Should Apple Sell its Motherboards?
Hello,
I was looking at my old Beige G3 and remembering on how it was quite the computer when it first came out. Over time, I upgraded most of it.
I replaced the stock hard drive with one from Maxtor. I added USB and FireWire cards, I replaced the stock CD-ROM with a Acer CD-RW. I added memory, a zip drive, and replaced the stock keyboard and mouse (with USB ones).
Then I started to think about something. My old Beige G3 wasn't really a pure Apple product anymore. Sure it had the same Apple case and the original motherboard, but it really was no longer my Beige G3. It was a hyrid computer made up of Apple and generic PC components.
And then it hit me. I wish I could buy a motherboard and processor from Apple. If I had such a motherboard, I could place it in my own tower, use my own hard drive and optical drives. Add my own memory and removable storage drives. I could pick up a great Mac compatible video card. Ultimately, I can have my Macintosh computer the way I want it.
I understand that current motherboard sizes are tailored to current Macintosh computers, but what if Apple released a motherboard that was same as the Wintel stuff (dimension wise).
Just imagine the number of geeks that would buy Apple motherboards and install them in generic Wintel boxes I would imagine quite a few (now I did say geeks, not casual users, there is a difference).
Realistically, Apple upfront hardware costs prohibits many many people from buying and using Macs (regardless of total cost of ownership). If someone can use most of their existing PC hardware components (hard drive, optical drive, memory, PC case, etc.) and still experience what it is to be a Mac OS user, doesn't everyone win? Wouldn't the people who wish Apple would make a affordable minitower be silenced? Wouldn't IT professionals experiment with building a Mac out of spare parts and see how great Macs really are (remember, IT personnel will never spend $1500.00 on a Mac to see how it performs, in not in their budgets)? Isn't that how many IT professionals got their feet wet with Linux?
Now, I am not suggesting that Apple sell their generic motherboards to everyone under the sun (i.e., generic PC shops) because that would be foolish. But having a product only available through Apple's website that is tuck away from the casual computer user in their online Store would work. Wouldn't it?
I figure Apple could charge around $350.00 to $500.00 for a motherboard and processor and still make money.
Thoughts???
I was looking at my old Beige G3 and remembering on how it was quite the computer when it first came out. Over time, I upgraded most of it.
I replaced the stock hard drive with one from Maxtor. I added USB and FireWire cards, I replaced the stock CD-ROM with a Acer CD-RW. I added memory, a zip drive, and replaced the stock keyboard and mouse (with USB ones).
Then I started to think about something. My old Beige G3 wasn't really a pure Apple product anymore. Sure it had the same Apple case and the original motherboard, but it really was no longer my Beige G3. It was a hyrid computer made up of Apple and generic PC components.
And then it hit me. I wish I could buy a motherboard and processor from Apple. If I had such a motherboard, I could place it in my own tower, use my own hard drive and optical drives. Add my own memory and removable storage drives. I could pick up a great Mac compatible video card. Ultimately, I can have my Macintosh computer the way I want it.
I understand that current motherboard sizes are tailored to current Macintosh computers, but what if Apple released a motherboard that was same as the Wintel stuff (dimension wise).
Just imagine the number of geeks that would buy Apple motherboards and install them in generic Wintel boxes I would imagine quite a few (now I did say geeks, not casual users, there is a difference).
Realistically, Apple upfront hardware costs prohibits many many people from buying and using Macs (regardless of total cost of ownership). If someone can use most of their existing PC hardware components (hard drive, optical drive, memory, PC case, etc.) and still experience what it is to be a Mac OS user, doesn't everyone win? Wouldn't the people who wish Apple would make a affordable minitower be silenced? Wouldn't IT professionals experiment with building a Mac out of spare parts and see how great Macs really are (remember, IT personnel will never spend $1500.00 on a Mac to see how it performs, in not in their budgets)? Isn't that how many IT professionals got their feet wet with Linux?
Now, I am not suggesting that Apple sell their generic motherboards to everyone under the sun (i.e., generic PC shops) because that would be foolish. But having a product only available through Apple's website that is tuck away from the casual computer user in their online Store would work. Wouldn't it?
I figure Apple could charge around $350.00 to $500.00 for a motherboard and processor and still make money.
Thoughts???
Comments
Too expensive to fathom currently but that is the problem... with limitations due to apples absolute control of the purchasing of these items, the items are more expensive and thus macs are more expensive, there is no competion feeding into apples hands and they pay a premium for their tight control. back in the day of the clones i admit i saw dark clouds forming over apple but i was also too in step with the consumer mind on computers to realize the benefits of building you own. i have to admit that even though my pc at work has its quirks, i built a really kick a** machine for much cheaper than i could buy a mac... much much cheaper (except the monitor but then again it wasnt my dime ;-)).
i wish i had the freedom to build a mac from the motherboard speed and throughput to the brand of cd-rw drives...
my beige g3 is still humming along with the original hard drive but with all the pci slots filled and currently more than 'max' ram... it took three or four years to get there and thats not bad but i cant put a new motherboard in, and as the components age its going to be harder to integrate them into a new mini-tower...
ah well,
wishing build to order options in the apple store actually meant something...
billybobsky
[Edit: Spelling]
[ 03-07-2003: Message edited by: billybobsky ]</p>