Whatever happened to the "20th anniversary" ?
In January, Steve was putting a lot of emphasis om this year being the 20th anniversary year for the mac. Since then, it seems like this has been forgotten. Even when the G5 iMac came out, there was no mentioning about it.
Has Apple forgotten all about it, or are we all in for a surprise ?
Zon
Has Apple forgotten all about it, or are we all in for a surprise ?
Zon
Comments
At this point I'm just happy that Apple may start eking out gains in market/mindshare with non-Mac fanatics.
G5s
ipod mini
ipod 4G
U2 ipod
ipod photo
iMac G5
Powerbooks and iBooks
Motion
shall i continue? to say that this year has been disappointing or not as great as anticipated is just ignorant. this has been a great year for apple in every way minus the delay of G5 processors, which if anything jsut heightened anticipation and caused a greater demand. AAPL stock alone is enough evidence that Apple is making a serious comeback in terms of mindshare, marketshare, and innovation.
Originally posted by ipodandimac
well he was referring to this whole year as the anniversary. he said there would be some great new products out this year, and there have been:
G5s
ipod mini
ipod 4G
U2 ipod
ipod photo
iMac G5
Powerbooks and iBooks
Motion
I agree with you, but this is Apple. This is Steve Jobs.
The iMac G5 is related to the first Mac. Why miss an excellent opportunity for some great PR ?
Originally posted by ipodandimac
well he was referring to this whole year as the anniversary. he said there would be some great new products out this year, and there have been:
G5s
ipod mini
ipod 4G
U2 ipod
ipod photo
iMac G5
Powerbooks and iBooks
Motion
[snip]
But how is this different from last year? They put out new iPods, new PBooks, new PMacs & iBooks last year as well. Didn't Logic 6 come out last year? What about Shake & the other video program they bought up?
See, other than the iMac G5 (31/8/04 intro) & Motion, everything else has just been tech. updates on previously available products. Also, look @ your list again. There are many iPod related lines which while cool, don't count in my mind as a celebration of "20 years of the Macintosh". As in, not really computer related. Besides, this is the 2nd special edition iPod, there was one last year with the signatures of some musician types, so the only real forward movement was the addition of iPod Photo.
So, where is the huge "Happy 20th, Macintosh!" release? This 20th anniversary hasn't been mentioned once since MWSF, IIRC.
Original Macintosh vs. "Twentieth Anniversary" iMac G5
List $ ---? --- ---(with currency conversion in 1984 dollars maybe)
RAM/HD
Networking innovations
Performance (Flops v MFlops or Gflops)
Exponential or near exponential progress, depending on how you measure.
Originally posted by PBG4 Dude
So, where is the huge "Happy 20th, Macintosh!" release? This 20th anniversary hasn't been mentioned once since MWSF, IIRC.
i agree with your points. what i was trying to say was that there never was supposed to be one huge 20th anniversary release. it was just supposed to be a good year for apple, and it has been. steve is well known for his smoke 'n mirrors hype, and the 20th anniversary year is just another gmmick to attract attention.
As for the Bang/Buck idea, it would just draw unhelpful comparisons with wintel boxes. We all know that what we get is infinitely better but bringing up the price issue would be a mistake.
Whether Apple have touted it as an anniversary or not, this has been a great year. Roll on 2005!
Originally posted by ipodandimac
i agree with your points. what i was trying to say was that there never was supposed to be one huge 20th anniversary release. it was just supposed to be a good year for apple, and it has been. steve is well known for his smoke 'n mirrors hype, and the 20th anniversary year is just another gmmick to attract attention.
I understand what you're saying as well. Guess I was hoping for some kind of 'In celebration of 20 years of Macintosh, I give you [cue drumroll] the incredible, amazing, awe inducing ______!' announcement.
But it has been a good year for Apple. Great would've included 3GHz G5s so everything else could be at a higher clock rate. Otherwise, Apple seems to be firing on all cylinders, and the public is taking notice, which is also very important.
I would say Apple's mindshare stock has probably tripled this year.
Originally posted by david_oc
I don't think it's as a big a deal from a PR point as you think. Apple is getting as close to saturation coverage as is possible in the press. Sure a lot of it is for iPod, but there was a lot of talk surrounding the iMac G5 when it was released. Furthermore, any current articles, even about the iPod, tend to reference the iMac.
As for the Bang/Buck idea, it would just draw unhelpful comparisons with wintel boxes. We all know that what we get is infinitely better but bringing up the price issue would be a mistake.
Whether Apple have touted it as an anniversary or not, this has been a great year. Roll on 2005!
Yes, many outlets seem to be talking up all things Apple. I don't remember a time when so many analysts were making investment announcements about AAPL. Consumer Reports has the G5 iMac on December's cover with a title "59,940 reasons to go Mac" (talking about 60,000 Win viruses, vs. 60 Mac viruses).
Hopefully people won't mind trying out a Mac in 2005.
The people who need to—or want to—know that the iMac G5, like the original iMac, tips its hat to the original Macintosh. For everyone else, it's the perfect computer to go with their iPod.
It's hard for longtime Mac fans to accept this, I think, but the more completely Apple abandons the Mac legacy and hitches that wagon to something hip and new like the iPod, the better the Mac will do. Think about why most people won't even consider Macs an option: Is it because they don't know about Macs at all, or because they think they know about Macs, based on an isolated encounter with Quark on System 7.5.2, or incompatibility with Windows 95?
Historical amnesia is a good thing in the general case, because it will finally allow the Mac to succeed or fail on its current merits.
Originally posted by zenarcade
I agree with you, but this is Apple. This is Steve Jobs.
The iMac G5 is related to the first Mac. Why miss an excellent opportunity for some great PR ?
People seem to have forgotten that Jobs was convalescing from cancer surgery as the iMac G5 was being rolled out. Things like that can put a wee bit of a damper on the PR campaigns.
Originally posted by crarko
People seem to have forgotten that Jobs was convalescing from cancer surgery as the iMac G5 was being rolled out. Things like that can put a wee bit of a damper on the PR campaigns.
Yes, the best laid plans...
I actually didn't think Jobs made that big a deal of the whole 20th anniversary thing back in January. It was kind of a "yes it is, but we're not doing anyone thing in recognition of it so you'll just have to take the whole year of great products we have lined up...". Everybody was talking about it so that was a way of grabbing that attention and turning it to what he wanted you to look at / watch for. I'm with Amorph -- this is the wrong business to be looking back and dwelling on the last 20 years.
reg
Not to mention the investors celebrating... i know I am :-P
(with a Powerbook G5!)
www.apple.com/thinkdifferent
I think they missed a chance to try something new.
Under the label of 20th anniversary Macintosh they could have released the long fabulated headless mac and measure market acceptance. If it doesn't succeed - well then it was only the special 20th anniversary Mac, but if it does succeed then it is the beginning of a new hardware line.
They try out so many new things with the iPod - why not with Mac hardware?