YAY.. back to Universal Binaries again!!! /sarcasm
But seriously - we're talking about a new Apple computer that's incompatible with EVERYTHING and whose only real market feature, other than being an Apple product, is that it's as powerful as a NETBOOK?
Dumb. why would apple, who decided that their chip designs couldn't keep up with the market, start making chips again.Here's a rumor, microsoft is thinking of ditching project natal and focus all their energy on recreating the power glove with interchangable weapons.
@Digital9: If you're referring to the PowerPC line of processors, IBM develops those, not Apple. IBM wasn't paying enough attention to the portable market (no PowerBook G5), so Apple switched because the G4 simply couldn't keep up with modern x86 processors.
@Digital9: first of all Apples chip designs where perfectly fine, the problems where with IBM and Motorola.
Second other than the G3 Apple really didnt design any chips after that, much of the G4 and G5 where from the other two in the group.
Third they now OWN a chip maker.
So its not stupid, its actually smart. They are cutting out the middle man (and thus making more profit than they would otherwise be making due to chip licensing) AND get to tightly integrate it into their device.
@Jim Topoleski: ah ok. I wasn't 100% sure of the relationship. All I knew was that at some point, Apple wasn't happy with where development was going (particularly in portables), so they decided to jump ship (for this reason, among others).
I remember Giz was reporting via a supposed expert analyst that the touch screen would not come out until next year. But as I said before (in my comments), Apple will not buy huge amounts of LCD screens, just to sit on them indefinitely. They want there inventory to move quikcly, and letting these screens sit in a warehouse until next year would be absurd.
@jpitsch: Yeah. If they have these screens, they're going to do something with them. Q3 seems reasonable, anything past that would be too long to just sit on them.
@N@tedog: Something tells me not even Apple would charge $800 for a CrunchPad. Call me a fanboy, but I'm pretty sure this will have some crazy new features no one even knew they wanted yet or something. My only question is whether it will run full OS X (likely), iPhone OS (unlikely), or some totally new "Tablet OS" (possible).
If it comes out, it comes out. If it doesn't, it doesn't. Yes, a bunch of people who read tech blogs think it would be pretty nifty if there was an Apple tablet, so much so, that if they had sufficient money to buy one, they would seriously consider buying one.
Apple knows how to run their business and if there is no tablet, then I'm fairly certain that Apple has some market data justifying the decision.
As I've said, I try not to second-guess the business judgment of global corporations with $80b in market capitalization.
@pɹɐoqʎǝʞuǝʞoɹq: I'm not saying they're infallible - not in the least. I apply the same standard to Mr. Softee - and I despise the Office 2007 redesign.
I'm just saying that big companies make big decisions based on a lot of data. And when it comes to tech, there's R&D costs to consider even before it's brought to market.
Yes, Apple TV is a failure, as was the Cube, and the Newton. But the iPod did pretty well, in spite of heavy criticism of being useless when it was released.
And, in the interests of being fair and balanced, Microsoft Bob, Windows ME, and Vista were failures. But Windows 95, 98, 2000, and XP kicked some serious ass, as did the XBox.
@OMG! Ponies!: The 20th Anniversary Macintosh was a big flop, but it paved the way for the current iMacs. The cube also a failure helped in terms of creating the Mac Mini.
No doubt, lessons learned from the MacBook Air, and the Apple TV will pave the way for better products in the future.
@gmjhowe: I agree.. it's more like the misses are public prototypes, premature and half-baked, but for the most part, not orphaned rejects. Even the Newton is arguably a precursor of the iPhone. Apple TV seems conceptually strong, but currently weak in implementation. And with Apple now a consumer behemoth, while it's hard to see them ever coming out with another 20th anniversary type mac as a stocking stuffer for their most caricatured customers, it arguably begat the iMac.
It's impossible to judge the tablet yet because, well, no one knows what it will be. Remember when iPhone rumors derided a kludgy iPod with a physical phone keyboard?
Personally, I do love me some iPhone. However, if I need to do any serious internetting, the screen is too small. A 3 inch internet isn't the internet.
A tablet with a larger screen would have spared me from Panera's asiago bagels (actually pretty good) during a recent trip. I needed the internet on an internet class screen because my iPhone was too small. The iPhone is great for quick answers, but not perusing.
Ah....who are we kidding?
Let's face it, as soon as Apple comes out with a tablet, scrape away the bashers who will hate it no matter what ("what?! No time travel?!?") and the rest of us are going to want it 5 nanoseconds into the keynote. Apple's been working on it for years, it's not going to suck, and even if it does, it will have enough win in it that nitpick as we will, we will, all of us, glance at our piggy banks with smash in our eyes.
@RainyDayInterns: GM also wasn't putting out good product that consumers wanted... for YEARS. They failed to pick up on the trends of "going green", and they had WAY too many selections which were all very similar. THAT was their downfall: too many gas hogs, too many cars that were too similar to each other. Ask any analyst, they'll tell you. My father works as an auditor for these companies.
Apple, on the other hand, doesn't have a huge selection of computers. They have 1 or 2 for each type: a few notebooks, ranging in price and power, a few desktops, a few all-in-one's, and that's it. They have their bases covered, but they're not overloaded. And the fact that their market share has gone up significantly (as far as Apple's market share is concerned) in the last few years, they obviously make products that people want.
They're doing just fine. More than just fine; they're doing fantastic.
Isnt it obvious? it even sounds similar: Macbook-Netbook
Apple's gonna release a Macbook using an Atom 330 and a 9400M (ION) as an inexpensive answer to the netbook craze (since the Air is still too expensive). Its going to have a 10' screen and no optical drive.
I would love to see it going for $499 or less, but I doubt it will be below $699, since after all we are talking about an Apple product.
Anyway, a Tablet? yeah, because tablets are all the rage right now! Have you ever seen any tablet becoming popular? anywhere?
07/28/09
07/28/09
07/28/09
07/13/09
But seriously - we're talking about a new Apple computer that's incompatible with EVERYTHING and whose only real market feature, other than being an Apple product, is that it's as powerful as a NETBOOK?
Wait.. why the hell am I surprised?
07/14/09
07/14/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
That's an image I really didn't need in my head.... *shudder*
07/13/09
I need bleach for my brain!
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
Second other than the G3 Apple really didnt design any chips after that, much of the G4 and G5 where from the other two in the group.
Third they now OWN a chip maker.
So its not stupid, its actually smart. They are cutting out the middle man (and thus making more profit than they would otherwise be making due to chip licensing) AND get to tightly integrate it into their device.
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
Apple knows how to run their business and if there is no tablet, then I'm fairly certain that Apple has some market data justifying the decision.
As I've said, I try not to second-guess the business judgment of global corporations with $80b in market capitalization.
07/13/09
07/13/09
I'm just saying that big companies make big decisions based on a lot of data. And when it comes to tech, there's R&D costs to consider even before it's brought to market.
Yes, Apple TV is a failure, as was the Cube, and the Newton. But the iPod did pretty well, in spite of heavy criticism of being useless when it was released.
And, in the interests of being fair and balanced, Microsoft Bob, Windows ME, and Vista were failures. But Windows 95, 98, 2000, and XP kicked some serious ass, as did the XBox.
07/13/09
Not saying the tablet will be a killer product, but just because a company is big never guarantees that they always know what they are doing.
Sometimes...customer desires does actually matter.
07/13/09
No doubt, lessons learned from the MacBook Air, and the Apple TV will pave the way for better products in the future.
07/13/09
It's impossible to judge the tablet yet because, well, no one knows what it will be. Remember when iPhone rumors derided a kludgy iPod with a physical phone keyboard?
Personally, I do love me some iPhone. However, if I need to do any serious internetting, the screen is too small. A 3 inch internet isn't the internet.
A tablet with a larger screen would have spared me from Panera's asiago bagels (actually pretty good) during a recent trip. I needed the internet on an internet class screen because my iPhone was too small. The iPhone is great for quick answers, but not perusing.
Ah....who are we kidding?
Let's face it, as soon as Apple comes out with a tablet, scrape away the bashers who will hate it no matter what ("what?! No time travel?!?") and the rest of us are going to want it 5 nanoseconds into the keynote. Apple's been working on it for years, it's not going to suck, and even if it does, it will have enough win in it that nitpick as we will, we will, all of us, glance at our piggy banks with smash in our eyes.
07/13/09
Apple, on the other hand, doesn't have a huge selection of computers. They have 1 or 2 for each type: a few notebooks, ranging in price and power, a few desktops, a few all-in-one's, and that's it. They have their bases covered, but they're not overloaded. And the fact that their market share has gone up significantly (as far as Apple's market share is concerned) in the last few years, they obviously make products that people want.
They're doing just fine. More than just fine; they're doing fantastic.
06/12/09
Apple's gonna release a Macbook using an Atom 330 and a 9400M (ION) as an inexpensive answer to the netbook craze (since the Air is still too expensive). Its going to have a 10' screen and no optical drive.
I would love to see it going for $499 or less, but I doubt it will be below $699, since after all we are talking about an Apple product.
Anyway, a Tablet? yeah, because tablets are all the rage right now! Have you ever seen any tablet becoming popular? anywhere?