Interesting point from Apple Paris keynote...
...Steve Jobs mentions that the industry average for percentage of total sales that are comprised of laptops is aprox 26% (26% of computers sold by a company are laptops).
The Apple average is 42%.
Keynote is now available for those that wish to view it: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/expo03/
The Apple average is 42%.
Keynote is now available for those that wish to view it: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/expo03/
Comments
I just bum my roommate's PC for games.
Originally posted by Aquatic
Apple laptops are the best.
Or it could be that Apple desktops have been the worst until recently.
In any case, I'm quite certain this iMac I have now will be the last desktop I ever own.
I remember a couple of years ago when Macworld did a story about laptops becoming desktop replacements (it was a feature article and it was the issue with the TiBook "squashing" a blue & white G3 on the cover). Anyway, they talked about how in the coming months/years, laptops will be as powerful and full-featured as their desktop brothers and that you will no longer have to compromise or give up anything when you get a portable.
IMO, with the current 15" and 17" PowerBooks, that time has arrived.
Originally posted by pscates
Anyway, they talked about how in the coming months/years, laptops will be as powerful and full-featured as their desktop brothers and that you will no longer have to compromise or give up anything when you get a portable.
IMO, with the current 15" and 17" PowerBooks, that time has arrived.
Well, it hasn't happened yet -- the G5 systems kick the new powerbooks up and down the block in terms of performance. Of course that's not to say the powerbooks aren't extremely usable (I'm typing this on a much slower PB (DVI) 800) but "as powerful and full-featured as their desktop brothers?" Not yet, maybe not ever due to power supply constraints.
-- Mark
NeilyB
12" AluBook
And I'd imagine these latest PowerBooks could all but hold their own against some of the later model G4 towers from the past 12 or so months.
But I'm looking beyond sheer power (fast is fast, right?). My overall point was that look at these new PowerBooks and notice the things they have now: FireWire 800, USB 2, 64MB graphics stock, AirPort Extreme, Bluetooth, the cool keyboard, 2GB max RAM, huge hard drives, speedy optical drives (no more 8x CD-R), more video-out options than you can shake a stick at, gorgeous displays, etc.
I think the G5, cool and nice as it is, is NOT a mainstream, everyone-has-it type of computer. There are far more non-pro types here who are well-served by the iStuff and the G4-based PowerBooks.
For those that value mobility and so forth, you could make an argument that the current PowerBooks area damn near perfect place to be (since nothing better exists on that front).
Gotta compare Appl...never mind.
In any case, I'd put these new 15" and 17" PowerBooks up against ANY G4 tower I've used in recent jobs. Again, I'm looking beyond - as usual - the sheer numbers/speed aspects and thinking "wow, I get EVERYTHING on this machine...and it fits right under my arm and goes wherever I do? Cool!"
For me, that absolutely trumps the hell out of ANY G5 tower. Sorry, but I'd rather be cool everywhere than just my house.
Originally posted by pscates
IMO, with the current 15" and 17" PowerBooks, that time has arrived.
i have a dual 1.25 GHz G4 tower, 1.5 GB RAM, 80 GB drive with GeForce4 Ti that would beg to differ.
SMACK!!!
I said - again - I'm talking about the I/O, the optical drive options/capabilities, the video/graphics performance, the latest goodies like FireWire 800, USB 2.0, AirPort Extreme, Bluetooth, the 1GB RAM barrier now broken, etc.
Buying an Apple portable these days, especially the 15" and 17" PowerBook, means you don't have to "do without" or compromise or settle for sub-par features, components, etc.
Listen.
Originally posted by pscates
Sorry, but I'd rather be cool everywhere than just my house.
Is that the AppleInsider line of the year, or what?
For me, once you become unstrapped from your desk, and you are free to take your work wherever you go, you'll never go back to a desktop. People who know I am a Mac-a-holic (a disease worth having), ask me when I'm getting the G5 tower. And as appealing as the power and speed the G5 tower offers, I seriously think about it and then return to the fact that it sits under my desk and never leaves the house. So I tell them I am going to wait. On a side note, why bother get a dual 2 GHz now when they'll really be kicking serious PC ass with a 3 GHz machine in a year. That's something I may get when it arrives. I may go to a every other type of deal where I get a notebook, get a desktop, get a notebook...but for now, I'm stuck on the Apple notebooks. They rock!
Originally posted by pscates
Jeez...you guys just don't get it. Is everything only measured in "speed"?
you are absolutely right. it's also measured in things such as overall price, return-on-investment, and expansion capabilities. desktops can add almost every I/O you mentioned through PCI slots, allow for upgrading video down the road (and much easier swapping of internals), and who the hell uses airport extreme in a desktop, other than to act as a base station. and then, it's way cheaper to just buy something like a linksys wireless-g router.
anyway, i'm not trying to be difficult here. you are right in that the powerbooks appear to be "best in class," but they are just simply not a "desktop replacent." instead, i think it is a MUCH better investment of funds to have a fairly strong desktop home base, and a medium strength laptop to allow for mobility when necessary.
then again, maybe it's my own fragile ego talking, deperately not wanting to hear anyone say that my newest investment is anything less than "da bomb."
Originally posted by pscates
Jeez...you guys just don't get it. Is everything only measured in "speed"?
When someone talks about computers being "equally powerful," that's normally used to mean "comparably capable of the same tasks," which requires closer speed than the difference between the new powerbooks and the new G5 machines.
Anyway, the differentiations between powerbooks and g5s at this point add up to these:
G5 advantages:
Faster CPU
Faster (and upgradeable) graphics card
more disk space
more RAM
PCI cards for custom applications
more expansion ports
Powerbook advantages:
Lightweight and portable
able to run from battery power
CardBus cards for custom applications
-- Mark
Originally posted by rok
who the hell uses airport extreme in a desktop
LAN parties babeeeee
Actually, I've been quite happy with my powerbook 800 as a desktop replacement for the last year or so. With an external keyboard and mouse and the Cinema Display HD that I picked up when I preordered the G5, it's been great.
The only problem, and the reason for getting the G5, is that performance on 3D work just isn't where I'd like it to be on the 800.
-- Mark
Originally posted by rok
and who the hell uses airport extreme in a desktop
Me
I use it both as a base station for my Pocket PC, but also as a way to share files between my G5 and Pocket PC.
Originally posted by mark_wilkins
LAN parties babeeeee
wait...an apple user going to a LAN party? that'll be the day
Current feature being editing on g4 733 desktop.
By the time i'm ready to edit, G5 powerbook with be out!!!
Originally posted by mark_wilkins When someone talks about computers being "equally powerful," that's normally used to mean "comparably capable of the same tasks," which requires closer speed than the difference between the new powerbooks and the new G5 machines.
First off, none of you people (okay, maybe four) even HAVE a G5. It's brand-spanking new and I know the dual 2.0GHz model (allegedly the end-all/be-all, mother of all towers) isn't even out in volume yet.
Suddenly 1-1.4GHz G4-based machines are immediately useless? All this stuff that was done on them over the few years can't be done anymore? You have to get a G5?
Just messing with you a bit.
But seriously, I'm quite aware of all the G4 vs. G5 stuff. But it's kinda in a league of its own at the moment.
It's not like suddenly people can begin to use Photoshop, do digital video, animation, high-end design, scientific analysis, etc. because the mighty G5 has arrived. They were doing all this stuff BEFORE on various G4-based gear.
Only now, they get to do it a bit faster I guess.
STILL doesn't shoot down my point that for MANY people (not all, okay? I get it already...), these 15" and 17" PowerBooks ARE indeed a "desktop replacement". I know two people who, in the past year, have flung the ol' tower and one got a TiBook and the other got himself a 17" PowerBook and they're happy as can be. They're doing EVERYTHING they did on their Quicksilver G4...anywhere they want: patio, bedroom, park, client's office, etc.