Holy Speed Bump, Batman!
If Steve J *AND* IBM had not broke tradition and had provided insight into their road map with the "3 gigs in a year" statement where would we be today?
First, for those following the situation since January we would be relieved that IBM finally overcame the production hurdles of moving from 130 to 90 nm chips.
While we would have tried to guess the top speed over these months we would have been rather pleased with a 25% bump in the "gig" speed, trying to guess just how much faster that would end up being when other improvements, like the 1.25 FSB, were included.
Liquid cooling? Fantastic! Lots of threads on that one alone.
Lots of discussions on how long before the Power 5 conversion, how long before the Gx chips with dual processors? How is iBM doing on the move to the 65 nm fab process? Damn, this is an exciting time!
In other words, we would have been impressed with the amount of new technology in the new PMs. We would have been excited about a 25% increase in the speed of the G5 chip - especially considering how fast the current 2.0 gig G5 users said their Macs were.
So, what is the real lesson learned? It's that Steve J will NEVER tell us about future plans. Road maps that, AT THE TIME, look firmly locked in place. After getting his @ss kicked by everyone on the message boards and in the media he is going to have no desire to share any of the excitement with us in the future. We're the ones that loose.
And what about the moans on how "bad" the new 1.8 is?
No one seems to think about the small shops with a limited budget. Those "old design" PCI slots? Compare pricing on boards of old and new technology boards and it's easy to see where the people on tight budgets will go - they may even have some boards on old Macs they cam use and save some money. Limited memory? Small shops will probably fill it with half gig sticks (look at pricing between half gig and one gig sticks) and be very happy - especially since they are going to be running DUAL G5 Macs! (Those that want to use gig sticks are going to be buying one of the more expensive PMs IMO) In other words, the 1.8 is targeted for a specific market and Apple has done them one hell of a favor - yet we continue to bitch. Maybe Apple knows more about the small shop needs that we do.
Personally I'm very impressed with the leap in technology that IBM and Apple have made - just as I was delighted that Steve actually talked about long term road maps last year.
One more thing . . . Apple could probably take any poster on the boards that are bitching about the lack of a 3 gig into a "private room in their labs", set them down at a 2.5 gig G5 and say "this is our new 3 gig - check it out and tell us what you think." After a few minutes the poster would be drooling, talking about how FAST it was and wanting to head back to the boards to tell everyone about this kick @ss 3 gig G5 PM he played with the TOTALLY blew his mind.
First, for those following the situation since January we would be relieved that IBM finally overcame the production hurdles of moving from 130 to 90 nm chips.
While we would have tried to guess the top speed over these months we would have been rather pleased with a 25% bump in the "gig" speed, trying to guess just how much faster that would end up being when other improvements, like the 1.25 FSB, were included.
Liquid cooling? Fantastic! Lots of threads on that one alone.
Lots of discussions on how long before the Power 5 conversion, how long before the Gx chips with dual processors? How is iBM doing on the move to the 65 nm fab process? Damn, this is an exciting time!
In other words, we would have been impressed with the amount of new technology in the new PMs. We would have been excited about a 25% increase in the speed of the G5 chip - especially considering how fast the current 2.0 gig G5 users said their Macs were.
So, what is the real lesson learned? It's that Steve J will NEVER tell us about future plans. Road maps that, AT THE TIME, look firmly locked in place. After getting his @ss kicked by everyone on the message boards and in the media he is going to have no desire to share any of the excitement with us in the future. We're the ones that loose.
And what about the moans on how "bad" the new 1.8 is?
No one seems to think about the small shops with a limited budget. Those "old design" PCI slots? Compare pricing on boards of old and new technology boards and it's easy to see where the people on tight budgets will go - they may even have some boards on old Macs they cam use and save some money. Limited memory? Small shops will probably fill it with half gig sticks (look at pricing between half gig and one gig sticks) and be very happy - especially since they are going to be running DUAL G5 Macs! (Those that want to use gig sticks are going to be buying one of the more expensive PMs IMO) In other words, the 1.8 is targeted for a specific market and Apple has done them one hell of a favor - yet we continue to bitch. Maybe Apple knows more about the small shop needs that we do.
Personally I'm very impressed with the leap in technology that IBM and Apple have made - just as I was delighted that Steve actually talked about long term road maps last year.
One more thing . . . Apple could probably take any poster on the boards that are bitching about the lack of a 3 gig into a "private room in their labs", set them down at a 2.5 gig G5 and say "this is our new 3 gig - check it out and tell us what you think." After a few minutes the poster would be drooling, talking about how FAST it was and wanting to head back to the boards to tell everyone about this kick @ss 3 gig G5 PM he played with the TOTALLY blew his mind.
Comments
which by the looks of it could be another 2 months.
I wonder how many of these moaners need the kind of power a 3Gigger could deliver. Are they making money with thier machines or up against deadlines on a daily basis?
Most are probably browsing the web and playing video games or burning/Playing mp3s most of the time.
I'm on a 450 dual and it still is fast (although slowing a bit in its old age). A 2Ghz would do me just fine for another 4 years.
I think everytime Apple introduces new machines you see this chasm between the to groups.
Consumers try to prove their points offering supposition about what the Pros will want. I find it entertaining. If you are not a professional how can you claim to know what they want?
Consumers are enthusiasts and buy computers for hobby and lite work. Being that a computer is held on to for a long time they seek to gain assurances that the computer they buy is as future proof as possible. So with that in mind I understand why many are upset. They wish to purchase but they're looking out 4 years and feeling uncomfortable that their computer will last that long with it's current tech.
Pro's value stability and hold on until that stability can no longer justify itself over more productivity. They liquidate and build the next system to the same level of stability. The cycle repeats endlessly.
Originally posted by hmurchison
Consumers try to prove their points offering supposition about what the Pros will want. I find it entertaining. If you are not a professional how can you claim to know what they want?
that about sums up your posts over the last 2 days