Alleged Steve Jobs e-mail says 'hardly anyone' was buying Apple's Xserves
When pressed by a user on Apple's recent decision to cancel its Xserve line of rackmounted servers, Chief Executive Steve Jobs allegedly revealed that "hardly anyone" was buying the hardware.
The e-mail reportedly sent by Jobs came in response to a user who lamented that Apple was abandoning the professional market. In the note obtained by Mac Generation, the user pleaded that Apple continue to offer its rackmounted servers.
Jobs allegedly responded on his iPhone: "Hardly anyone was buying them."
Last week, Apple revealed that it would discontinue its Xserve hardware after Jan. 31, 2011. Users have been asked to transition to new hardware, including a new Mac Pro Server configuration that Apple began selling on Friday.
Apple also talked about the sales rankings of its server hardware in its "Xserve Transition Guide" released last week. In it, the company revealed that the Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server has been the company's most popular server system since its introduction in the fall of 2009.
Jobs has been known to respond to e-mails sent to him by users. He has even cited those e-mails publicly, quoting one at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference. "I was sitting in a cafe with my iPad, and it got a girl interested in me," the note read. "Now that's what I call a magical device!"
Of course, faking an e-mail is also possible, and makes any note reportedly sent by someone as prominent as Jobs suspect. Earlier this year, a phony e-mail exchange was offered for sale to a number of sites, including AppleInsider, before one technology publication purchased the fake conversation and published details from it. Apple's public relations department quickly responded by outright denying the exchange.
The e-mail reportedly sent by Jobs came in response to a user who lamented that Apple was abandoning the professional market. In the note obtained by Mac Generation, the user pleaded that Apple continue to offer its rackmounted servers.
Jobs allegedly responded on his iPhone: "Hardly anyone was buying them."
Last week, Apple revealed that it would discontinue its Xserve hardware after Jan. 31, 2011. Users have been asked to transition to new hardware, including a new Mac Pro Server configuration that Apple began selling on Friday.
Apple also talked about the sales rankings of its server hardware in its "Xserve Transition Guide" released last week. In it, the company revealed that the Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server has been the company's most popular server system since its introduction in the fall of 2009.
Jobs has been known to respond to e-mails sent to him by users. He has even cited those e-mails publicly, quoting one at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference. "I was sitting in a cafe with my iPad, and it got a girl interested in me," the note read. "Now that's what I call a magical device!"
Of course, faking an e-mail is also possible, and makes any note reportedly sent by someone as prominent as Jobs suspect. Earlier this year, a phony e-mail exchange was offered for sale to a number of sites, including AppleInsider, before one technology publication purchased the fake conversation and published details from it. Apple's public relations department quickly responded by outright denying the exchange.
Comments
Apple never displayed them in a retail store that I ever saw.
Apple spent little on advertising them.
And you're surprised hardly anybody is buying them?
I guess he makes some sense, but you can't rackmount a Mac Pro.
Mac minis?
- How many of you have rack-mounted servers at your company?
- For those of you who do, what OS?
We have Exchange servers for email/calendaring, and UNIX servers (I have no idea what flavor; it's not my specialty) for everything else.
Call me stupid ("okay, stupid") but I think the only people who care what flavor the rackmount is are the IT people working on it. Everyone else just cares if it works. Unix works great as a server platform with or without the mac veneer on top, and end users are none the wiser. IT geeks should know their way around a unix terminal without needing some shiny veneer. Hence, no need for a mac rack-mount server.
For the less-intelligent folk (again, me) there is a need for mac veneers, but our needs run to things like mac mini servers and mac pro servers. Once we get into rack-mounting things we know we're unqualified.
Mac minis?
Best of luck to anyone building a server infrastructure using Mac Mini's... Remember to keep your resume up to date.
I suppose an apple forum is the wrong place to ask this question, but:
- How many of you have rack-mounted servers at your company?
- For those of you who do, what OS?
We do. Our servers are off-site stored in cabinets, so we must use rackmounted servers, minus our AS/400 server. They all uses windows.
What was the Enterprise Group's advertising budget? $5?
I'M FRENCH! WHY DO YOU THINK I WRITE WITH THIS HORRIBLE GRAMMAR YOU SILLY CEO YOU!
(anyone?)
I just love that he points out that he's French.
I'M FRENCH! WHY DO YOU THINK I WRITE WITH THIS HORRIBLE GRAMMAR YOU SILLY CEO YOU!
(anyone?)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Best of luck to anyone building a server infrastructure using Mac Mini's... Remember to keep your resume up to date.
Actually a Mac Mini Server would make an excellent server, actually. The specs of a mac mini are about the same as the specs we use to build our servers... I don't see where you would think that Mac Minis would make a poor server infrastructure.
I'm sure Apple is going to use the stock of XServers to populate their new datacenter. Once they get done with that, they'll refresh the line and come out with a new design. I see in the future a design that would enable a MAC Pro to be mounted in a standard rack.
I honestly doubt they will use their own product.
I just love that he points out that he's French.
I'M FRENCH! WHY DO YOU THINK I WRITE WITH THIS HORRIBLE GRAMMAR YOU SILLY CEO YOU!
(anyone?)
I fart in your general direction! Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
I guess he makes some sense, but you can't rackmount a Mac Pro.
Yes you can.
http://www.hhb.co.uk/hhb/uk/products/detail.asp?ID=2822
http://activatethespace.com/cadlock.html
http://www.custom-consoles.com/Rackmount-Mac-g5.php
And then there is Virginia Tech*? * http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/20...4-mac-pros.ars
? http://6268.org.ru/tag/hokie-speed/
However I would believe fewer Xserves have been sold than anything else ever offered on apple.com, except maybe the white iPhone 4.
Yes you can.
http://www.hhb.co.uk/hhb/uk/products/detail.asp?ID=2822
http://activatethespace.com/cadlock.html
http://www.custom-consoles.com/Rackmount-Mac-g5.php
And then there is Virginia Tech*?* http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/20...4-mac-pros.ars
? http://6268.org.ru/tag/hokie-speed/
The Apple G5 Xserve did have some advantages compared to typical Intel systems at the time due to the Altivec units, so you could get more flops per buck and watt than typical PC based clusters. However, now that Apple uses the same chips as everyone else there is no unique advantage to the Apple systems in hardware, and Mac OS is not specially optimized for cluster use, so no advantage there. A lot more variety in hardware from many companies to choose from. Apple Server software may have some advantages to casual server operators, but they seldom need rack mount systems.
Someone in another forum speculated that perhaps they're planing a "one more thing" event to spring a new Mac Pro design on the world, one that would have the versatility to work as a desktop machine or a robust server. The current Mac Pro design, excellent as it is, is getting rather long in the tooth. It's been around for nearly a decade, which is an eternity in the computerverse.
In my dream world, Apple releases a new Mac Pro in a case design that could work either as a tower, for home/small business, or with a more robust motherboard/internal hardware configuration, a rackmount 3U(4U?) server: Externally accessible hard drives, hot swappable, redundant power supplies, etc.
The nightmare scenario is that Apple completely abandons the enterprise/IT market, the fallout being a return to the early/mid 90s, where the Mac was seen as novelty, but not a serious computer. iOS is great, and it's put Apple at the top of the smartphone/tablet?a.k.a. "appliance" market, but others will catch up after a while, and Apple needs to stay diversified.
I think in addition to a total lack of marketing, the Xserve was doomed because it was underpowered and overpriced, reinforcing the notion that Apple products are "luxury" items, but not to be taken seriously. Hopefully Apple is realizing this, and will build a better machine.
The Apple G5 Xserve did have some advantages compared to typical Intel systems at the time due to the Altivec units, so you could get more flops per buck and watt than typical PC based clusters. However, now that Apple uses the same chips as everyone else there is no unique advantage to the Apple systems in hardware, and Mac OS is not specially optimized for cluster use, so no advantage there. A lot more variety in hardware from many companies to choose from. Apple Server software may have some advantages to casual server operators, but they seldom need rack mount systems.
This is probably a good strategic move for Apple. They are smart enough to know when they are not really adding value vs other rack mounted servers out there.
That leaves them additional resources to devote to areas where they are providing great value. For a company the size of Apple, they really have an amazingly small number of products. But they have tremendous focus on what products they do have, resulting in the amazing goods that we all love.