releases, not even developer seeds. Unless someone specifically says that this one is serialized, I think you can assume that it's not.
The trick is going to be, does it run with your particular hardware setup?
that Apple won't threaten Linux on the desktop is that you still have to buy a proprietary box to run OS X x86.
If/when Apple wakes up to the fact that they just invaded the other 97% of the market, and that they could possibly make up for the lost hardware revenue by selling shrink-wrapped OS X copies in volume, then they might be a threat to Linux.
Until that day, Apple is going to continue to sell premium-priced hardware that won't appeal to the average Linux geek.
OS X will install and boot up on generic PPC systems (is it CHRP or PReP? I always forget...). And that without OpenFirmare or any proprietary chips. Apple removed that restriction a looooong time ago.
If Apple has added any hardware-checking to the x86 version, it's code that doesn't exist in the PPC version.
Jobs just gave you 2 years' notice on this, so it's not like this is catching you by surprise. Do you think that G5 will last you another two years? Or even one year, when the first Apple x86 box comes out?
Let's be real, when I start up the Mac, I could care less about the brand of processor inside. It's about the user experience, and that part isn't going to change.
At least you can take comfort in the fact that the CPU is not going to be the limiting factor with Macs anymore. Motorola was a miserable partner. IBM, sadly, wasn't much better.
I've been a Mac user since 1984, so admittedly, the news is a little strange to me, but I generally see this as a positive move.
The Itanium angle is interesting, especially considering that the Itanium was jointly developed by Intel and HP, and Apple already has a partnership with HP, selling iPods.
However, one of the bigger problems that Apple is having with IBM is that laptop sales are overtaking desktop sales in the PC market, but IBM has yet to furnish Apple with a low-power G5 suitable for laptops.
Is the Itanium any more suitable for laptops than the G5? It's supposed to be more of a server chip, so I'm guessing not. And if Apple has to fall back on the Pentium M for its PowerBook line, then that pretty much wipes away the advantage of the Itanium, as all software will have to be recompiled for little endian x86, anyway.
...the last case you'll ever need.
Console gaming is for those who just want a plug-and-play gaming experience at a reasonable cost.
PC gaming is never going to go away. Simply put, there is an installed base of several hundred million users. Is any rational CEO of a software company (gaming or otherwise) simply going to pack up and leave all that money on the table? Absolutely not.
Is this a new Linux distro?
He assumes that Windows has a high variable cost (that is, a high cost of manufacturing per unit sold, as an automobile does). It does not. The only variable cost associated with distributing Windows via OEM channels is the cost of the CD and packaging, and even there, Microsoft doesn't have to mass produce those. Dell has for a long time produced their own Windows CD's, so the variable cost to Microsoft could be the cost of a single CD Master.
The fixed cost of Windows is fairly high, as I'm sure hundreds of millions have gone into its development. However, the fixed cost is easily recovered through volume sales. If I write a shareware program, and my investment of time is ~$1,000, and 1,000 people pay me a dollar to register it, I've recovered my fixed costs; everything else is gravy.
If there is an emerging market of sub-$200 PC's, Microsoft can easily drop the price of Windows to penetrate it. A sub-$200 PC market is likely to be pretty hot, so sales volume would be high, and fixed costs would be easily recovered.
The reason Microsoft charges as much as they do for Windows is because they can. If Linux ever took 20% marketshare or more, I think you'd be surprised how far and how fast the price of Windows would drop.
Look at it this way; Apple probably puts just as much effort into developing Mac OS X as Microsoft puts into Windows. Mac OS X sells for $116, and they only have less than 5% marketshare of PC's. Microsoft has 90% marketshare of PC's, and sells Windows XP Professional for $309. And the ONLY reason MS sells Windows XP Home is to justify the higher price point of Windows XP Professional. XP Home is probably MORE expensive to develop than XP Professional, because Home is simply a version of Professional that's been hobbled.
the STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL!
So in your face, Anonymous Coward!
Hilter: Join me, Indy! Come over to the Nazi side!
Indy: No!
Hitler: Please?
Indy: OK! Do you have any children you want me to kill?
.NOT!
"The Gnoth-eastern cold front is pushing this Kloud front into our area... it's gonna be Kold enough for the penguins folks! Be sure to wear your Red Hats tomorrow."
"Have a Sun-ny day! I'm Richard Stallman, and now for Mac Sports... take it away, Steve!"
Was he the house? I could see that, because being wooden seems to be what he does best. (Ba dum bum)
I was trying very hard not to look at the cringe-inducing scenes of Anakin and Padme.
I actually found myself in tears when I saw the Gungan. "Jar Jar, please... I beg of you... please say something to save this movie!"
Sigh... the destruction of my childhood memories is complete.
...I just plug it into the back of the VOIP adapter that Vonage sent me.
just plugging a network cable into your computer suddenly makes it "unsafe". But Mac and Linux are significantly safer, which is an important distinction.
I've been managing Macs on the network for almost a decade, and have yet to deal with spyware. Viruses, I think I've had 5 or 6 incidents, and most of those were Word macro viruses, which are relatively benign on the Mac because of the different file system structure.
It's had a hole here and there, sure... but come on... how many hackers out there are trying to hack the Mac?
Even safer... (gulp) IE for Mac.
I'm just waiting for IPv7...
Never invest in today's technology, always wait until it's tomorrow.
if we want to improve the internets!!!!
By which, you are referring to both the Internet and Internet 2, I assume...