But the reality is you'd pretty much never need to do that because any key where ESC could be used will leave ESC in the TouchBar.
So you're saying that if I run Linux, or Solaris, NetBSD or (even) Windows in a VM on one of the new Macintosh laptops, it will magically know that I am running the vi editor inside the Xterm and give me an ESC key on the glass touchstrip? Or does this only apply if I am running the latest version of whatever derivative version of vi (does Apple even support such a binary?) Apple bundles with the most recent Mac OS?
Oh, that's right. 16M memory limitation. I probably won't run very many VMs.
Maybe Apple will start allowing third party OEMs to sell machines to run their OS. They might have to, because it's the only OS platform that can be used to write the little iOS apps for their money-making gadget line (the phones, music players, set-top-boxes, etc.)
Developers want to do their work on capable machines, after all. Not gimpy consumer boxes you can get at Best Buy.
My father still uses an IBM Thinkpad. One with a Pentium 1 processor that he bought with the employee discount. I remember when it was new, but mom's computer has been upgraded five or six times since then. When he retired, (after 30+ years at IBM starting in the mid 50's) he didn't want to mess with computers much, and for his finances the spreadsheet (Lotus, I believe) on that Thinkpad is perfectly sufficient.
Apple can't keep up with the latest silicon. The 386SX had similar memory limitations to the chips Apple uses. It was a 32 bit processor interally, but for cost reasons it only had a 16 bit external bus.
When your line of PCs is small, and you only put out a few new models each year, it's inevitable that you will fall behind on using the latest silicon.
I have a 3K memory Expansion Board fo the VIC-20 here that was being thrown away at work. It's a commercial third-party expansion board, with six 512 byte chips in sockets.
like the old ZX81 (Timex 1000) 16KB expansion pack did...:-)
NOBODY needs that much memory. The 24 pin SRAM chip inside the ZX81 provided 2K of RAM, which is plenty enough for anybody!
(in fact, if you connected the 16K expansion pack, it disabled (pulled the CS pin to disable) the internal SRAM chip and placed the 16K of DRAM onto the address bus in place of it)
Don't act retarded. People run VMs inside modern machines. At least they do provided the machine has enough RAM in it to run the VMs.
It has ALWAYS been important to have as much RAM as possible connected to your CPUs. That doesn't change because Apple can't keep up with the latest silicon.
How soon before they announce they will no longer make Desktop or Desksite workstation boxes?
They nearly already have. The Mac Pro is a boutique computer in a novelty case.
They're making fewer MacBooks lately, too. Mobile Gadgets are where the money is, it seems.
That's what Wall Street often refers to Apple as these days. "Apple, the gadget maker..." Check it out, you see stock-market oriented journalists referring to Apple as a gadget maker all the time.
Well, sure. Limit it to what you can buy at a clunky big-box store like BestBuy and you're safe.
Now let's talk about what's relevant. Compare that Mac Pro to what a system builder can make using top-of-the-line case, motherboard, power supply, etc.
The Mac Pro is 4 years obsolete in those terms.
So The Mac Pro competes well with prefab junk from Big Box Stores.
No system builder or high end computer is going to be impressed.
Sorry. This isn't apple.slashdot.org where you can preen on about your fruit flavored computers. This is hardware.slashdot.org where real systems are considered.
Hillary only needs to hate Russia long enough to obstruct notice of the Wikileaks contents and get elected. In a few months she can stand on a stage again like a moron, with another 'reset' button.
Applephones, even when in thick protective cases, so they hold some value to trade them in next year, always have a big round cutout so you can see the large Apple logo on the back.
The geniuses at Apple all work in retail at the Apple Stores. They are the ones who reported back about the common problem of lint buildup in the headphone jack. Thank goodness their suggestions got through to the non-genius employees at Headquarters.
The original Mac and Mac Plus keyboard didn't even have a control key. It's a little challenging to even find images of it (all the ebay sellers seem to have extended ADB keyboards) but I found an image with google good enough to zoom in on.
But now - what if the NEXT Apple Watch had cellular support
That reminds me of a small battery operated medical device I coded quite awhile ago. We were prototyping it and marketing wanted something that would make sound. One of the compromises I came up with was a really tiny voice-coil speaker (this was in the early 90's when mobile stuff was much less prevalent). I programmed the device to beep to indicate a low battery condition.
The problem was, when a low battery occurred, the voice coil was the highest drain component in the device, so it would make a little chirp and die. At the time we thought it was pretty comical in the lab. (Obviously we went with a pizeoelectric transducer instead in the final design.)
That's what I think the Apple watch with a cellular link will be. You activate it and it quickly wilts when the battery dies.
Slashdot Mirror
But the reality is you'd pretty much never need to do that because any key where ESC could be used will leave ESC in the TouchBar.
So you're saying that if I run Linux, or Solaris, NetBSD or (even) Windows in a VM on one of the new Macintosh laptops, it will magically know that I am running the vi editor inside the Xterm and give me an ESC key on the glass touchstrip? Or does this only apply if I am running the latest version of whatever derivative version of vi (does Apple even support such a binary?) Apple bundles with the most recent Mac OS?
Oh, that's right. 16M memory limitation. I probably won't run very many VMs.
Maybe Apple will start allowing third party OEMs to sell machines to run their OS. They might have to, because it's the only OS platform that can be used to write the little iOS apps for their money-making gadget line (the phones, music players, set-top-boxes, etc.)
Developers want to do their work on capable machines, after all. Not gimpy consumer boxes you can get at Best Buy.
(reality distortion field fading.... fading.... )
HELP ME, JOBS! OH HELP MEEEEEEE!
They eventually stopped refusing to produce only one button mice, so there is hope.
(It probably cost somebody really important inside Apple a lot of pride when they did that.)
My father still uses an IBM Thinkpad. One with a Pentium 1 processor that he bought with the employee discount. I remember when it was new, but mom's computer has been upgraded five or six times since then. When he retired, (after 30+ years at IBM starting in the mid 50's) he didn't want to mess with computers much, and for his finances the spreadsheet (Lotus, I believe) on that Thinkpad is perfectly sufficient.
Apple can't keep up with the latest silicon. The 386SX had similar memory limitations to the chips Apple uses. It was a 32 bit processor interally, but for cost reasons it only had a 16 bit external bus.
When your line of PCs is small, and you only put out a few new models each year, it's inevitable that you will fall behind on using the latest silicon.
I have a 3K memory Expansion Board fo the VIC-20 here that was being thrown away at work. It's a commercial third-party expansion board, with six 512 byte chips in sockets.
like the old ZX81 (Timex 1000) 16KB expansion pack did... :-)
NOBODY needs that much memory. The 24 pin SRAM chip inside the ZX81 provided 2K of RAM, which is plenty enough for anybody!
(in fact, if you connected the 16K expansion pack, it disabled (pulled the CS pin to disable) the internal SRAM chip and placed the 16K of DRAM onto the address bus in place of it)
Don't act retarded. People run VMs inside modern machines. At least they do provided the machine has enough RAM in it to run the VMs.
It has ALWAYS been important to have as much RAM as possible connected to your CPUs. That doesn't change because Apple can't keep up with the latest silicon.
After 1 year, the battery life will drop by 40% because the batteries are shit. After 3 years, it goes to about 20 minutes.
That matters a lot when the battery has been glued into the case.
*ahem*
"16MB is enough RAM for everybody."
Or was that 640K??
How soon before they announce they will no longer make Desktop or Desksite workstation boxes?
They nearly already have. The Mac Pro is a boutique computer in a novelty case.
They're making fewer MacBooks lately, too. Mobile Gadgets are where the money is, it seems.
That's what Wall Street often refers to Apple as these days. "Apple, the gadget maker..." Check it out, you see stock-market oriented journalists referring to Apple as a gadget maker all the time.
Well, sure. Limit it to what you can buy at a clunky big-box store like BestBuy and you're safe.
Now let's talk about what's relevant. Compare that Mac Pro to what a system builder can make using top-of-the-line case, motherboard, power supply, etc.
The Mac Pro is 4 years obsolete in those terms.
So The Mac Pro competes well with prefab junk from Big Box Stores.
No system builder or high end computer is going to be impressed.
Sorry. This isn't apple.slashdot.org where you can preen on about your fruit flavored computers. This is hardware.slashdot.org where real systems are considered.
A booming business for molded plastic strain reliefs. That's for certain.
Tim Cook has people to buy things for him.
Hillary only needs to hate Russia long enough to obstruct notice of the Wikileaks contents and get elected. In a few months she can stand on a stage again like a moron, with another 'reset' button.
Because it distracts from the info Wikileaks has revealed about Hillary.
I have a pre-1900 house. It's not one of those formaldehyde shitboxes made in the last century.
Applephones, even when in thick protective cases, so they hold some value to trade them in next year, always have a big round cutout so you can see the large Apple logo on the back.
The geniuses at Apple all work in retail at the Apple Stores. They are the ones who reported back about the common problem of lint buildup in the headphone jack. Thank goodness their suggestions got through to the non-genius employees at Headquarters.
The original Mac and Mac Plus keyboard didn't even have a control key. It's a little challenging to even find images of it (all the ebay sellers seem to have extended ADB keyboards) but I found an image with google good enough to zoom in on.
For the average PC user, opening vi is an introduction to Hell.
Nothing they have been trained to do works. At all.
Then how do they zap PRAM???
Televideo are mavericks that way.
But now - what if the NEXT Apple Watch had cellular support
That reminds me of a small battery operated medical device I coded quite awhile ago. We were prototyping it and marketing wanted something that would make sound. One of the compromises I came up with was a really tiny voice-coil speaker (this was in the early 90's when mobile stuff was much less prevalent). I programmed the device to beep to indicate a low battery condition.
The problem was, when a low battery occurred, the voice coil was the highest drain component in the device, so it would make a little chirp and die. At the time we thought it was pretty comical in the lab. (Obviously we went with a pizeoelectric transducer instead in the final design.)
That's what I think the Apple watch with a cellular link will be. You activate it and it quickly wilts when the battery dies.