101 Ways to Save Apple

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
<a href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.06/apple.html"; target="_blank">http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.06/apple.html</a>;



I actually still have the original issue packed away somewhere...I've got to say, the image of the "Jesus Apple" is something that I'll not soon forget.



It's kind of funny and eerie at the same time just how many of the points made here have been actually realized by Apple. Like it's rebranding, or its repositioning as the center of the "Digital Lifestyle". What really got me was this:



"25. Portables, portables, portables. Pick the best-of-breed Wintel in each of the portable categories and then better it. Wintel has a fantastic range."



If only James Daly knew...



And this:



"39. Build a laptop that weighs 2 pounds."



Well, we've got the 12-in. AlBook...who knows?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Where does it mention affordable, expandable/upgradable, powerful HEADLESS computers?



    [ 02-17-2003: Message edited by: Matsu ]</p>
  • Reply 2 of 14
    fran441fran441 Posts: 3,715member
    [quote]15. Dump (or outsource) the Newton, eMate, digital cameras, and scanners. <hr></blockquote>



  • Reply 3 of 14
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    [quote]Originally posted by Matsu:

    <strong>Where does it mention affordable, expandable/upgradable, powerful HEADLESS computers?

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    It mentions them right in the section "Absolutely Most Critical Product To Sell To Canadian Philosophers Who Are Fond of the Smiley." In the fine print.



  • Reply 4 of 14
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    We're a nitch market I guess, we used to be a niche, but can spelling ain't what it use to be. <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
  • Reply 5 of 14
    roborobo Posts: 469member
    Wow. That list is strangely prophetic. Almost scary.



    They even mention Jaguar (ok.. leopard) Spots.





    I do think they need to stick their logo in some more places. Sports would be good.



    -robo
  • Reply 6 of 14
    [quote] Where does it mention affordable, expandable/upgradable, powerful HEADLESS computers? <hr></blockquote>



    Tee-hee. But he's right y'know.



    Lemon Bon Bon



    PS. I hadn't seen the list before. When I went to the 'yourmaclife' links page...I got curious and had a read. Verrrrry intriguing. The talk of Apple's demise was somewhat premature, eh? Amazing how defeatest some of the Apple watchers were.
  • Reply 7 of 14
    [quote]Originally posted by Lemon Bon Bon:

    <strong>The talk of Apple's demise was somewhat premature, eh? Amazing how defeatest some of the Apple watchers were.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    You wouldn't have known it if you'd read what Steve Jobs himself said to Wired in '96...



    "Wired : The Macintosh computer set the tone for 10 years. Do you think the Web may be setting the tone today?



    Jobs : The desktop computer industry is dead. Innovation has virtually ceased. Microsoft dominates with very little innovation. That's over. Apple lost. The desktop market has entered the dark ages, and it's going to be in the dark ages for the next 10 years, or certainly for the rest of this decade."



    <a href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.02/jobs.html"; target="_blank">http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.02/jobs.html</a>;



    Kinda funny if think about it now, eh?
  • Reply 8 of 14
    [quote]75. Speed sells. Push your advantage on the speed of the processor. This summer, you'll release Macs using 450- and 533-MHz processors. Your lead over Intel will be remarkable. Brag about this. Once the operating system shifts toward the end of this year, the PowerPC will really kick some ass (the OS is a major drag on the processor). Intel is forever marketing the speed of its chips. Make it clear that yours are much faster.<hr></blockquote>*sigh* <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />



    A few of the ideas mentioned were weird or just flat-out stupid. I'm guessing in the actual magazine there would have been some cutesy drawings indicating that some were meant as jokes. Merge with Sega and become a game company?? Seriously, wtf.
  • Reply 9 of 14
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Hmmm... yes it's probably mostly BS at this time, but M$ is thinking that an xBox2 could start to replace the home computer in many many tasks, especially "digital hub" types of things... with better display tech (ie real 1080p displays) they might have a point.
  • Reply 10 of 14
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    [quote]Originally posted by rampancy:

    <strong>

    You wouldn't have known it if you'd read what Steve Jobs himself said to Wired in '96...

    "Wired : The Macintosh computer set the tone for 10 years. Do you think the Web may be setting the tone today?

    Jobs : The desktop computer industry is dead. Innovation has virtually ceased. Microsoft dominates with very little innovation. That's over. Apple lost. The desktop market has entered the dark ages, and it's going to be in the dark ages for the next 10 years, or certainly for the rest of this decade."

    <a href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.02/jobs.html"; target="_blank">http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.02/jobs.html</a>;

    Kinda funny if think about it now, eh? </strong><hr></blockquote>

    Actually, he's still correct. The PC industry is currently in an all-out war to sell pretty much the same machines they were selling five years ago for the same tasks at ever lower price points, and Microsoft software has stagnated in every area where a third party hasn't tweaked Gates' paranoia (e.g., streaming video). Even then, they're merely workmanlike, and their technology is hobbled in empire-protecting ways.

    Meanwhile, the number of players are shrinking, and the players who remain are all either trying to get into the far more profitable server and enterprise sector or leaning more heavily on those areas than they were. The end user of the desktop PC is an afterthought in over 90% of the machines on the market, and the market has responded by stagnating for the last four years - including the entire reign of the P4, for the GHz junkies out there. That looks dead to me, the iMac notwithstanding.

    I can easily see this continuing for several more years. In the current market, there is no incentive to produce an innovative desktop. You have to be driven enough to want to do it anyway.



    [ 02-18-2003: Message edited by: Amorph ]</p>
  • Reply 11 of 14
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    [quote]Originally posted by Matsu:

    <strong>Hmmm... yes it's probably mostly BS at this time, but M$ is thinking that an xBox2 could start to replace the home computer in many many tasks, especially "digital hub" types of things... with better display tech (ie real 1080p displays) they might have a point.</strong><hr></blockquote>

    Yup. MS has lusted after Apple's hardware consistency for years, and they've tried to standardize the PC platform in order to get some of Apple's advantage. They've had some success, but clearly not enough.

    So, off they go, building a machine with commodity parts - but which cannot be made entirely of commodity parts, designed and manufactured by the systems vendor as an appliance-like box rather than a conventional PC, running a distinctly behind-the-times CPU... gee, what does that sound like? <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />

    There are, of course, some differences: The XBox is loud, flimsy, includes what must be the absolute cheapest DVD drive in existence, is more aggressively protected as a proprietary platform than the Mac is (Apple not only doesn't care about the various Linux distros running on their hardware, they released the code that allowed Linux to be ported to the Mac in the first place), requires that the owner have a nice, expensive television to use it as anything other than a console - which also severely limits your options for deciding where you want to use it - and, of course, it runs Windows and its associated spyware.

    Oh, yeah, and it's sold at a staggering loss. Yay.



    [ 02-18-2003: Message edited by: Amorph ]</p>
  • Reply 12 of 14
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    [quote]Originally posted by Amorph:

    <strong>

    Yup. MS has lusted after Apple's hardware consistency for years, and they've tried to standardize the PC platform in order to get some of Apple's advantage. They've had some success, but clearly not enough.

    So, off they go, building a machine with commodity parts - but which cannot be made entirely of commodity parts, designed and manufactured by the systems vendor as an appliance-like box rather than a conventional PC, running a distinctly behind-the-times CPU... gee, what does that sound like? <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>



    I telegraphed this response, hahaha... that's great. The xBox has a lot of problems if it's going to become a home computer. Expensive displays won't be expensive forever -- plasma, LCD and HDTV projection will continue to fall rapidly in price, but will be a problem for most of that product's intended lifespan. And yes, it has other problems. But at 300 Canadian you can afford to toss it away when the time comes. At 1800 (mebbe 500 less if you take away the display) you can't be throwing out iMacs quite as often.



    One BIG problem for M$ is in opening up the hardware enough to make 3rd party Applications feasible while keeping GAMES under tight control.



    For the consumer there a LOT of nasty M$ intrusion potential, not nice, and people are waking up to it. I'm not sure this thing could fly, but computers generally may head in this direction once HDTV sets are cheap and plentiful. Not Appliances like a console, still component based, and still with a degree of freedom over content control/management that consoles don't have, but much more A/V friendly.



    [ 02-18-2003: Message edited by: Matsu ]</p>
  • Reply 13 of 14
    [quote]Originally posted by Amorph:

    <strong> I can easily see this continuing for several more years. In the current market, there is no incentive to produce an innovative desktop. You have to be driven enough to want to do it anyway.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Hmm. Interesting point. That said, where do you think Apple fits into all this? Or maybe this is what the idea of the "Year of the Laptop" is all about?
  • Reply 14 of 14
    [quote]Originally posted by Amorph:

    <strong>

    ...(Apple not only doesn't care about the various Linux distros running on their hardware, they released the code that allowed Linux to be ported to the Mac in the first place...

    [ 02-18-2003: Message edited by: Amorph ]</strong><hr></blockquote>



    They were a bit picky about BeOS though. Discuss.
Sign In or Register to comment.