If there's a future for the iMac, that's it. In the living room instead of your desk Problem is its currently missing the TV part. Add a TV tuner and some HDMI inputs and would sell like hotcakes.
The TV/Video possibilities of the iMac are the least interesting to me. Good performance with a big screen without taking over my work area with cables and a giant box taking up space under or on top of my desk are its best features. Don't people do anything but watch tv/videos anymore?
The TV/Video possibilities of the iMac are the least interesting to me. Good performance with a big screen without taking over my work area with cables and a giant box taking up space under or on top of my desk are its best features. Don't people do anything but watch tv/videos anymore?
Judging from the test scores of k-12 students in the United States I'd say watching TV or video gaming enjoyed a decided advantage over many other things like studying.
I have 300 movies so this may be a "Pot, Kettle, Black" scenario but I spend less time watching standard fare TV (sitcoms, soaps etc) and more time enjoying feature length films.
Once I buy a decent camera (DSLR) and a HD camcorder I'll probably get into more video and audio stuff. This is why the 27 in iMac is "kind of a big deal here" it finally delivers good power for consumer content creation.
That's only important if you require live broadcast television. Which actually has a shrinking audience. People are too busy to follow a broadcast schedule.
Virtually all scripted television is available on demand in one form or another. Before long all television content will be available on demand online. MSNBC, FOX, CNN will broadcast their news shows live online.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BenRoethig
If there's a future for the iMac, that's it. In the living room instead of your desk Problem is its currently missing the TV part. Add a TV tuner and some HDMI inputs and would sell like hotcakes.
And who exactly was clamoring for a 16:9 display?? Scientists? Financial analysts? And to offer it without Blu-ray? RIDICULOUS.
Why do you think that everyone wants BR? I don't. If I did want it, I'd first buy a player for my HDTV which I haven't done yet. The 16:9 / 21.5" is perfect for my intended application (aside from no VESA mount). Hook it up with an El Gato for my kitchen so I can watch the news, traffic and weather while making coffee. And since it is a computer as well as a TV, I can check my stocks, email, maps, recipes, listen to iTunes etc. Any serious work I would do in my office on a more powerful computer.
My kids broke my 24" iMac last week, they snagged the power cord and it went flying off of my desk and smashed the screen. My insurance company picked up the iMac this week with the view to repair or replace it. Kinda hoping they replace it with the 27" one now, seeing as it is cheaper too.
Also, beware, Apple didn't use safety glass so. If your iMac glass screen breaks it shatters and is razor sharp.
Looks like magsafe power connectors for the next gen iMac would be a good idea...
My kids broke my 24" iMac last week, they snagged the power cord and it went flying off of my desk and smashed the screen. My insurance company picked up the iMac this week with the view to repair or replace it. Kinda hoping they replace it with the 27" one now, seeing as it is cheaper too.
Also, beware, Apple didn't use safety glass so. If your iMac glass screen breaks it shatters and is razor sharp.
Yeah same thing happened to me except I can't blame it on the kids and since my iMac is the older matte not glass, it still works fine after landing on the concrete floor, some severe scratches and a crack in the display but I still use it everyday. Looking forward to buying a new one though.
What makes you think there will be a Mac Pro update in Nov? I was going to buy a new one today, but I could wait a couple of weeks. Any thoughts? I don't want to wait months, but I could wait weeks...
I am not sure about a major update, but a new single socket "midrange" model that uses the new Xeon 3400 chips at a significantly lower price point (less than $2K) would be a good move if Apple wants to improve desktop sales outside of the iMac line. Intel's 1K unit price for a 2.8GHz Xeon 3460 that can "turbo" up to 3.46GHz is only $316
Of course, Apple can pull another surprise and introduce Nehalem-EX based Xeons in November ahead of general availability (expected 1Q'2010) of these processors from Intel...
I think this, and the correlated point that the iMac completely meets the needs of probably greater than 95% of potential desktop customers, is exactly to the point. It's just not worth the engineering effort for Apple to produce a 'tower' midway between the Mini and Pro when the iMac is just fine for the vast majority of the potential market. So, while those tiny few who "must have" this system may go on clamoring for it, they might as well face the reality that it's not coming anytime soon. This isn't like matte screens on MBPs, this is something that doesn't make any financial sense for Apple to produce.
While this is true, the price of the entry level Mac Pro with a single socket at $2500 is also unreasonable. If the low end Mac Pro was $1500 (which is where it should be), not many would complain about the lack of an xMac.
Good points. Even since I got my iPhone, I have not removed my notebook from its docking station on my desk...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bregalad
I find it difficult to understand why notebooks are taking over the market when many of them never leave the house.
It seems even more strange for enterprises to equip everyone with a notebook when most employees never leave their desks except for food and smoke breaks. Surely most admin staff would be more efficient with larger displays and full size keyboards at correct ergonomic heights.
Most organizations can't be too concerned about security either because notebooks get stolen from both inside and outside their premises far more often desktops ever did. Data loss is usually far worse than the loss of the equipment itself.
At my company people in supervisory roles are issued notebooks, but everyone else gets an iMac or mini. Most staff need nothing more than a pen and notebook at meetings and aren't permitted to take any equipment out of the office.
The growing prevalence of smartphones may slow the trend toward notebooks because people will have all the portable capabilities they need in the palm of their hand. I certainly consider a desktop plus a handheld the best possible combination for me.
My anecdotal experience, I've never heard anyone out in the world request an xMac. Most people I know only use desktops at work, most people's personal machines are notebooks.
Yes, but that doesn't invalidate the other guy's opinion
It just means that different folk want different things...
The same people clamoring for some tower xMac are always the ones also claiming that it's stupid to buy an iMac when you can assemble a more powerful machine yourself for half the price and then say we are all stupid for buying an iMac. Well which is it? You say you'd buy an xMac but you claim you can build a cheap powerful computer...so then go ahead and make your tower and hackintosh it. No one is stopping you. It never occurs to these geeks that 99% of people can't make their own computers, have no interest in doing so, like to have a single warranty for the product and the better assurance that the system will work smoothly. That is why people buy computers from computer makers, and why people buy cars from carmakers and so on.
The market for a user upgradable xMac is tiny. Why would Apple as a corporation out to make a profit invest money in producing a product for which it will probably lose money? Do people not think they haven't studied this? The all-in-one market is obviously profitable, people like it, and if not they get a mini, which is more than enough for most people's uses. Seriously people, stop this complaining, and even if they made a tower, do you not think it would still be expensive like most Apple products? We'd get more complaining there. So go ahead, you are such a smart geek and love circuit boards and cables so much and tinkering with electronics....then go, build your own machine and stop telling the rest us how stupid we are for not being like you. Assemble all your parts and when you inevitably encounter issues you can spend your time fixing up your tower to your heart's content like a child playing with legos. Apple is not going to serve 1% of the market at a loss, get over it.
Well put.
Apple knows the market like a fish knows water. I have no worries. If there was a good reason to revive the old mid-range desktop box paradigm, Apple would have done it.
While this is true, the price of the entry level Mac Pro with a single socket at $2500 is also unreasonable. If the low end Mac Pro was $1500 (which is where it should be), not many would complain about the lack of an xMac.
We could argue the reasonableness of the entry price for a Mac Pro, but the important fact is that there isn't likely going to be a Mac Pro that overlaps the price of the iMacs, nor a high end Mac Mini that does the same. These are Apples offering's for the foreseeable future in various desktop price ranges, and they've been following this strategy for quite a while, quite successfully. The $1500 Mac Pro just isn't coming.
Maybe my thoughts on this are completely at odds with most of the buying public, but I can't help wondering what the "next" system will be for all the people who are buying laptops (Mac and non-Mac) now.
While not taking anything away from the new iMacs, they are really great. However,
hey Kayne, how's it going
Quote:
many still crave
the geeks, which are perhaps 5% of the potential market. imacs are not for them anyway. nor are mac minis.
they are for the consumers looking for a nice family machine. for the artists looking for something that can run very specific software (often Final Cut and Logic), for the small business. all folks that aren't going to tinker with a smaller machine
and now they have something new that will be flooding the market with excitement and making them think that now is the time to buy.
as for the lack of a big announcement, that's a PR move. a big day right now, knowing way in advance that Windows 7 comes out on the 22nd just looks like an attempt to steal thunder. which will possibly piss off some. slipping things in drops that risk. and it was probably cheaper not having to get a space etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by irnchriz
My kids broke my 24" iMac last week, they snagged the power cord and it went flying off of my desk and smashed the screen. My insurance company picked up the iMac this week with the view to repair or replace it. Kinda hoping they replace it with the 27" one now, seeing as it is cheaper too.
chances are you will only get replacement if the cost is lower than repairing it. and it's probably not. Also if they replace it will be with a similar model, or lacking that availability they will give you the value of the machine which might cover part but not all of the new, better machine.
so you might want to look at how you paid for it and if there was any kind of replacement program via that. I know at one point AmEx would 'insure' higher priced items like that cause they helped me pay for a stolen laptop that was only partly paid for by my renters insurance
I'd buy a small desktop, something like a modern day Cube, because I like to choose my screen. Up till now that's been CRTs but I understand that with IPS flat screens have just about caught up with 10 year old CRT tech, other than spending 15K on a top end Eizo.
I need a new Mac and I guess it'll have to be a mini, I'm also considering a MacBook running like a mini with KVM. iMacs would be more of an option if the screens were able to be used independently, yes the new top end can and it's about time but it's the only one. My experience is that screens last about twice as long as computers, this being typed with a 12 year old Apple display (with Trinitron screen) whilst awaiting a delivery of a (shudder) Dell IPS flat screen, two other ancient but excellent CRTs having expired recently.
Also need a KB with numeric pad, buy a lot online, always typing CC numbers, SKU, DOB, telephone :-)
I don't see a Cube being limited to desktop applications, HTPC and server come to mind. I think Apple's new mini server was a well judged move and will gain traction but that's a smaller market than that I envisage with a cube. I also see more new Cube users than cannibalization of existing products plus upselling from minis..
And as anonymouse said earlier, as portables get smaller (iPhones) and laptops mostly stay sat on the desk at home maybe the desktop has a revival in store.
.
Not being able to choose my own display prevented me from even considering the iMac until now. I've also been repelled by several other "flaws" in the iMac, some of which Apple remedied yesterday. My last remaining fundamental issues are the glossiness of the display (art gallery glass really isn't that expensive and it's way better to look at for hours at a time) and the surgery needed to upgrade the hard drive.
I have two additional issues with the new models:
(1) the Core i5 model costs way too much compared with the Core 2 Duo model. The actual Core i5 chip costs only half as much as the 3.06GHz mobile Core 2 and the difference in the graphics chips doesn't even make up the difference. The Core i5 model should cost LESS, not $300 more.
(2) Apple still doesn't think the GPU is important despite touting OpenCL as a significant part of Snow Leopard. The 4670 was a low end chip back in June 2008 when it came out and equipping any GPU with only 256MB of VRAM is a joke. The 4850 is an upgrade, but not a $150 one.
Of course serious GPUs draw lots of power and generate lots of heat, two things Apple tries to avoid, and large amounts of VRAM are mostly useful for gaming and 3D work. Apple knows they can't attract gamers with an all-in-one and really doesn't want pros buying iMacs instead of Mac Pros.
as for the lack of a big announcement, that's a PR move. a big day right now, knowing way in advance that Windows 7 comes out on the 22nd just looks like an attempt to steal thunder. which will possibly piss off some. slipping things in drops that risk. and it was probably cheaper not having to get a space etc.
Well there was really nothing revolutionary released yesterday anyway - unless you consider it the <cringe> Magic Mouse.
Maybe my thoughts on this are completely at odds with most of the buying public, but I can't help wondering what the "next" system will be for all the people who are buying laptops (Mac and non-Mac) now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cnocbui
El Tableeto.
I don't think "El Tableeto" will likely replace laptop and desktop systems in the sense that you wouldn't need one or the other. However, like the iPhone, a tablet device that can do pretty much everything you need to do when actually "mobile", might cut into the laptop/netbook market somewhat more; something that would seem to push people back to desktop systems even more so. I just think that as useful computing power gets smaller and more easily portable, laptops will become less desirable as a primary computer, and the advantages of desktops will begin to weigh heavier. Obviously, there are people who really do need laptops, but most of the people buying them today don't really, and iPhones and Tablets may start making them think twice about getting one.
Players are cheap (unless you're looking to buy a BR player at Shop-rite for $29.99) and movie prices are starting to come down. Not accounting for taste, the latest Transformers movie is $19.99 on BR at Amazon.
Better formatted HD download movies?!? What are you smoking? Where can you download 20-35Mbps average bit-rate 1080/24p movies with lossless audio? Give me a break.
i will admit all super blockbuster movies rock on bluray
at any price its worth it
but dude dinner with andre or other weepy chick flicks are a waste of money on any dvd let alone bluray i>>>>
.no ?
and i can now download any HD movie i want from amazon thru ROKU or from itunes for under 20 bucks ea
so blu ray before it even commands the market has serious issues with which kind of movie is worth the high price
and the
coming digital download explosion with the coming 50mps 4g/7g net works also
apples MVDO SOFTWARE WILL afford faster and cheaper download pricing for wireless small devices ...
so except for 10 action thrillers a year why bother ???
in 5 yrs i will go to the bargain bin and scoop up for 5 bucks each 50 great bluray titles
blu ray forever will be a small niche player >> and the coming 8 g mini flash stick drives priced below 2 bucks will become a third way to view hd movies cheaply
Comments
If there's a future for the iMac, that's it. In the living room instead of your desk Problem is its currently missing the TV part. Add a TV tuner and some HDMI inputs and would sell like hotcakes.
The TV/Video possibilities of the iMac are the least interesting to me. Good performance with a big screen without taking over my work area with cables and a giant box taking up space under or on top of my desk are its best features. Don't people do anything but watch tv/videos anymore?
Did they ever stop and think that the reliance on all in ones and small form factor machines might be a major reason desktop sales are sagging.
Your argument doesn't explain why PC desktop sales are also sagging badly, since they don't have the same reliance on all-in-ones, etc.
If anything, Apple is in the leading edge of ongoing trends in customer preferences.
The TV/Video possibilities of the iMac are the least interesting to me. Good performance with a big screen without taking over my work area with cables and a giant box taking up space under or on top of my desk are its best features. Don't people do anything but watch tv/videos anymore?
Judging from the test scores of k-12 students in the United States I'd say watching TV or video gaming enjoyed a decided advantage over many other things like studying.
I have 300 movies so this may be a "Pot, Kettle, Black" scenario but I spend less time watching standard fare TV (sitcoms, soaps etc) and more time enjoying feature length films.
Once I buy a decent camera (DSLR) and a HD camcorder I'll probably get into more video and audio stuff. This is why the 27 in iMac is "kind of a big deal here" it finally delivers good power for consumer content creation.
Virtually all scripted television is available on demand in one form or another. Before long all television content will be available on demand online. MSNBC, FOX, CNN will broadcast their news shows live online.
If there's a future for the iMac, that's it. In the living room instead of your desk Problem is its currently missing the TV part. Add a TV tuner and some HDMI inputs and would sell like hotcakes.
And who exactly was clamoring for a 16:9 display?? Scientists? Financial analysts? And to offer it without Blu-ray? RIDICULOUS.
Why do you think that everyone wants BR? I don't. If I did want it, I'd first buy a player for my HDTV which I haven't done yet. The 16:9 / 21.5" is perfect for my intended application (aside from no VESA mount). Hook it up with an El Gato for my kitchen so I can watch the news, traffic and weather while making coffee. And since it is a computer as well as a TV, I can check my stocks, email, maps, recipes, listen to iTunes etc. Any serious work I would do in my office on a more powerful computer.
My kids broke my 24" iMac last week, they snagged the power cord and it went flying off of my desk and smashed the screen. My insurance company picked up the iMac this week with the view to repair or replace it. Kinda hoping they replace it with the 27" one now, seeing as it is cheaper too.
Also, beware, Apple didn't use safety glass so. If your iMac glass screen breaks it shatters and is razor sharp.
Looks like magsafe power connectors for the next gen iMac would be a good idea...
My kids broke my 24" iMac last week, they snagged the power cord and it went flying off of my desk and smashed the screen. My insurance company picked up the iMac this week with the view to repair or replace it. Kinda hoping they replace it with the 27" one now, seeing as it is cheaper too.
Also, beware, Apple didn't use safety glass so. If your iMac glass screen breaks it shatters and is razor sharp.
Yeah same thing happened to me except I can't blame it on the kids and since my iMac is the older matte not glass, it still works fine after landing on the concrete floor, some severe scratches and a crack in the display but I still use it everyday. Looking forward to buying a new one though.
What makes you think there will be a Mac Pro update in Nov? I was going to buy a new one today, but I could wait a couple of weeks. Any thoughts? I don't want to wait months, but I could wait weeks...
I am not sure about a major update, but a new single socket "midrange" model that uses the new Xeon 3400 chips at a significantly lower price point (less than $2K) would be a good move if Apple wants to improve desktop sales outside of the iMac line. Intel's 1K unit price for a 2.8GHz Xeon 3460 that can "turbo" up to 3.46GHz is only $316
Of course, Apple can pull another surprise and introduce Nehalem-EX based Xeons in November ahead of general availability (expected 1Q'2010) of these processors from Intel...
I think this, and the correlated point that the iMac completely meets the needs of probably greater than 95% of potential desktop customers, is exactly to the point. It's just not worth the engineering effort for Apple to produce a 'tower' midway between the Mini and Pro when the iMac is just fine for the vast majority of the potential market. So, while those tiny few who "must have" this system may go on clamoring for it, they might as well face the reality that it's not coming anytime soon. This isn't like matte screens on MBPs, this is something that doesn't make any financial sense for Apple to produce.
While this is true, the price of the entry level Mac Pro with a single socket at $2500 is also unreasonable. If the low end Mac Pro was $1500 (which is where it should be), not many would complain about the lack of an xMac.
I find it difficult to understand why notebooks are taking over the market when many of them never leave the house.
It seems even more strange for enterprises to equip everyone with a notebook when most employees never leave their desks except for food and smoke breaks. Surely most admin staff would be more efficient with larger displays and full size keyboards at correct ergonomic heights.
Most organizations can't be too concerned about security either because notebooks get stolen from both inside and outside their premises far more often desktops ever did. Data loss is usually far worse than the loss of the equipment itself.
At my company people in supervisory roles are issued notebooks, but everyone else gets an iMac or mini. Most staff need nothing more than a pen and notebook at meetings and aren't permitted to take any equipment out of the office.
The growing prevalence of smartphones may slow the trend toward notebooks because people will have all the portable capabilities they need in the palm of their hand. I certainly consider a desktop plus a handheld the best possible combination for me.
My anecdotal experience, I've never heard anyone out in the world request an xMac. Most people I know only use desktops at work, most people's personal machines are notebooks.
Yes, but that doesn't invalidate the other guy's opinion
It just means that different folk want different things...
How did you know I utilize the Power Support Anti-glare Screen Protector for iPhone which allows me to view my Apps outdoors in sunlight?
my official silver tin foil battle star galactica cylon detector
psfft
The same people clamoring for some tower xMac are always the ones also claiming that it's stupid to buy an iMac when you can assemble a more powerful machine yourself for half the price and then say we are all stupid for buying an iMac. Well which is it? You say you'd buy an xMac but you claim you can build a cheap powerful computer...so then go ahead and make your tower and hackintosh it. No one is stopping you. It never occurs to these geeks that 99% of people can't make their own computers, have no interest in doing so, like to have a single warranty for the product and the better assurance that the system will work smoothly. That is why people buy computers from computer makers, and why people buy cars from carmakers and so on.
The market for a user upgradable xMac is tiny. Why would Apple as a corporation out to make a profit invest money in producing a product for which it will probably lose money? Do people not think they haven't studied this? The all-in-one market is obviously profitable, people like it, and if not they get a mini, which is more than enough for most people's uses. Seriously people, stop this complaining, and even if they made a tower, do you not think it would still be expensive like most Apple products? We'd get more complaining there. So go ahead, you are such a smart geek and love circuit boards and cables so much and tinkering with electronics....then go, build your own machine and stop telling the rest us how stupid we are for not being like you. Assemble all your parts and when you inevitably encounter issues you can spend your time fixing up your tower to your heart's content like a child playing with legos. Apple is not going to serve 1% of the market at a loss, get over it.
Well put.
Apple knows the market like a fish knows water. I have no worries. If there was a good reason to revive the old mid-range desktop box paradigm, Apple would have done it.
http://daringfireball.net/2009/10/ap..._claim_chowder
While this is true, the price of the entry level Mac Pro with a single socket at $2500 is also unreasonable. If the low end Mac Pro was $1500 (which is where it should be), not many would complain about the lack of an xMac.
We could argue the reasonableness of the entry price for a Mac Pro, but the important fact is that there isn't likely going to be a Mac Pro that overlaps the price of the iMacs, nor a high end Mac Mini that does the same. These are Apples offering's for the foreseeable future in various desktop price ranges, and they've been following this strategy for quite a while, quite successfully. The $1500 Mac Pro just isn't coming.
Maybe my thoughts on this are completely at odds with most of the buying public, but I can't help wondering what the "next" system will be for all the people who are buying laptops (Mac and non-Mac) now.
El Tableeto.
While not taking anything away from the new iMacs, they are really great. However,
hey Kayne, how's it going
many still crave
the geeks, which are perhaps 5% of the potential market. imacs are not for them anyway. nor are mac minis.
they are for the consumers looking for a nice family machine. for the artists looking for something that can run very specific software (often Final Cut and Logic), for the small business. all folks that aren't going to tinker with a smaller machine
and now they have something new that will be flooding the market with excitement and making them think that now is the time to buy.
as for the lack of a big announcement, that's a PR move. a big day right now, knowing way in advance that Windows 7 comes out on the 22nd just looks like an attempt to steal thunder. which will possibly piss off some. slipping things in drops that risk. and it was probably cheaper not having to get a space etc.
My kids broke my 24" iMac last week, they snagged the power cord and it went flying off of my desk and smashed the screen. My insurance company picked up the iMac this week with the view to repair or replace it. Kinda hoping they replace it with the 27" one now, seeing as it is cheaper too.
chances are you will only get replacement if the cost is lower than repairing it. and it's probably not. Also if they replace it will be with a similar model, or lacking that availability they will give you the value of the machine which might cover part but not all of the new, better machine.
so you might want to look at how you paid for it and if there was any kind of replacement program via that. I know at one point AmEx would 'insure' higher priced items like that cause they helped me pay for a stolen laptop that was only partly paid for by my renters insurance
.
I'd buy a small desktop, something like a modern day Cube, because I like to choose my screen. Up till now that's been CRTs but I understand that with IPS flat screens have just about caught up with 10 year old CRT tech, other than spending 15K on a top end Eizo.
I need a new Mac and I guess it'll have to be a mini, I'm also considering a MacBook running like a mini with KVM. iMacs would be more of an option if the screens were able to be used independently, yes the new top end can and it's about time but it's the only one. My experience is that screens last about twice as long as computers, this being typed with a 12 year old Apple display (with Trinitron screen) whilst awaiting a delivery of a (shudder) Dell IPS flat screen, two other ancient but excellent CRTs having expired recently.
Also need a KB with numeric pad, buy a lot online, always typing CC numbers, SKU, DOB, telephone :-)
I don't see a Cube being limited to desktop applications, HTPC and server come to mind. I think Apple's new mini server was a well judged move and will gain traction but that's a smaller market than that I envisage with a cube. I also see more new Cube users than cannibalization of existing products plus upselling from minis..
And as anonymouse said earlier, as portables get smaller (iPhones) and laptops mostly stay sat on the desk at home maybe the desktop has a revival in store.
.
Not being able to choose my own display prevented me from even considering the iMac until now. I've also been repelled by several other "flaws" in the iMac, some of which Apple remedied yesterday. My last remaining fundamental issues are the glossiness of the display (art gallery glass really isn't that expensive and it's way better to look at for hours at a time) and the surgery needed to upgrade the hard drive.
I have two additional issues with the new models:
(1) the Core i5 model costs way too much compared with the Core 2 Duo model. The actual Core i5 chip costs only half as much as the 3.06GHz mobile Core 2 and the difference in the graphics chips doesn't even make up the difference. The Core i5 model should cost LESS, not $300 more.
(2) Apple still doesn't think the GPU is important despite touting OpenCL as a significant part of Snow Leopard. The 4670 was a low end chip back in June 2008 when it came out and equipping any GPU with only 256MB of VRAM is a joke. The 4850 is an upgrade, but not a $150 one.
Of course serious GPUs draw lots of power and generate lots of heat, two things Apple tries to avoid, and large amounts of VRAM are mostly useful for gaming and 3D work. Apple knows they can't attract gamers with an all-in-one and really doesn't want pros buying iMacs instead of Mac Pros.
as for the lack of a big announcement, that's a PR move. a big day right now, knowing way in advance that Windows 7 comes out on the 22nd just looks like an attempt to steal thunder. which will possibly piss off some. slipping things in drops that risk. and it was probably cheaper not having to get a space etc.
Well there was really nothing revolutionary released yesterday anyway - unless you consider it the <cringe> Magic Mouse.
Maybe my thoughts on this are completely at odds with most of the buying public, but I can't help wondering what the "next" system will be for all the people who are buying laptops (Mac and non-Mac) now.
El Tableeto.
I don't think "El Tableeto" will likely replace laptop and desktop systems in the sense that you wouldn't need one or the other. However, like the iPhone, a tablet device that can do pretty much everything you need to do when actually "mobile", might cut into the laptop/netbook market somewhat more; something that would seem to push people back to desktop systems even more so. I just think that as useful computing power gets smaller and more easily portable, laptops will become less desirable as a primary computer, and the advantages of desktops will begin to weigh heavier. Obviously, there are people who really do need laptops, but most of the people buying them today don't really, and iPhones and Tablets may start making them think twice about getting one.
Blu-ray is far from dead.
Players are cheap (unless you're looking to buy a BR player at Shop-rite for $29.99) and movie prices are starting to come down. Not accounting for taste, the latest Transformers movie is $19.99 on BR at Amazon.
Better formatted HD download movies?!? What are you smoking? Where can you download 20-35Mbps average bit-rate 1080/24p movies with lossless audio? Give me a break.
i will admit all super blockbuster movies rock on bluray
at any price its worth it
but dude dinner with andre or other weepy chick flicks are a waste of money on any dvd let alone bluray i>>>>
.no ?
and i can now download any HD movie i want from amazon thru ROKU or from itunes for under 20 bucks ea
so blu ray before it even commands the market has serious issues with which kind of movie is worth the high price
and the
coming digital download explosion with the coming 50mps 4g/7g net works also
apples MVDO SOFTWARE WILL afford faster and cheaper download pricing for wireless small devices ...
so except for 10 action thrillers a year why bother ???
in 5 yrs i will go to the bargain bin and scoop up for 5 bucks each 50 great bluray titles
blu ray forever will be a small niche player >> and the coming 8 g mini flash stick drives priced below 2 bucks will become a third way to view hd movies cheaply
why bother