It's funny how many people seem to think the next (whichever next that might be) event will include an onslaught of product announcements. Those people have been proven wrong so far. Apple has NEVER EVER release a ton of products at ANY event.
I don't think they should. Products shouldn't be fighting for attention. There's a finite amount of coverage that journalists can do. Big bang releases never really work out that well. I agree... it isn't likely to happen.
Quote:
Originally Posted by felixcat
Unfortunately, Apple just cannot keep up with revamping their growing number of products. Every time that a new product gets introduced it just means that older (i.e. last year's hot products) will fall by the wayside for a while. Yet they keep on spitting out more and more new things. It's almost like watching 24...it just keeps on getting worse.
I love it...constant innovation is good and keeps our Tech market strong.
Quote:
Originally Posted by felixcat
Apple has some innovations, but it seems now they are playing catchup more often. Whatever happened to iSight? Should it really take this long to create a new camera or at least release a Cinema Display with a built-in camera? I don't think so.
iSight is dead...Apple's moving to built in cams in almost every screen. Cinema Displays will be likely groundbreaking. I don't know if they're moving to LED based backlighting but I think they will likely have cameras in them and support for encrypted video so that HD optical technology will be supported. My hope is that they use a very high contrast panel and support other tweaks for excellent image quality.
Quote:
Originally Posted by felixcat
Development on the MacPro front seems to have stalled completely at this point. I somehow doubt we'll see much a revision when we finally do see one. That means the update will just get announced without much fanfare...just like the new MBP. You'll maybe see a new video card, maybe a new M/B. But what exactly could one expect beyond that? Lot's of people seem to complain about the case, but this is a Pro machine. It is not meant for the casual user--that's what the iMac is for.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt. Wrong on this one. The next Mac Pro will be a nice bump if it uses Penryn CPU on Stoakley/Seaburg platform. In addition to new SSE4 instructions Penryn has a 1.6Ghz FSB and an improved snoop filter for cache managment and a memory controller that is %25 faster. Apple could deliver late this year if Intel is ready or MWSF would likely be the date. I'm jazzed about Penryn and Leopard together.
Quote:
Originally Posted by felixcat
And what exactly is wrong with the iMac? You could tweak the way it looks but beyond that...how much more do you want other than maybe an LCD backlight?
I'd like a non white more svelte enclosure. I'd like a Core 2 Conroe platform rather than Merom. I'd like a 19", 22" and 24" size.
Quote:
Originally Posted by felixcat
Pehaps the problem is that Apple has just pretty much reached a barrier as to how much more they can innovate. The growth is obviously in newer lines like the iPod, iPhone, iTV.
I doubt it...until you can think what you want done and the computer responds perfectly there is always room for improvement. Why doesn't my laptop battery last all day? Why does telephony still suck on computers, why can't I talk to my computer and have it recognize my text and do what I command? Why do we still need loud fans?
Computers are supposed to make my life easier but right now they've enabled me to do amazing things but they still aren't a "trusty sidekick" quite yet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by felixcat
I'd have to say that Apple better lookout. Over the next few years Windows or some other competitor could close the gap: Ubuntu Linux is making pretty darn good progress; OpenSolaris might also be a contender. The only thing that Ubuntu and OpenSolaris lack is the killer design suite--the Adobe stuff. I'd consider switching to Windows (yeah, after 10 years) if they just dumped the registry and made it app. installation more Mac like. Vista is pretty nice if all you care about is iCandy.
Don't expect much at upcoming events. At the beginning of the year Steve said this would be a terrific year (or something like that)...well, we're still waiting for that to happen and we're now half way through [/QUOTE]
Ubuntu is nice ..but Linux is all over the place regarding UI. Microsoft is so paranoid I can't do anything without running through some Genuine Advantage check. OpenSolaris isn't something you'd give your grandmother.
All the platforms have their plusses and minuses. Apple certainly isn't perfect but I still like their platform more than any other I've tried.
Why not? If the price is right, it'd be pretty attractive to many people.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gugy
Not sure,
I think the iPhone will be here by almost 4 months, if they introduce the iPod 6g at end of October. So the hype will start to die down.
Plus the iPhone is almost like a item the people buy for themselves than actually buying as a gift to someone else, because of the AT&T plans, coverage, etc.
I think the Xmas season is the perfect timing to introduce the iPod. Unless Apple have problems with their suppliers, I would expect it to be announce then. At least I hope so. I am so tired of waiting.
You don't think parents buy their kids new phones with or without plans for the holidays? Especially if it has a higher-quality iPod built in? Even to reward oneself for the holidays?
No. They'll let things play out there. iPod has already done well enough that it can stand for another 6 months.
Why not? If the price is right, it'd be pretty attractive to many people.
You don't think parents buy their kids new phones with or without plans for the holidays? Especially if it has a higher-quality iPod built in? Even to reward oneself for the holidays?
No. They'll let things play out there. iPod has already done well enough that it can stand for another 6 months.
I don't think many parents out there will fork $500 to $600 to phones for their kids. On top of that the AT&T plan that might be costly. I wouldn't do it for my spoiled kids
The point I am making is that iPhone is a great gift for oneself, but people will rather buy iPods for others because: is cheaper, no 2 year commitment for plans, some people don't want switch carrier, some people don't like AT&T, Too expensive for careless kids, etc.
So the iPod has a much better selling point for xmas gifts than the iPhone. That's why I have hard time believing Apple will miss this season to make even more money selling iPods. of course, unless for some supplier reason they can have enough to announce it by October.
Believe me, there are rich families that would. I know a couple, and unfortunately mine's not one of them :P
But they've spent so much time and money developng and making the iPhone, there's no way they'd just let the iPod go and steal the spotlight from the iPhone at that time. Think about it, right now the iPhone is the new iPod. Apple will give the iPhone its run for its money, after all it's gone through for it (including delaying Leopard!)
yes, I know and I can assure you many families will do that. But that's a very small %.
it's very possible that the iPhone will be the only new iPod this year, but I think Apple is passing good opportunity to make money on the iPod this Xmas season if they have the 6g ready by then. Wait for MWSF is silly, plus I don't think the iPod will steal so many iPhone sales anyway.
People want the iPhone mostly because it's a Phone and have the iPod and internet capabilities.
A lot of people will not want the iPhone because:
It's a phone!
AT&T
Don't want to be tied to a 2 year contract.
They want more storage for music and videos
They want a large screen on the ipod 6g (maybe windscreen 5")
They want a cheaper iPod
They don't care for the internet capability
So for all the folks that don't want the iPhone because of all of the above, A new iPod at Xmas will be great. Apple will make tons of money anyway having both.
Don't get me wrong, iPhone will be a success. That's why I think the iPod will not take away that many sales as you may think.
I think we will finally see the "Top Secret" features of Leopard at MWSF08. Apple will also introduce iLife 07, the Airport Express will be updated to 802.11n draft, and iMacs will get Santa Rosa chipsets.
yes, I know and I can assure you many families will do that. But that's a very small %.
it's very possible that the iPhone will be the only new iPod this year, but I think Apple is passing good opportunity to make money on the iPod this Xmas season if they have the 6g ready by then. Wait for MWSF is silly, plus I don't think the iPod will steal so many iPhone sales anyway.
People want the iPhone mostly because it's a Phone and have the iPod and internet capabilities.
A lot of people will not want the iPhone because:
It's a phone!
AT&T
Don't want to be tied to a 2 year contract.
They want more storage for music and videos
They want a large screen on the ipod 6g (maybe windscreen 5")
They want a cheaper iPod
They don't care for the internet capability
So for all the folks that don't want the iPhone because of all of the above, A new iPod at Xmas will be great. Apple will make tons of money anyway having both.
Don't get me wrong, iPhone will be a success. That's why I think the iPod will not take away that many sales as you may think.
We'll see.
And then there are the people so desperate for a full-screen widescreen iPod that they will jump at the opportunity, viewing the internet, etc. features as a bonus. I can see where you're coming from, but it's not like Apple to draw focus from such a highly-hyped product so soon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Go Banana
I think we will finally see the "Top Secret" features of Leopard at MWSF08. Apple will also introduce iLife 07, the Airport Express will be updated to 802.11n draft, and iMacs will get Santa Rosa chipsets.
One more thing...
Multi-Touch Airport Extreme
The first 30 years was just the beginning...
... okay, little of that makes any sense whatsoever. Why would Apple demonstrate features after the release? They expect, 'well, if you want to see these so badly still, go buy the danged OS' And a majority of Apple users will have switched by then. iMac will come sooner than that. Watch Apple Expo in Paris. Airport Express will not get 802.11n until Extreme is upgraded to the next thing. There has to be a differentiation between the express and extreme models. And must I say it again? NO MULTI-TOUCH IN ANYTHING THAT'S NOT A PORTABLE FOR AT LEAST 3 YEARS!! Not to mention that there's no reason to have multi-touch on an Airport Extreme... I just completely miss the point there.
... okay, little of that makes any sense whatsoever. Why would Apple demonstrate features after the release? They expect, 'well, if you want to see these so badly still, go buy the danged OS' And a majority of Apple users will have switched by then. iMac will come sooner than that. Watch Apple Expo in Paris. Airport Express will not get 802.11n until Extreme is upgraded to the next thing. There has to be a differentiation between the express and extreme models. And must I say it again? NO MULTI-TOUCH IN ANYTHING THAT'S NOT A PORTABLE FOR AT LEAST 3 YEARS!! Not to mention that there's no reason to have multi-touch on an Airport Extreme... I just completely miss the point there.
no way dude, I'm telling you, Multi-Touch X-Serves by MWSF08!
no way dude, I'm telling you, Multi-Touch X-Serves by MWSF08!
This guy is a friggin' joke.
Well done Banana, hook line sinker.
New 10.5 feature released at Macworld- Leopard's Alex will include a female Alexa that will read sarcasm with the proper inflection for the slower readers on Insider. Afterwards she will roll her eyes and hold it against you for the next 48 hours
iSight is dead...Apple's moving to built in cams in almost every screen. Cinema Displays will be likely groundbreaking. I don't know if they're moving to LED based backlighting but I think they will likely have cameras in them and support for encrypted video so that HD optical technology will be supported. My hope is that they use a very high contrast panel and support other tweaks for excellent image quality.
The Cinema Displays really suck right now. Apple needs to find a way to update them more frequently, because display prices are dropping, such that I can get a 24 inch 1920x1200 display for the same price as Apple's 20 inch 1680x1050 display. I really want to see competitive and innovative screens from Apple.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hmurchison
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt. Wrong on this one. The next Mac Pro will be a nice bump if it uses Penryn CPU on Stoakley/Seaburg platform. In addition to new SSE4 instructions Penryn has a 1.6Ghz FSB and an improved snoop filter for cache managment and a memory controller that is %25 faster. Apple could deliver late this year if Intel is ready or MWSF would likely be the date. I'm jazzed about Penryn and Leopard together.
I wasn't aware that Penryn processors themselves were moving to 1.6 GHz (400MHz quadruple data rate) busses, but I know that the chipset will support it. Based on the speeds of samples, it looks like they're still on a 1333 MHz bus. If Leopard's scheduler is better (note that this is different from the multi-threading tools in the IDE and compiler), then an 8-core Penryn system could be really powerful. I suspect that such a system would stick with PCIe instead of PCIe2, and according to this write-up, it looks like we would have about the same number of PCIe lanes electrically (note that several PCIe lanes traditionally cover Firewire and Airport/Bluetooth). Now what might be really interesting is if they moved to San Clemente and Cranberry Lake, which use regular DDR2 or DDR3, and might allow for 2x16 PCIe electrically.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hmurchison
I doubt it...until you can think what you want done and the computer responds perfectly there is always room for improvement. Why doesn't my laptop battery last all day? Why does telephony still suck on computers, why can't I talk to my computer and have it recognize my text and do what I command? Why do we still need loud fans?
Computers are supposed to make my life easier but right now they've enabled me to do amazing things but they still aren't a "trusty sidekick" quite yet.
I think that while you're right to a degree, there's a pretty valid point to be made that for "traditional computing", just about any G4, G5, or Core processor can handle the web-browsing, word-processing, email and IM crowd.
The real trick (and where I hope Apple excels over the next few years) is in making computers that do things that no one thought they needed or wanted their computers to do. Before 2002, no one would have thought that a home computer should come with sound and video editing software. Before 2005, no one would have expected home computers to do re-encoding of movies and content to go on iPods and AppleTVs. What Apple needs to do is make their computers do something that no one would have expected from a computer before, and 2 years later can't imagine doing without.
Yeah I think that Apple would love to have something special to announce for the new Cinema Displays but LED technology isn't abundant at larger sizes and what other tech is really cool that Apple could latch on to? I don't know myself.
My guess is that "Extreme" versions of Penryn will probably support the 1.6Ghz bus. Intel loves to bifurcate the lineup alongst the FSB. Similar to Woodcrest low end procs supporting 1066 FSB whilst the mid to upper procs supporting 1333 FSB. Leopard's scheduler better improve over Tiger. Intel's done the work with their cache snoop filter that now supports 4-way affinity. I've read that virtualization speed should improve because of some faster context switching of sorts.
I agree on that last part. Who's going to take the next step and design a unique hardware architecture? Hell I'd even welcome the return of an ADC style connector to reduce cabling as long as the monitor had legacy DVI connectors as well.
How about a Cube with a full length PCIe 16x slot for running dual monitors with a port for connecting another Cube via hypertransport (if there's an external link capability) or infiniband. Give us some cool shite to lust over.
My guess is that "Extreme" versions of Penryn will probably support the 1.6Ghz bus. Intel loves to bifurcate the lineup alongst the FSB. Similar to Woodcrest low end procs supporting 1066 FSB whilst the mid to upper procs supporting 1333 FSB. Leopard's scheduler better improve over Tiger. Intel's done the work with their cache snoop filter that now supports 4-way affinity. I've read that virtualization speed should improve because of some faster context switching of sorts.
I found a reference mentioning a 3.2 GHz dual-core Penryn with a 1.6 GHz FSB, so I guess you were right about that, but I also have heard of 3.33 GHz ones on a 1333 MHz bus.
Tiger's scheduler does way too much switching from processor to processor.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hmurchison
I agree on that last part. Who's going to take the next step and design a unique hardware architecture? Hell I'd even welcome the return of an ADC style connector to reduce cabling as long as the monitor had legacy DVI connectors as well.
How about a Cube with a full length PCIe 16x slot for running dual monitors with a port for connecting another Cube via hypertransport (if there's an external link capability) or infiniband. Give us some cool shite to lust over.
I was speaking generally about a software/hardware solution, the kind Apple are good at. Apple's strength is in making systems. Apple needs to make a computer that screams "You could never do this on a Windows PC". The current Macs just look like PCs in a pretty case with great software.
HT 3.0 allows for external hypertransport cables, but I think the range sucks (like 3 feet or something). I think Apple could make a fortune with "Need more power? Just buy two and plug them together!"
I was speaking generally about a software/hardware solution, the kind Apple are good at. Apple's strength is in making systems. Apple needs to make a computer that screams "You could never do this on a Windows PC". The current Macs just look like PCs in a pretty case with great software.
HT 3.0 allows for external hypertransport cables, but I think the range sucks (like 3 feet or something). I think Apple could make a fortune with "Need more power? Just buy two and plug them together!"
The problem here, as I see it, is that Apple's main goal on the desktop (and really, across their line) is to make the hardware as absolutely minimalist and unobtrusive as possible.
That leads to some striking design decisions, but it doesn't really lend itself to screaming "you could never do this on a Windows PC", because that would mean "adding features", and that's not really Apple's thing. Apple doesn't scream, much.
Apple likes to have fewer slots, less expandability, fewer buttons, less clutter, etc. "Wow" features tend to require more of all of that--think MS and "SideShow", or all the PC laptops with all kinds of lights and dedicated buttons and gimmicky little "features."
Apple doesn't do "SideShow" because it's clutter. Apple doesn't do buttons and lights because it's clutter.
Apple can and will continue to innovate through tight integration of software and hardware, but I think it will remain the kind of stuff that proves it's worth by using it, not necessarily the kind of stuff that makes an overwhelming first impression.
And what other tech is really cool that Apple could latch on to?
Straight away I'd say high-res OLED screens.
Apple struck an interesting deal with Flash RAM manufacturers to get its hands on lots of them for iPods. Wouldn't it be cool if Apple could strike a similar deal with an OLED manufacturer to provide it with lots of customised displays?
Imagine a MacBook Pro with a lid that's not only 2mm thick (or rather thin) but also saves battery power and comes in crisp high resolutions like 1920x1200 on a 15" display using resolution independence!
Now that would be a minimalist, wow feature one can't find on Windows, which integrates both hardware (OLED screen) and software (resolution independence).
Apple struck an interesting deal with Flash RAM manufacturers to get its hands on lots of them for iPods. Wouldn't it be cool if Apple could strike a similar deal with an OLED manufacturer to provide it with lots of customised displays?
Imagine a MacBook Pro with a lid that's not only 2mm thick (or rather thin) but also saves battery power and comes in crisp high resolutions like 1920x1200 on a 15" display using resolution independence!
Now that would be a minimalist, wow feature one can't find on Windows, which integrates both hardware (OLED screen) and software (resolution independence).
It would be, but we're nowhere near having commercially viable 15" high res OLED screens, and when they do become available they are likely to be considerably more expensive than LCD screens, and when they get competitive with LCD screens, there's no reason for PC manufacturers not to adopt them straight away, assuming they offer real advantages.
If Apple wanted to push the envelope, they might beat out PCs by a few months, but if anything they've tended to be pretty conservative about adopting new tech. They've been slow to increase resolution on the Cinema Displays and laptop screens, and slow to adopt LED backlighting.
I would guess that if and when the kind of screen you're talking about becomes available, it will be in a PC laptop first, second and third. Then, Apple will design a very thin notebook around it that takes better advantage of the space savings than the PCs, and we will want it.
And PC people will say, big deal, we've had that for a while.
Apple struck an interesting deal with Flash RAM manufacturers to get its hands on lots of them for iPods. Wouldn't it be cool if Apple could strike a similar deal with an OLED manufacturer to provide it with lots of customised displays?
Imagine a MacBook Pro with a lid that's not only 2mm thick (or rather thin) but also saves battery power and comes in crisp high resolutions like 1920x1200 on a 15" display using resolution independence!
Now that would be a minimalist, wow feature one can't find on Windows, which integrates both hardware (OLED screen) and software (resolution independence).
Comments
It's funny how many people seem to think the next (whichever next that might be) event will include an onslaught of product announcements. Those people have been proven wrong so far. Apple has NEVER EVER release a ton of products at ANY event.
I don't think they should. Products shouldn't be fighting for attention. There's a finite amount of coverage that journalists can do. Big bang releases never really work out that well. I agree... it isn't likely to happen.
Unfortunately, Apple just cannot keep up with revamping their growing number of products. Every time that a new product gets introduced it just means that older (i.e. last year's hot products) will fall by the wayside for a while. Yet they keep on spitting out more and more new things. It's almost like watching 24...it just keeps on getting worse.
I love it...constant innovation is good and keeps our Tech market strong.
Apple has some innovations, but it seems now they are playing catchup more often. Whatever happened to iSight? Should it really take this long to create a new camera or at least release a Cinema Display with a built-in camera? I don't think so.
iSight is dead...Apple's moving to built in cams in almost every screen. Cinema Displays will be likely groundbreaking. I don't know if they're moving to LED based backlighting but I think they will likely have cameras in them and support for encrypted video so that HD optical technology will be supported. My hope is that they use a very high contrast panel and support other tweaks for excellent image quality.
Development on the MacPro front seems to have stalled completely at this point. I somehow doubt we'll see much a revision when we finally do see one. That means the update will just get announced without much fanfare...just like the new MBP. You'll maybe see a new video card, maybe a new M/B. But what exactly could one expect beyond that? Lot's of people seem to complain about the case, but this is a Pro machine. It is not meant for the casual user--that's what the iMac is for.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt. Wrong on this one. The next Mac Pro will be a nice bump if it uses Penryn CPU on Stoakley/Seaburg platform. In addition to new SSE4 instructions Penryn has a 1.6Ghz FSB and an improved snoop filter for cache managment and a memory controller that is %25 faster. Apple could deliver late this year if Intel is ready or MWSF would likely be the date. I'm jazzed about Penryn and Leopard together.
And what exactly is wrong with the iMac? You could tweak the way it looks but beyond that...how much more do you want other than maybe an LCD backlight?
I'd like a non white more svelte enclosure. I'd like a Core 2 Conroe platform rather than Merom. I'd like a 19", 22" and 24" size.
Pehaps the problem is that Apple has just pretty much reached a barrier as to how much more they can innovate. The growth is obviously in newer lines like the iPod, iPhone, iTV.
I doubt it...until you can think what you want done and the computer responds perfectly there is always room for improvement. Why doesn't my laptop battery last all day? Why does telephony still suck on computers, why can't I talk to my computer and have it recognize my text and do what I command? Why do we still need loud fans?
Computers are supposed to make my life easier but right now they've enabled me to do amazing things but they still aren't a "trusty sidekick" quite yet.
I'd have to say that Apple better lookout. Over the next few years Windows or some other competitor could close the gap: Ubuntu Linux is making pretty darn good progress; OpenSolaris might also be a contender. The only thing that Ubuntu and OpenSolaris lack is the killer design suite--the Adobe stuff. I'd consider switching to Windows (yeah, after 10 years) if they just dumped the registry and made it app. installation more Mac like. Vista is pretty nice if all you care about is iCandy.
Don't expect much at upcoming events. At the beginning of the year Steve said this would be a terrific year (or something like that)...well, we're still waiting for that to happen and we're now half way through [/QUOTE]
Ubuntu is nice ..but Linux is all over the place regarding UI. Microsoft is so paranoid I can't do anything without running through some Genuine Advantage check. OpenSolaris isn't something you'd give your grandmother.
All the platforms have their plusses and minuses. Apple certainly isn't perfect but I still like their platform more than any other I've tried.
a iMac can not replace a head less system.
apple may drop the mini for a desktop system.
what's the macpro?
what's the macpro?
a high end workstation / desktop apple can't drop the low end head less system and replace with a AIO
a iMac can not replace a head less system.
apple may drop the mini for a desktop system.
Why not? If the price is right, it'd be pretty attractive to many people.
Not sure,
I think the iPhone will be here by almost 4 months, if they introduce the iPod 6g at end of October. So the hype will start to die down.
Plus the iPhone is almost like a item the people buy for themselves than actually buying as a gift to someone else, because of the AT&T plans, coverage, etc.
I think the Xmas season is the perfect timing to introduce the iPod. Unless Apple have problems with their suppliers, I would expect it to be announce then. At least I hope so. I am so tired of waiting.
You don't think parents buy their kids new phones with or without plans for the holidays? Especially if it has a higher-quality iPod built in? Even to reward oneself for the holidays?
No. They'll let things play out there. iPod has already done well enough that it can stand for another 6 months.
Why not? If the price is right, it'd be pretty attractive to many people.
You don't think parents buy their kids new phones with or without plans for the holidays? Especially if it has a higher-quality iPod built in? Even to reward oneself for the holidays?
No. They'll let things play out there. iPod has already done well enough that it can stand for another 6 months.
I don't think many parents out there will fork $500 to $600 to phones for their kids. On top of that the AT&T plan that might be costly. I wouldn't do it for my spoiled kids
The point I am making is that iPhone is a great gift for oneself, but people will rather buy iPods for others because: is cheaper, no 2 year commitment for plans, some people don't want switch carrier, some people don't like AT&T, Too expensive for careless kids, etc.
So the iPod has a much better selling point for xmas gifts than the iPhone. That's why I have hard time believing Apple will miss this season to make even more money selling iPods. of course, unless for some supplier reason they can have enough to announce it by October.
But they've spent so much time and money developng and making the iPhone, there's no way they'd just let the iPod go and steal the spotlight from the iPhone at that time. Think about it, right now the iPhone is the new iPod. Apple will give the iPhone its run for its money, after all it's gone through for it (including delaying Leopard!)
it's very possible that the iPhone will be the only new iPod this year, but I think Apple is passing good opportunity to make money on the iPod this Xmas season if they have the 6g ready by then. Wait for MWSF is silly, plus I don't think the iPod will steal so many iPhone sales anyway.
People want the iPhone mostly because it's a Phone and have the iPod and internet capabilities.
A lot of people will not want the iPhone because:
It's a phone!
AT&T
Don't want to be tied to a 2 year contract.
They want more storage for music and videos
They want a large screen on the ipod 6g (maybe windscreen 5")
They want a cheaper iPod
They don't care for the internet capability
So for all the folks that don't want the iPhone because of all of the above, A new iPod at Xmas will be great. Apple will make tons of money anyway having both.
Don't get me wrong, iPhone will be a success. That's why I think the iPod will not take away that many sales as you may think.
We'll see.
One more thing...
Multi-Touch Airport Extreme
The first 30 years was just the beginning...
yes, I know and I can assure you many families will do that. But that's a very small %.
it's very possible that the iPhone will be the only new iPod this year, but I think Apple is passing good opportunity to make money on the iPod this Xmas season if they have the 6g ready by then. Wait for MWSF is silly, plus I don't think the iPod will steal so many iPhone sales anyway.
People want the iPhone mostly because it's a Phone and have the iPod and internet capabilities.
A lot of people will not want the iPhone because:
It's a phone!
AT&T
Don't want to be tied to a 2 year contract.
They want more storage for music and videos
They want a large screen on the ipod 6g (maybe windscreen 5")
They want a cheaper iPod
They don't care for the internet capability
So for all the folks that don't want the iPhone because of all of the above, A new iPod at Xmas will be great. Apple will make tons of money anyway having both.
Don't get me wrong, iPhone will be a success. That's why I think the iPod will not take away that many sales as you may think.
We'll see.
And then there are the people so desperate for a full-screen widescreen iPod that they will jump at the opportunity, viewing the internet, etc. features as a bonus. I can see where you're coming from, but it's not like Apple to draw focus from such a highly-hyped product so soon.
I think we will finally see the "Top Secret" features of Leopard at MWSF08. Apple will also introduce iLife 07, the Airport Express will be updated to 802.11n draft, and iMacs will get Santa Rosa chipsets.
One more thing...
Multi-Touch Airport Extreme
The first 30 years was just the beginning...
... okay, little of that makes any sense whatsoever. Why would Apple demonstrate features after the release? They expect, 'well, if you want to see these so badly still, go buy the danged OS' And a majority of Apple users will have switched by then. iMac will come sooner than that. Watch Apple Expo in Paris. Airport Express will not get 802.11n until Extreme is upgraded to the next thing. There has to be a differentiation between the express and extreme models. And must I say it again? NO MULTI-TOUCH IN ANYTHING THAT'S NOT A PORTABLE FOR AT LEAST 3 YEARS!! Not to mention that there's no reason to have multi-touch on an Airport Extreme... I just completely miss the point there.
... okay, little of that makes any sense whatsoever. Why would Apple demonstrate features after the release? They expect, 'well, if you want to see these so badly still, go buy the danged OS' And a majority of Apple users will have switched by then. iMac will come sooner than that. Watch Apple Expo in Paris. Airport Express will not get 802.11n until Extreme is upgraded to the next thing. There has to be a differentiation between the express and extreme models. And must I say it again? NO MULTI-TOUCH IN ANYTHING THAT'S NOT A PORTABLE FOR AT LEAST 3 YEARS!! Not to mention that there's no reason to have multi-touch on an Airport Extreme... I just completely miss the point there.
This guy is a friggin' joke.
This guy is a friggin' joke.
Well done Banana, hook line sinker.
New 10.5 feature released at Macworld- Leopard's Alex will include a female Alexa that will read sarcasm with the proper inflection for the slower readers on Insider. Afterwards she will roll her eyes and hold it against you for the next 48 hours
kcd
iSight is dead...Apple's moving to built in cams in almost every screen. Cinema Displays will be likely groundbreaking. I don't know if they're moving to LED based backlighting but I think they will likely have cameras in them and support for encrypted video so that HD optical technology will be supported. My hope is that they use a very high contrast panel and support other tweaks for excellent image quality.
The Cinema Displays really suck right now. Apple needs to find a way to update them more frequently, because display prices are dropping, such that I can get a 24 inch 1920x1200 display for the same price as Apple's 20 inch 1680x1050 display. I really want to see competitive and innovative screens from Apple.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt. Wrong on this one. The next Mac Pro will be a nice bump if it uses Penryn CPU on Stoakley/Seaburg platform. In addition to new SSE4 instructions Penryn has a 1.6Ghz FSB and an improved snoop filter for cache managment and a memory controller that is %25 faster. Apple could deliver late this year if Intel is ready or MWSF would likely be the date. I'm jazzed about Penryn and Leopard together.
I wasn't aware that Penryn processors themselves were moving to 1.6 GHz (400MHz quadruple data rate) busses, but I know that the chipset will support it. Based on the speeds of samples, it looks like they're still on a 1333 MHz bus. If Leopard's scheduler is better (note that this is different from the multi-threading tools in the IDE and compiler), then an 8-core Penryn system could be really powerful. I suspect that such a system would stick with PCIe instead of PCIe2, and according to this write-up, it looks like we would have about the same number of PCIe lanes electrically (note that several PCIe lanes traditionally cover Firewire and Airport/Bluetooth). Now what might be really interesting is if they moved to San Clemente and Cranberry Lake, which use regular DDR2 or DDR3, and might allow for 2x16 PCIe electrically.
I doubt it...until you can think what you want done and the computer responds perfectly there is always room for improvement. Why doesn't my laptop battery last all day? Why does telephony still suck on computers, why can't I talk to my computer and have it recognize my text and do what I command? Why do we still need loud fans?
Computers are supposed to make my life easier but right now they've enabled me to do amazing things but they still aren't a "trusty sidekick" quite yet.
I think that while you're right to a degree, there's a pretty valid point to be made that for "traditional computing", just about any G4, G5, or Core processor can handle the web-browsing, word-processing, email and IM crowd.
The real trick (and where I hope Apple excels over the next few years) is in making computers that do things that no one thought they needed or wanted their computers to do. Before 2002, no one would have thought that a home computer should come with sound and video editing software. Before 2005, no one would have expected home computers to do re-encoding of movies and content to go on iPods and AppleTVs. What Apple needs to do is make their computers do something that no one would have expected from a computer before, and 2 years later can't imagine doing without.
My guess is that "Extreme" versions of Penryn will probably support the 1.6Ghz bus. Intel loves to bifurcate the lineup alongst the FSB. Similar to Woodcrest low end procs supporting 1066 FSB whilst the mid to upper procs supporting 1333 FSB. Leopard's scheduler better improve over Tiger. Intel's done the work with their cache snoop filter that now supports 4-way affinity. I've read that virtualization speed should improve because of some faster context switching of sorts.
I agree on that last part. Who's going to take the next step and design a unique hardware architecture? Hell I'd even welcome the return of an ADC style connector to reduce cabling as long as the monitor had legacy DVI connectors as well.
How about a Cube with a full length PCIe 16x slot for running dual monitors with a port for connecting another Cube via hypertransport (if there's an external link capability) or infiniband. Give us some cool shite to lust over.
My guess is that "Extreme" versions of Penryn will probably support the 1.6Ghz bus. Intel loves to bifurcate the lineup alongst the FSB. Similar to Woodcrest low end procs supporting 1066 FSB whilst the mid to upper procs supporting 1333 FSB. Leopard's scheduler better improve over Tiger. Intel's done the work with their cache snoop filter that now supports 4-way affinity. I've read that virtualization speed should improve because of some faster context switching of sorts.
I found a reference mentioning a 3.2 GHz dual-core Penryn with a 1.6 GHz FSB, so I guess you were right about that, but I also have heard of 3.33 GHz ones on a 1333 MHz bus.
Tiger's scheduler does way too much switching from processor to processor.
I agree on that last part. Who's going to take the next step and design a unique hardware architecture? Hell I'd even welcome the return of an ADC style connector to reduce cabling as long as the monitor had legacy DVI connectors as well.
How about a Cube with a full length PCIe 16x slot for running dual monitors with a port for connecting another Cube via hypertransport (if there's an external link capability) or infiniband. Give us some cool shite to lust over.
I was speaking generally about a software/hardware solution, the kind Apple are good at. Apple's strength is in making systems. Apple needs to make a computer that screams "You could never do this on a Windows PC". The current Macs just look like PCs in a pretty case with great software.
HT 3.0 allows for external hypertransport cables, but I think the range sucks (like 3 feet or something). I think Apple could make a fortune with "Need more power? Just buy two and plug them together!"
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I was speaking generally about a software/hardware solution, the kind Apple are good at. Apple's strength is in making systems. Apple needs to make a computer that screams "You could never do this on a Windows PC". The current Macs just look like PCs in a pretty case with great software.
HT 3.0 allows for external hypertransport cables, but I think the range sucks (like 3 feet or something). I think Apple could make a fortune with "Need more power? Just buy two and plug them together!"
The problem here, as I see it, is that Apple's main goal on the desktop (and really, across their line) is to make the hardware as absolutely minimalist and unobtrusive as possible.
That leads to some striking design decisions, but it doesn't really lend itself to screaming "you could never do this on a Windows PC", because that would mean "adding features", and that's not really Apple's thing. Apple doesn't scream, much.
Apple likes to have fewer slots, less expandability, fewer buttons, less clutter, etc. "Wow" features tend to require more of all of that--think MS and "SideShow", or all the PC laptops with all kinds of lights and dedicated buttons and gimmicky little "features."
Apple doesn't do "SideShow" because it's clutter. Apple doesn't do buttons and lights because it's clutter.
Apple can and will continue to innovate through tight integration of software and hardware, but I think it will remain the kind of stuff that proves it's worth by using it, not necessarily the kind of stuff that makes an overwhelming first impression.
And what other tech is really cool that Apple could latch on to?
Straight away I'd say high-res OLED screens.
Apple struck an interesting deal with Flash RAM manufacturers to get its hands on lots of them for iPods. Wouldn't it be cool if Apple could strike a similar deal with an OLED manufacturer to provide it with lots of customised displays?
Imagine a MacBook Pro with a lid that's not only 2mm thick (or rather thin) but also saves battery power and comes in crisp high resolutions like 1920x1200 on a 15" display using resolution independence!
Now that would be a minimalist, wow feature one can't find on Windows, which integrates both hardware (OLED screen) and software (resolution independence).
Straight away I'd say high-res OLED screens.
Apple struck an interesting deal with Flash RAM manufacturers to get its hands on lots of them for iPods. Wouldn't it be cool if Apple could strike a similar deal with an OLED manufacturer to provide it with lots of customised displays?
Imagine a MacBook Pro with a lid that's not only 2mm thick (or rather thin) but also saves battery power and comes in crisp high resolutions like 1920x1200 on a 15" display using resolution independence!
Now that would be a minimalist, wow feature one can't find on Windows, which integrates both hardware (OLED screen) and software (resolution independence).
It would be, but we're nowhere near having commercially viable 15" high res OLED screens, and when they do become available they are likely to be considerably more expensive than LCD screens, and when they get competitive with LCD screens, there's no reason for PC manufacturers not to adopt them straight away, assuming they offer real advantages.
If Apple wanted to push the envelope, they might beat out PCs by a few months, but if anything they've tended to be pretty conservative about adopting new tech. They've been slow to increase resolution on the Cinema Displays and laptop screens, and slow to adopt LED backlighting.
I would guess that if and when the kind of screen you're talking about becomes available, it will be in a PC laptop first, second and third. Then, Apple will design a very thin notebook around it that takes better advantage of the space savings than the PCs, and we will want it.
And PC people will say, big deal, we've had that for a while.
Straight away I'd say high-res OLED screens.
Apple struck an interesting deal with Flash RAM manufacturers to get its hands on lots of them for iPods. Wouldn't it be cool if Apple could strike a similar deal with an OLED manufacturer to provide it with lots of customised displays?
Imagine a MacBook Pro with a lid that's not only 2mm thick (or rather thin) but also saves battery power and comes in crisp high resolutions like 1920x1200 on a 15" display using resolution independence!
Now that would be a minimalist, wow feature one can't find on Windows, which integrates both hardware (OLED screen) and software (resolution independence).
Agree, wholeheartedly.
Perhaps the imac for games?
Jon Ive has been pretty silent these past several months. I wonder what he has been working on.