
guez
Sep 7, 03:37 PM
Actually the move to Intel has opened Apple to fast depreciation - and that isnt going away.
Many here seem to 'bitch' that Mac is now in competition with the PC in the hardware stakes and sadly that damages your resale value however the benefits are immense, I am sure Apple will be able to secure lower unit costs aswell as faster processors and newer technology. Its great for apple and for us buying, just bad if you sell hardware before it looses all value completely. It also means we will see these refreshes more often and so we will be buying more up to date hardware which as a PC user is great...
This raises an interesting question. I'm not so much interested in depreciation as obsolescence. My experience has been that if you buy the right Mac (this is key), it can last 4 years, or more, and system updates/upgrades will not seriously degrade performance (sometimes there can even be an improvement, as with Panther). This is NOT my experience with Wintel. Is this going to change with Intel? Perhaps the readership of this blog does not fall in this category, but Macs have historically appealed to those who want to spend a little more money for more value (including a longer useful life)-the same people who drive a Honda Civic into the ground rather than buying a Chevy Malibu every three years (sorry, I couldn't think of another example).
Are we entering the age of the Walmart-ifation of Macs: less value, but cheaper?
Many here seem to 'bitch' that Mac is now in competition with the PC in the hardware stakes and sadly that damages your resale value however the benefits are immense, I am sure Apple will be able to secure lower unit costs aswell as faster processors and newer technology. Its great for apple and for us buying, just bad if you sell hardware before it looses all value completely. It also means we will see these refreshes more often and so we will be buying more up to date hardware which as a PC user is great...
This raises an interesting question. I'm not so much interested in depreciation as obsolescence. My experience has been that if you buy the right Mac (this is key), it can last 4 years, or more, and system updates/upgrades will not seriously degrade performance (sometimes there can even be an improvement, as with Panther). This is NOT my experience with Wintel. Is this going to change with Intel? Perhaps the readership of this blog does not fall in this category, but Macs have historically appealed to those who want to spend a little more money for more value (including a longer useful life)-the same people who drive a Honda Civic into the ground rather than buying a Chevy Malibu every three years (sorry, I couldn't think of another example).
Are we entering the age of the Walmart-ifation of Macs: less value, but cheaper?

trekkie604
Feb 19, 11:53 PM
I like the wall paper... Which Orbiter and where'd ya get it? :)
It's Discovery and the image is a combination of 2 photos from NASA's HSF Gallery. You can get it on my dA: http://trekkie604.deviantart.com/art/Shuttle-into-the-Blue-138883539
How do you like the Dash? Saw one on woot the other day.
Not bad, I have it displaying Twitter feeds, NHL scores and weather mostly. If I hadn't have got it for a discount, I'd say the MSRP isn't worth it for the features it has.
It's Discovery and the image is a combination of 2 photos from NASA's HSF Gallery. You can get it on my dA: http://trekkie604.deviantart.com/art/Shuttle-into-the-Blue-138883539
How do you like the Dash? Saw one on woot the other day.
Not bad, I have it displaying Twitter feeds, NHL scores and weather mostly. If I hadn't have got it for a discount, I'd say the MSRP isn't worth it for the features it has.

twoodcc
Dec 14, 09:32 PM
Thanks.
I was over at kakaostats and saw there is someone new this week "elena" (http://kakaostats.com/usum.php?u=1604130), up only since tuesday and they already have over 4M points! Must be an institution with a wicked fast cluster? Some serious players out there...
hey thanks for that link. i didn't know about kakaostats. nice
You are #103 cruncher for the whole project, whao!
And actually #1 and #2 are default user, not real...
Impressive.
Can't wait for Gulftown Mac Pros and SMP2 (maybe 60k PPD with one machine?).
yeah i'm just worried about the price of those new mac pros.
Thanks!
The Gulftowns, SMP2 and GPU3 will make for an impressive bump in PPD I hope. It will be interesting to see, I'm hoping some overhead will get cleaned up as well.
I wonder what companies besides Apple will get their software ported for Grand Central/OpenCL in the next year? Lots of potential there.
yeah i think we all are ready for smp2 and gpu3. should help us all really
Do far grand central/open cl has done nothing for mac users...
so far, yes. but hopefully soon that will change
I was over at kakaostats and saw there is someone new this week "elena" (http://kakaostats.com/usum.php?u=1604130), up only since tuesday and they already have over 4M points! Must be an institution with a wicked fast cluster? Some serious players out there...
hey thanks for that link. i didn't know about kakaostats. nice
You are #103 cruncher for the whole project, whao!
And actually #1 and #2 are default user, not real...
Impressive.
Can't wait for Gulftown Mac Pros and SMP2 (maybe 60k PPD with one machine?).
yeah i'm just worried about the price of those new mac pros.
Thanks!
The Gulftowns, SMP2 and GPU3 will make for an impressive bump in PPD I hope. It will be interesting to see, I'm hoping some overhead will get cleaned up as well.
I wonder what companies besides Apple will get their software ported for Grand Central/OpenCL in the next year? Lots of potential there.
yeah i think we all are ready for smp2 and gpu3. should help us all really
Do far grand central/open cl has done nothing for mac users...
so far, yes. but hopefully soon that will change

NeuralControl
Jan 23, 10:58 PM
My Baby
Is that the 2011 or 2010? How is it treating you so far? Looks amazing.
Is that the 2011 or 2010? How is it treating you so far? Looks amazing.

ccunning
Jul 14, 11:28 AM
I just saw this and though it was pretty interesting:
Sony also introduced their own small-format 90.0 � 94.0 mm disk, similar to the others but somewhat simpler in construction than the AmDisk. The first computer to use this format was the HP-150 of 1983, and Sony also used them fairly widely on their line of MSX computers. Other than this the format suffered from a similar fate as the other new formats; the 5�-inch format simply had too much market share. Things changed dramatically in 1984 when Apple Computer selected the format for their new Macintosh computers. By 1989 the 3�-inch was outselling the 5�-inch.
Here is the source:
Sony's 3.5" Floppy Disk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_drive#The_3.C2.BD-inch_microfloppy_diskette)
Sony also introduced their own small-format 90.0 � 94.0 mm disk, similar to the others but somewhat simpler in construction than the AmDisk. The first computer to use this format was the HP-150 of 1983, and Sony also used them fairly widely on their line of MSX computers. Other than this the format suffered from a similar fate as the other new formats; the 5�-inch format simply had too much market share. Things changed dramatically in 1984 when Apple Computer selected the format for their new Macintosh computers. By 1989 the 3�-inch was outselling the 5�-inch.
Here is the source:
Sony's 3.5" Floppy Disk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_drive#The_3.C2.BD-inch_microfloppy_diskette)

SuperCachetes
Feb 25, 07:37 PM
I wish there were more affordable Diesels in the States. A Cruze might be a bit "too" affordable, but neither can I step up to a Mercedes. The BMW 330d is sweet, though. I have to rule out VWs based on a personal bias. What to do... :o
I'm really keen to see this system (http://www.greasecar.com/faq) in action. Waste oil as fuel = brilliant.
I'm really keen to see this system (http://www.greasecar.com/faq) in action. Waste oil as fuel = brilliant.

Stella
Jun 23, 11:42 AM
This doesn't sound like Apple at all. I call shenanigans.
And HP Touchsmart sucks (to me).
Agreed - Apple just don't implement features 'because they can'. There has to be a benefit to the user for adding touch screens on a desktop. Apple generally don't do gimmicks.
Perhaps there's a new iMac in the pipeline, redesigned to take advantage of touch screen interface?
And HP Touchsmart sucks (to me).
Agreed - Apple just don't implement features 'because they can'. There has to be a benefit to the user for adding touch screens on a desktop. Apple generally don't do gimmicks.
Perhaps there's a new iMac in the pipeline, redesigned to take advantage of touch screen interface?

atad6
Aug 29, 11:16 AM
This is exactly what I predicted would happen when Apple went Intel. Now that Macs can be compared component for component with Wintel machines and new hardware is coming out every month, everyone is worked up about keeping up with latest thing at the best possible price and getting increasingly frustrated with Apple's unwillingness to create a product line with 10000 different machines that each compete with dollar for dollar and component for component with every other machine on the market. Meanwhile, we have people talking about $299 machines with DVD burners (AND Windows? I'd like to see THAT!).
If you're so concerned about keeping up with the Jones, just buy a Dell, already.
I find this amusing as well, all these complaints about how apple is too slow, has outdated hardware, etc etc. Now suddenly that apple's have comparable hardware suddenly they have to follow the same upgrade path as the rest of pc manufactures so they're not obsolete. Remember the g4 powerbooks? They were not only completely underpowered compared to its pc counterparts but also still ridiculously overpriced for what they were performance wise. That can be seen considering the current macbook pros have been proven to be 5x faster in some areas. Now that merom is coming out with a marginal (compared to the g4 to intel transition) 10-15% performance increase many people are complaining that the current yonah processors are just too slow. I just find this amusing considering people bought the underpowered overpriced powerbooks for so long. Apple just has a different business model, whether it is always executed properly is up for debate. They just have different priorities. Who knows when apple will put out the next revision of macbooks but if you're worring about it from a performance perspective you should probably consider buying a pc.
EDIT:
Of course I could be completely wrong and with the whole intel transition apple could put out rapid upgrades to its lines just like the rest of the pc world. I was just going with history, just because apple uses intel chips doesn't mean they'll adopt them like the other companies.
If you're so concerned about keeping up with the Jones, just buy a Dell, already.
I find this amusing as well, all these complaints about how apple is too slow, has outdated hardware, etc etc. Now suddenly that apple's have comparable hardware suddenly they have to follow the same upgrade path as the rest of pc manufactures so they're not obsolete. Remember the g4 powerbooks? They were not only completely underpowered compared to its pc counterparts but also still ridiculously overpriced for what they were performance wise. That can be seen considering the current macbook pros have been proven to be 5x faster in some areas. Now that merom is coming out with a marginal (compared to the g4 to intel transition) 10-15% performance increase many people are complaining that the current yonah processors are just too slow. I just find this amusing considering people bought the underpowered overpriced powerbooks for so long. Apple just has a different business model, whether it is always executed properly is up for debate. They just have different priorities. Who knows when apple will put out the next revision of macbooks but if you're worring about it from a performance perspective you should probably consider buying a pc.
EDIT:
Of course I could be completely wrong and with the whole intel transition apple could put out rapid upgrades to its lines just like the rest of the pc world. I was just going with history, just because apple uses intel chips doesn't mean they'll adopt them like the other companies.

SkyeHack
Jan 30, 12:31 PM
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2664/3783825700_12dc0c1c06_o.jpg
2008 Honda Civic Si
2008 Honda Civic Si

bedifferent
May 2, 05:00 PM
…or hold down the "Option" key and click away…
I've been using this - AppCleaner (http://www.freemacsoft.net/)
Better one, CleanMyMac (http://macpaw.com/)
Manage Plugins/Extensions, intelligent uninstaller, automatic device cleanup, cache cleaner, logs cleaner, language cleaner, remove unneeded binary files (PowerPC code mostly, shrinks app sizes and improves launch time), searches and removes leftover files from removed apps not cleaned by CleanMyMac, quick erase, clean out app system junk to improve performance, empty trash from app's that have self-contained trash bins (such as iPhoto), and a lot more. Great app (god I sound like a commercial! lol)
I've been using this - AppCleaner (http://www.freemacsoft.net/)
Better one, CleanMyMac (http://macpaw.com/)
Manage Plugins/Extensions, intelligent uninstaller, automatic device cleanup, cache cleaner, logs cleaner, language cleaner, remove unneeded binary files (PowerPC code mostly, shrinks app sizes and improves launch time), searches and removes leftover files from removed apps not cleaned by CleanMyMac, quick erase, clean out app system junk to improve performance, empty trash from app's that have self-contained trash bins (such as iPhoto), and a lot more. Great app (god I sound like a commercial! lol)

Big D 51
Apr 11, 10:08 AM
Yes, but I prefer an automatic. I'm lazy :D

seanr
Oct 14, 06:53 PM
You talk about the price but I look at it this way. shore it might not be that great for the price and the difference between the hign end mini and the low end imac is not worth the hign end mini price but the point of the mini is to get people off the windows crap.I was going to switch back when the first intel mini came out but wanted something bettter for the price I ended up getting another windows one but now that the low end mini has due core and more ram I'm looking at selling my pc and getting a mac.I have been a fan of apple and the mac for many years and can see that it is not there hardware that sells the systems but there OS. I feel vista is doomed to fail and apple will be there to pick up the pieces when leopard comes out. I think Macworld 07 will be the best yet and will put windows and the pc on the down fall for good.Apple will be king in 2007 and we need to stop complaining and know apple will keep on putting the goods out.

powerbook911
Sep 6, 09:14 PM
From everything I can tell, the movie trailers in Front Row are 480p.
I don't think Apple would want to go below this movie trailer quality. Let's HOPE they don't want to. :)
480p would be impressive to sell at $10 and $15 IMHO. To get it delivered directly to your computer in 2-3 hours. Remember, 480p could look better than a DVD, since DVDs are 480i. Of course, it would look better unless they end up putting too much compression on the 480p.
I don't think Apple would want to go below this movie trailer quality. Let's HOPE they don't want to. :)
480p would be impressive to sell at $10 and $15 IMHO. To get it delivered directly to your computer in 2-3 hours. Remember, 480p could look better than a DVD, since DVDs are 480i. Of course, it would look better unless they end up putting too much compression on the 480p.

CXsjr
Feb 8, 09:56 AM
Oh dear chaps, mine looks almost feeble compared to your big American monster cars!

newagemac
May 3, 09:02 AM
But my iPhone is far more limited than my first Windows PC in that regard. Even with Windows 95 I could go from one app to another while letting the other on load in the background. iOS freezes everything. If I want a video to upload on Facebook, I have no choice but to keep the app open until it's done. On my PC, I can start the upload and then move on to other things while the process is completing.
I find moving to non-true multitasking as a step backward, not a step forward. As you said, out systems capabilites are able to do so much more. I can be playing a computer game, hit the Windows key, and open a media player and never see a drop in performance. Why limit your computer to one task at a time? Kind of defeats the point of multi-core processors.
Uh, this comment is entirely wrong. With iOS, you can download something and move to another app and it will continue downloading in the background. The multitasking APIs have all the obvious backgrounding tasks covered and will likely include more if needed. Basically the goal is to allow background tasks when needed and when not needed let the app suspend and release resources to the apps you actually need. This method in iOS has proven to work far better than traditional operating systems like Mac OS X and Windows. That's why they are bringing it "Back to the Mac OS". The best parts of what they developed in iOS are being added in Lion.
I think most people's problem is that they mistakenly viewed iOS as inferior in every way to Mac OS X but in many ways it is cutting edge and far better than OS X and Windows have ever been. The way iOS multitasking works is the reason very powerful and memory hungry apps like iMove and GarageBand for iPad work so surprisingly well on such a limited memory device. The apps get to use a much larger percentage of the CPU, GPU, and RAM than they do on traditional OSes under normal usage where you have multiple apps open.
Right now I have a bunch of tabs open in Safari on my Mac and it's consuming a little over 1GB of RAM and lots of CPU. If I switch to Photoshop, Safari is still going to be using up all that RAM and CPU I really need for Photoshop when I don't plan on using Safari again until later today. And I don't want to shut it down because I have a bunch things in these tabs that I want to get back to later today including partially typed forum replies, halfway read articles, etc. On the iPad, Safari would suspend and release the RAM and CPU to my currently used RAM/CPU hungry app. That's what they need to bring to Lion.
I find moving to non-true multitasking as a step backward, not a step forward. As you said, out systems capabilites are able to do so much more. I can be playing a computer game, hit the Windows key, and open a media player and never see a drop in performance. Why limit your computer to one task at a time? Kind of defeats the point of multi-core processors.
Uh, this comment is entirely wrong. With iOS, you can download something and move to another app and it will continue downloading in the background. The multitasking APIs have all the obvious backgrounding tasks covered and will likely include more if needed. Basically the goal is to allow background tasks when needed and when not needed let the app suspend and release resources to the apps you actually need. This method in iOS has proven to work far better than traditional operating systems like Mac OS X and Windows. That's why they are bringing it "Back to the Mac OS". The best parts of what they developed in iOS are being added in Lion.
I think most people's problem is that they mistakenly viewed iOS as inferior in every way to Mac OS X but in many ways it is cutting edge and far better than OS X and Windows have ever been. The way iOS multitasking works is the reason very powerful and memory hungry apps like iMove and GarageBand for iPad work so surprisingly well on such a limited memory device. The apps get to use a much larger percentage of the CPU, GPU, and RAM than they do on traditional OSes under normal usage where you have multiple apps open.
Right now I have a bunch of tabs open in Safari on my Mac and it's consuming a little over 1GB of RAM and lots of CPU. If I switch to Photoshop, Safari is still going to be using up all that RAM and CPU I really need for Photoshop when I don't plan on using Safari again until later today. And I don't want to shut it down because I have a bunch things in these tabs that I want to get back to later today including partially typed forum replies, halfway read articles, etc. On the iPad, Safari would suspend and release the RAM and CPU to my currently used RAM/CPU hungry app. That's what they need to bring to Lion.

surroundfan
Sep 6, 06:56 AM
Most of Europe's down. Oz and the US are still up, so a product update's unlikely (I'd guess)...

iJohnHenry
Mar 27, 09:59 AM
Really? How shocking!
Imagine, the U.S. European Command, headed by an American!
Next you'll be telling us that the U.S. President is an American, too.
Oh? He chose to leave those two significant letters out of his post. :confused:
Some more cynical than me (impossible) might consider that disinformation. :rolleyes:
Imagine, the U.S. European Command, headed by an American!
Next you'll be telling us that the U.S. President is an American, too.
Oh? He chose to leave those two significant letters out of his post. :confused:
Some more cynical than me (impossible) might consider that disinformation. :rolleyes:

4God
Aug 29, 03:32 PM
Well, may be off topic but the shipping times on the MacBooks has been inreasing on the Apple Store online U.S. since yesterday. They were at 3-5 business days yesterday and now they're all at 5-7. Could be something, could be nothing.
EDIT: Also, the 17" iMac was at 24 hrs and the 20" iMac was at 1-2 business days when I checked yesterday and now they are both at 1-2 business days.
EDIT: Also, the 17" iMac was at 24 hrs and the 20" iMac was at 1-2 business days when I checked yesterday and now they are both at 1-2 business days.

Epic Xbox Revie
Apr 21, 11:19 AM
The tracking isn't accurate at all!!!!:rolleyes:
fashi0nless
Sep 17, 11:51 PM
I got the griffin reveal case at bestbuy today. real nice. fits really good and looks good, I like the little stand that comes w/ it as well.
MaenXe
Apr 26, 01:33 PM
trademarking app store. How pompous. What's next, trademarking computer store, book store, pet store? LOL.
App is shorthand for Application, it's been in use for almost 20 years: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=app
App Store is a descriptive term for a shop selling a specific product. Such as Pet Store rather than Domestic Animal Store, or PC Store rather than Computer Store. By Apple's reasoning, the first person who used the term Pet Store should have Trademarked it and cornered the market. But since several companies started selling Pets at their Pet Stores without a Trademark, then the term was considered common place.
Personally, I think that the terms iPhone App Store, iTunes App Store, and Mac App Store should be trademarked and would be respected by the general industry.
Also, in Amazon's defense, there usage is Amazon "AppStore", not Amazon "App Store". So, splitting hairs, it's not the same.
M@
App is shorthand for Application, it's been in use for almost 20 years: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=app
App Store is a descriptive term for a shop selling a specific product. Such as Pet Store rather than Domestic Animal Store, or PC Store rather than Computer Store. By Apple's reasoning, the first person who used the term Pet Store should have Trademarked it and cornered the market. But since several companies started selling Pets at their Pet Stores without a Trademark, then the term was considered common place.
Personally, I think that the terms iPhone App Store, iTunes App Store, and Mac App Store should be trademarked and would be respected by the general industry.
Also, in Amazon's defense, there usage is Amazon "AppStore", not Amazon "App Store". So, splitting hairs, it's not the same.
M@
powerbook911
Sep 6, 06:35 PM
The quality needs to be *at least* DVD quality. Of course, with H264 they could do this in smaller file size than traditional DVDs.
However, I somehow doubt they'll do the smart thing and have it DVD quality. We could only hope. If they did, I'd probably buy a handful of movies (3 or 4) before the year ended, if they got some more studios.
However, I somehow doubt they'll do the smart thing and have it DVD quality. We could only hope. If they did, I'd probably buy a handful of movies (3 or 4) before the year ended, if they got some more studios.
iMikeT
Jul 14, 10:16 AM
You mean like when they standardised on CD's?
From what I recall, Philips began working on the compact disk project and Sony later on joined them in that venture.
Also, CDs were not easily accepted as a standard. It did take some time before everyone else adapted.
I must also point out that if you want to take the compact disk standard as an example of standardization, that CDs were the only format in its class. That is, there was no other competition for a standard format. Which brings us to today. Like the Betamax and VHS, we are seeing two formats of next generation's storage medium competing to become a standard.
Just keep in mind Sony's hit/miss ratio for standardization.;)
From what I recall, Philips began working on the compact disk project and Sony later on joined them in that venture.
Also, CDs were not easily accepted as a standard. It did take some time before everyone else adapted.
I must also point out that if you want to take the compact disk standard as an example of standardization, that CDs were the only format in its class. That is, there was no other competition for a standard format. Which brings us to today. Like the Betamax and VHS, we are seeing two formats of next generation's storage medium competing to become a standard.
Just keep in mind Sony's hit/miss ratio for standardization.;)
minnesotamacman
Sep 1, 03:30 PM
You know.... If you wanted to have a beautiful ACD 23" or 30" and hide the computer, there is a bracket that allows a Mac Mini to sit behind the display. I personally don't mind the all-in-one. I was against it, until I got an iMac 2 months ago and love it. So, wouldn't bother me to have the 23" imac... I would get AppleCare and be happy for 3 years.
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