No, No, No, it'll never happen because....
Dream products, please supply the reasons they will never happen.
HOME
digital hub home base, media appliance,
audio systems
home theater systems
big screen dispalys
projection displays
ENTERPRISE
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G5 blade
workstations
panaramic displays
thin client display
graphics tablet\t\t\t
headless mac
mojave emac
ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE
open office office suite
an AppleWorks OSX to best MS Office
exchange killer
trusted OSX
grid for everyone
consumer prosumer pro apps
ilife for window
3d graphics apps
SERVICES
itunes for linux
imovie store
book publishing
RETAIL
mass market consumer line
DESKTOPS
G5 imac
IBM mojave in low end imac
G5 cube
IBOOKS POWEBOOKS
G5 powerbook
IBM mojave G3+++ in Ibooks
ruggedized Ibooks
ruggedized powerbooks
Fuel cell powerbook
PODS
return of newton
oled Ipod
video pod
satelite radio Ipod
bluetooth enabled pod
NEXTGENERATION HUMAN INTERFACE DEVICES
inkwell tablet
click wheel mouse
dual click wheel gameing handset
smart led cases
radical HID developments
force feedback interface
OSX 10.3d interface\t
QUICKTIME
Quicktime on PC's
Quicktime on linux
Quicktime dominate media API's
ubiquitious quicktime
OSX
OSX on HP ipac
OSX on cellphones
OSX on PDA's
OSX on PDA, phone, pod,
OSX on tablets
OSX on IBM PPC
OSX on SUN
OSX on SGI
OSX on Intel
OSX86
Apple takes on MS on X86
AAPL buying some or all of SGI
AAPL buying some or all of Sun
HOME
digital hub home base, media appliance,
audio systems
home theater systems
big screen dispalys
projection displays
ENTERPRISE
\t\t\t\t\t\t
G5 blade
workstations
panaramic displays
thin client display
graphics tablet\t\t\t
headless mac
mojave emac
ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE
open office office suite
an AppleWorks OSX to best MS Office
exchange killer
trusted OSX
grid for everyone
consumer prosumer pro apps
ilife for window
3d graphics apps
SERVICES
itunes for linux
imovie store
book publishing
RETAIL
mass market consumer line
DESKTOPS
G5 imac
IBM mojave in low end imac
G5 cube
IBOOKS POWEBOOKS
G5 powerbook
IBM mojave G3+++ in Ibooks
ruggedized Ibooks
ruggedized powerbooks
Fuel cell powerbook
PODS
return of newton
oled Ipod
video pod
satelite radio Ipod
bluetooth enabled pod
NEXTGENERATION HUMAN INTERFACE DEVICES
inkwell tablet
click wheel mouse
dual click wheel gameing handset
smart led cases
radical HID developments
force feedback interface
OSX 10.3d interface\t
QUICKTIME
Quicktime on PC's
Quicktime on linux
Quicktime dominate media API's
ubiquitious quicktime
OSX
OSX on HP ipac
OSX on cellphones
OSX on PDA's
OSX on PDA, phone, pod,
OSX on tablets
OSX on IBM PPC
OSX on SUN
OSX on SGI
OSX on Intel
OSX86
Apple takes on MS on X86
AAPL buying some or all of SGI
AAPL buying some or all of Sun
Comments
Quicktime on linux
I would like this very much...
Some of us think that Apple is trying to keep their lineup small and not digress into other areas, like projectors, TVs, audio systems, etc.
As for OSX on SGI, Sun, etc.: supporting multiple targets with an OS is very labor-intensive and expensive. The testing and support costs are proportional to the square of the number of platforms supported. Releases come out infrequently, and the number of platform-specific bugs increases. Not to say that they won't do it - but if they do, they will need to considerably increase their programming staff.
Apple can't make an elegant home appliance yet w/o an unholy alliance with TiVo and developing their digital devices strategy (iPod is just the beginning,) into a sound infrastructure.
>audio systems
Incredibly saturated market, plus, see above
>home theater systems
Same as audio
>big screen dispalys
This may happen, Gateway took the plunge, DELL's following, it's only a matter of time before Apple does it right.
>projection displays
This is not a "turnkey" solution for the user, and Apple can't guarantee the quality of the final output (depends on the surface you're projecting on, lighting conditions, etc.) It is much easier for them to sell a NICE flat-screen display such as Plasma.
ENTERPRISE
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>G5 blade
The G5 computing node takes care of this to a certain extent.
>workstations
what do you think the top-of-the-line G5s are?
>panaramic displays
I have no idea.
>thin client display
Apple believes in empowering personal computing,
>graphics tablet\t\t\t
Too small a market for Apple to make real money.
>headless mac
Apple sells style and lifestyle as much as it does computers, beheading the mac would rob the aesthetic and stylistic qualities out of their consumer strategy.
>mojave emac
no clue.
ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE
>open office office suite
Too many people are obsessed with MS Office.
>an AppleWorks OSX to best MS Office
This would happen if MS killed off all Mac support.
>exchange killer
Interesting, but they need a Mac/Win client that kills Outlook (not very hard to do, Outlook sucks)
>trusted OSX
The "trusted" initiatives are seen as big-brother, Apple is culturally against this.
>grid for everyone
Little perceived benefit by consumers.
>consumer prosumer pro apps
Final Cut Express/FC Pro/Shake/Soundtrack exist... give it time, they're developing this segment
>ilife for window
They kill consumer Macs if they do this.
>3d graphics apps
Incredibly labor and reserach intensive, small market, plus they have Maya for OSX.
SERVICES
>itunes for linux
Apple's of the belief that if you're gonna do Unix/Linux, go with OSX.
>imovie store
Give it 5 years
>book publishing
e-Books... maybe...
RETAIL
>mass market consumer line
They really really really need this.
DESKTOPS
>G5 imac
Give it 6 months.
>IBM mojave in low end imac
no clue
>G5 cube
The G5 cube will be the G5 imac... in a sense...
IBOOKS POWEBOOKS
>G5 powerbook
Cooling problems, although we'll see them late this year.
>IBM mojave G3+++ in Ibooks
They moved iBooks to G4, and they'll stick to that through 1.33GHz
>ruggedized Ibooks
don't know
>ruggedized powerbooks
don't know
>Fuel cell powerbook
Give it 5 years.
PODS
>return of newton
The planets have to align for that, you'd need serious development on OSX lite, and it would only come in the shape of a PDA / iPod / CellPhone / Movie Player... The ultimate convergence device. Give it 3-4 years.
>oled Ipod
Give it two years.
>video pod
Give it two years.
>satelite radio Ipod
ditto
>bluetooth enabled pod
5th generation iPods...
NEXTGENERATION HUMAN INTERFACE DEVICES
>inkwell tablet
Too slow with current R&D
>click wheel mouse
who knows?
>dual click wheel gameing handset
Apple doesn't really develop many accessories.
>smart led cases
dunno
>radical HID developments
Apple's a huuuuuuuge company with a large installed user base, they suffer from intertia.
>force feedback interface
Interesting, but years--maybe decades away.
>OSX 10.3d interface\t
Not likely within any 2D display technology, managing 3D becomes a bit cumbersome, but I'm willing to be swayed.
QUICKTIME
>Quicktime on PC's
well,this has already happened to a certain extent...Who knows?
>Quicktime on linux
Apple's linux support is nonexistent, and I don't see that changing.
>Quicktime dominate media API's
They need more development of what exactly Quicktime is, what it solves and what it needs to solve.
>ubiquitious quicktime
In my world it is
OSX
>OSX on HP ipac
Would love to see this, but the Apple / HP partnership has only just begun, it's too hard to tell.
>OSX on cellphones
Overkill
>OSX on PDA's
Would require interface redesign, since PDAs are low-resolution.
>OSX on PDA, phone, pod,
I talked about this above
>OSX on tablets
same inkwell problem... won't happen until a decent tablet HID R&D is done.
>OSX on IBM PPC
We're there, aren't we?
>OSX on SUN
Sun's workstations are dying, due in part to the relatively dirt cheap 64-bit workstations Apple calls G5s.
>OSX on SGI
SGI is dying... has been for a long time, moreover, it has corporate necrotic agent--whatever it touches, dies.
>OSX on Intel
They keep a build of it, but will only use it should the fit hit the shan.
OSX86
>Apple takes on MS on X86
We need to break 5% again before we try any revolutionist movements ;-)
>AAPL buying some or all of SGI
As per my above statement, Apple doesn't need necrosis.
>AAPL buying some or all of Sun
This would be interesting... but no reason to.
Originally posted by squareback
digital hub home base, media appliance,
The Mac is your digital hub. Attempts to integrate TV will run afoul of the content producers and broadcasters, who don't want their TV shows (including ads) anywhere near something that can run iMovie. Attempts to integrate PVR will run afoul of whoever's currently trying to play a video game or work in Garage Band, etc. Lastly, I think Apple's waiting for FireWire to gain traction.
audio systems
home theater systems
big screen dispalys
projection displays
What value could Apple offer here? And where's the profit? Gateway's got the #1 selling plasma, and look what it's doing for them.
ENTERPRISE
Right now, the things keeping Apple out of enterprise are: Software compatibility, hang-ups about single vendors in general and Apple in particular, and networking compatibility. There's no reason to get hip-deep in enterprise offerings of any kind until Apple has some indication that someone will buy them. Xserves sell primarily into Apple's installed base.
thin client display
graphics tablet\t\t\t
headless mac
mojave emac
Thin client: Apple shipped a few thinnish clients (dickless- I mean, diskless iMacs) to a Japanese university which asked for them by name. The original iMac didn't have a hard disk in its early design stages. So Apple's keeping an eye on the possibility. The problem has always been that the thin clients are attractive in theory and unusable in practice. Networks are neither fast enough nor scalable enough nor reliable enough, and the compromises necessary to make a thin client attractive price-wise don't help.
Graphics tablet: What is Wacom doing wrong? If you meant a tablet computer, see thin client: They're great in theory, and they suck in practice. Apple's been making tablet prototypes since at least the mid-'80s, so again, they have an eye on the idea. If they haven't released one, it's probably because they haven't engineered out enough of the suck yet.
Headless Mac: The engineering is trivial, but if you work the issues out it would hardly be less expensive than an eMac. If enterprises demand them, Apple will build them (as they did with the eMac). Right now, enterprise is not demanding anything of Apple.
Mojave eMac: Why Mohave? An eMac update is not all that far off. We'll see what Apple decides to supply it with.
open office office suite
an AppleWorks OSX to best MS Office
exchange killer
trusted OSX
grid for everyone
consumer prosumer pro apps
ilife for window
3d graphics apps
Open Office? Look at what Apple borrows from open source: Small, lean daemons and libraries. They know better than to borrow anything with a UI. Right now, the #1 problem with alternative office software is .DOC file compatibility. .DOC is not an open or documented standard (the latest version is partly documented...) so if you want no-hassle, reliable document compatibility you get MS Office. The #2 is that Word is so complicated that people train specifically in that application. If you switch apps, even to an app with a better interface, you're obsoleting that training and forcing a learning curve.
Exchange killer: They're already most of the way there, actually. They can't serve the proprietary Exchange format, however (it's proprietary, after all) so no erstwhile competitor could gain traction until clients other than Outlook were deployed across the enterprise. And that will happen when?
Trusted OS X: May already exist.
Grid for everyone: Anyone can download the SDK right now, and those who have some use for it undoubtedly will. Right now, though, it's only of interest to a subset of programmers.
Apps: Apple doesn't make enough for you?!
iLife for Windows: Why? iLife exists to sell Macs.
3D graphics apps: This would be an immense undertaking to sell into a highly specialized field with entrenched applications that have loyal userbases. Why? Is there something wrong with what's already out there? Maya seems to be good enough for Pixar...
itunes for linux
imovie store
book publishing
Linux is currently thought of at Apple as primarily a server OS. This is because, statistically speaking, it is primarily a server OS. Servers do not need iTunes.
iMovie Store: Steve has already talked about this. There's not enough bandwidth for instant gratification. When there is, Apple will think about it. And it probably won't sell iMovies.
Book Publishing: Why? Apple doesn't do any other kind of publishing, and there's an entire industry devoted to this, including print-on-demand.
mass market consumer line
Apple would reply that they have one, or two, or three. What, exactly, do you mean by this (this is a recurrent problem with your post: what you want is not obvious). Furthermore, Apple has had horrible luck selling Macs in general retail, which only changes if they supply the store with an actual Apple employee. If you have a better idea, we're all ears.
G5 imac
IBM mojave in low end imac
G5 cube
Imminent, unnecessary, and unlikely, respectively.
G5 powerbook
IBM mojave G3+++ in Ibooks
ruggedized Ibooks
ruggedized powerbooks
Fuel cell powerbook
Respectively: Coming as soon as Apple can do it; Again, why Mojave? Apple will use what makes sense to them to use; ruggedized laptops are a tiny, specialized market - Apple will respond to demand here, and so far there doesn't appear to be any; if it makes sense, they'll do it.
That's enough, I believe.
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