A portly gentleman walks onto the stage. Everyone squints. Is it Phil Schiller? Is it Al Gore? No, it a 250 lbs Steve Jobs. The web is suddenly inundated with posts about Steve being morbidly obese.
A portly gentleman walks onto the stage. Everyone squints. Is it Phil Schiller? Is it Al Gore? No, it a 250 lbs Steve Jobs. The web is suddenly inundated with posts about Steve being morbidly obese.
Steve ate Phil Schiller
Personally, if they are truly going to shock me, I'd say they bring back Woz to run the company.
Wow, I use my iPhone as an e-book reader all the time.
An app called "File Magnet" will read any number of file formats, me preference being .pdf, but it also reads others. Held sideways, the screen is about the width of a paperback... the text is plenty big (I zoom the display to get rid of margins, so the text goes from edge to edge.) It scrolls down the pages by tilting the iPhone, the more you tilt, the faster it scrolls. I can read without ever touching the screen... just a slight tilt every couple seconds keeps the page scrolling by as fast as I can read it.
The text is easily as big as a pulp paperback.
So I really don't understand the bit about it being a poor reader. (Unless you guys are reading a lot of Dr. Seuss, where full-page illustrations are the major part of the story. )
Now, finding new-release fiction in a non-protected format could be a challenge, but there's a ton of stuff out there as public domain that is available as PDF or TEXT.
It doesn't have to be hardware, it could be Snow Leopard and I don't think the Mac Mini needs to pale in comparison to it. You know the rules - the underdog always wins out in the end.
Core 2 Quad 2GHz Mac Mini with 9600M GT, SSD optional. No more iMac. People will be shocked but then they'll bring up Snow Leopard that uses the hardware to the fullest and this tiny computer will perform specific tasks faster than the last generation Mac Pro.
The multi-touch tablet is a must but I don't see it coming with Leopard so Snow Leopard has to be coming anyway.
The 20th anniversary Mac was a foresight into Apple's future for the next few years and was the first incarnation of the iMac. The 25th anniversary Mac will move away from this model and demonstrate Apple's new goal of high performance parallel computing in a small package and this comes from the Mini. Apple's most versatile and affordable personal super-computer.
This allows them to develop touch-based desktop screens at a far lower cost and ones that can be sold to all users, including users of Windows 7. Stick an Apple logo in front of people so they are aware of the brand.
The future is modular. One day our laptop, our TV, our desktop, our phone will all be one and the same processing hardware running the same OS. You simply pull your processing module with data out and plug it into the display that is most convenient for you. It will begin with Apple's most modular device, the Mini and develop from there.
The future is modular. One day our laptop, our TV, our desktop, our phone will all be one and the same processing hardware running the same OS. You simply pull your processing module with data out and plug it into the display that is most convenient for you. It will begin with Apple's most modular device, the Mini and develop from there.
This doesn't surprise me. There have always seemed to be 2 ways at looking at gadgets and devices - the Microsoft one and the Apple one.
Microsoft has wanted people to have one computer to run it all. That's why you get stuff like media PCs with endless ports and tv tuners -one computer that can perform multiple tasks, such as a media player, TV, computer, gaming machine, etc. The problem is that you need to have a machine good at everything, and windows machines rarely are.
Apple has been more in favor of everyone having their devices, but making them all work and communicate simply. Items like the airport, time machine, plus software integration of iPods, iPhones and cameras into software help with this. It also helps that some one the hardware is made by apple, so it behooves them to get people to buy more gadgets. Basically, apple would like you to have tons of apple gadgets, multiple computers, an apple TV, etc., all communicating. More products = more sales, and apple's branding and development of wireless hubs only adds to this.
I think you're right, apple's approach will win out in the end since it seems to fit people's lifestyles more. The ease of use easily trumps a massive computer in the living room that has an appearence to the average person as being too complicated to use.
It seems more apple insider sources are seeding other tech columnists with info that a new Mac Mini and a "huge" surprise will be revealed later this month by Apple. As you read below it would seem Apple is doing this on purpose.
I put the odds that Apple is drawing attention to their own event as especially high. Sure, there's going to be One More Thing, and it's not going to be a small thing, but when I read "jaw dropping" I am reminded of the MacWorld that was going to be "bigger than the rumors." Yeah.
The most interesting thing that has happened recently is the announcement of over-the-air iTunes downloads, because I see from that and the last Apple TV update and MobileMe a possible move of the Digital Lifestyle away from the Mac and into MobileMe. There's no reason for Apple to disable iPhone or iPod syncing with Macs, because Macs will always have more storage and bigger screens but I wonder if increasingly the devices will be able to sync OTA. You can get everything else OTA on the iPhone now, after all.
This is where Apple is trying to grow, viz. iWork '09 and iLife '09. And--how to put this gently--they have a great deal of room to grow within their installed base. Bluntly, they're going to have to expand the service to cover more than roughly 1% of their users if they want it to be a significant part of the platform.
[edit: Since this Future Hardware, I should add that I would be truly shocked if this "jaw dropping" thing is a piece of hardware.]
I'm having a hard time believing all of this "jaw-dropping" device stuff. If this is such an incredible thing and so secretly guarded, why would Apple see that a couple of outside people were told about it (a journalist no less)? If this really happened it wouldn't still be a secret.
Don't underestimate Apple's tactical tenacity. They have a habit of changing it up.
I'm not a reader of this guy, so can anyone confirm whether or not he's been accurate or not over the past? I just want to know if he's a credible journalist or a blogging fanboy.
I'm not a reader of this guy, so can anyone confirm whether or not he's been accurate or not over the past? I just want to know if he's a credible journalist or a blogging fanboy.
He's prone to gushing sometimes, but I generally like the guy and he's pretty respected in the Mac community.
That's a given. It's obvious it's going to be hardware.
I don't agree. Apple hardware currently consists of the largest practicable screen on which to present software and as little else as they can get away with. The only piece of hardware that is not either hidden behind a display or small enough to hide in a jewelry box is the Mac Pro, and that's because its design criteria (expandable, top-end hardware) require it to be huge. All except for the iPod classic run OS X.
All the action is in software, networking and services.
Consider the fact that, for the first time, consumers are forgoing the big, heavy laptops because the small, cheap ones are actually powerful enough to do what they need. Hardware is finally reaching a plateau where you can make what used to be significant compromises in hardware and still have a product that appeals to a general audience. Hell, I read recently that people are getting iPhones because they're close enough to notebooks and wireless internet, but cheaper, and in the economic downturn cheaper closes the deal. In terms of the actual hardware powering it, the iPhone is blandly generic.
The only people still hungry for the latest and greatest hardware are professionals in industries that require massive number-crunching capabilities and hardcore gamers. Of course, Apple will continue to cater to the former market (gaming is a lost cause, for now), but for most people the issue now is not whether the machine can do what they want to do, but how easily. For Apple, the major change they can take advantage of is that nearly all of their devices now run OS X and have some form of network connectivity. That opens up a whole new frontier for Apple.
I'm not going to say that there's no possible way it will be a hardware announcement. But it will definitely surprise me.
It's just sometimes people seem to think Apple serves only the US.
So does Apple unfortunately.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ireland
OS's aren't "Jaw dropping", they just aren't. If true it'll be hardware.
Without the new hardware, Snow Leopard won't be jaw-dropping. Plus it depends what impresses you most personally.
The trouble with hardware is that it won't impress everyone. New iMacs, I don't care, new Mac Pros are great but I'm probably not going to buy one. New Cinema displays likewise. New laptops great but I want a desktop. Touch tablets are great but as impressive as it might be, I'm personally not going to get one. They will satisfy a certain group and I think they should make one but Axiotron have them to some extent already and the new ones based on the MBP look pretty cool. This dampens the introduction of a tablet severely.
An Apple model will be ok but it's just something I will look at in store. The iphone by contrast is something I had a chance of owning and now own because it benefits me. A new OS and a fast desktop will do this and it is accessible to every Mac user out there. Done well enough, it will drop jaws sufficiently. There will need to be new hardware but I think the impressive part will be how the software handles it.
The trouble with hardware is that it won't impress everyone.
It depends what the hardware is.
Say what you want, but when I read this I thought, "this is something amazing, and new". He was told about something, not shown something. Someone can't tell you something about Snow Leopard and get that response. I'm expecting something big.
Comments
A portly gentleman walks onto the stage. Everyone squints. Is it Phil Schiller? Is it Al Gore? No, it a 250 lbs Steve Jobs. The web is suddenly inundated with posts about Steve being morbidly obese.
Steve ate Phil Schiller
Personally, if they are truly going to shock me, I'd say they bring back Woz to run the company.
An app called "File Magnet" will read any number of file formats, me preference being .pdf, but it also reads others. Held sideways, the screen is about the width of a paperback... the text is plenty big (I zoom the display to get rid of margins, so the text goes from edge to edge.) It scrolls down the pages by tilting the iPhone, the more you tilt, the faster it scrolls. I can read without ever touching the screen... just a slight tilt every couple seconds keeps the page scrolling by as fast as I can read it.
The text is easily as big as a pulp paperback.
So I really don't understand the bit about it being a poor reader. (Unless you guys are reading a lot of Dr. Seuss, where full-page illustrations are the major part of the story.
Now, finding new-release fiction in a non-protected format could be a challenge, but there's a ton of stuff out there as public domain that is available as PDF or TEXT.
Core 2 Quad 2GHz Mac Mini with 9600M GT, SSD optional. No more iMac. People will be shocked but then they'll bring up Snow Leopard that uses the hardware to the fullest and this tiny computer will perform specific tasks faster than the last generation Mac Pro.
The multi-touch tablet is a must but I don't see it coming with Leopard so Snow Leopard has to be coming anyway.
The 20th anniversary Mac was a foresight into Apple's future for the next few years and was the first incarnation of the iMac. The 25th anniversary Mac will move away from this model and demonstrate Apple's new goal of high performance parallel computing in a small package and this comes from the Mini. Apple's most versatile and affordable personal super-computer.
This allows them to develop touch-based desktop screens at a far lower cost and ones that can be sold to all users, including users of Windows 7. Stick an Apple logo in front of people so they are aware of the brand.
The future is modular. One day our laptop, our TV, our desktop, our phone will all be one and the same processing hardware running the same OS. You simply pull your processing module with data out and plug it into the display that is most convenient for you. It will begin with Apple's most modular device, the Mini and develop from there.
The future is modular. One day our laptop, our TV, our desktop, our phone will all be one and the same processing hardware running the same OS. You simply pull your processing module with data out and plug it into the display that is most convenient for you. It will begin with Apple's most modular device, the Mini and develop from there.
This doesn't surprise me. There have always seemed to be 2 ways at looking at gadgets and devices - the Microsoft one and the Apple one.
Microsoft has wanted people to have one computer to run it all. That's why you get stuff like media PCs with endless ports and tv tuners -one computer that can perform multiple tasks, such as a media player, TV, computer, gaming machine, etc. The problem is that you need to have a machine good at everything, and windows machines rarely are.
Apple has been more in favor of everyone having their devices, but making them all work and communicate simply. Items like the airport, time machine, plus software integration of iPods, iPhones and cameras into software help with this. It also helps that some one the hardware is made by apple, so it behooves them to get people to buy more gadgets. Basically, apple would like you to have tons of apple gadgets, multiple computers, an apple TV, etc., all communicating. More products = more sales, and apple's branding and development of wireless hubs only adds to this.
I think you're right, apple's approach will win out in the end since it seems to fit people's lifestyles more. The ease of use easily trumps a massive computer in the living room that has an appearence to the average person as being too complicated to use.
It seems more apple insider sources are seeding other tech columnists with info that a new Mac Mini and a "huge" surprise will be revealed later this month by Apple. As you read below it would seem Apple is doing this on purpose.
Oh great, an even "huger" iMac. . . .
The most interesting thing that has happened recently is the announcement of over-the-air iTunes downloads, because I see from that and the last Apple TV update and MobileMe a possible move of the Digital Lifestyle away from the Mac and into MobileMe. There's no reason for Apple to disable iPhone or iPod syncing with Macs, because Macs will always have more storage and bigger screens but I wonder if increasingly the devices will be able to sync OTA. You can get everything else OTA on the iPhone now, after all.
This is where Apple is trying to grow, viz. iWork '09 and iLife '09. And--how to put this gently--they have a great deal of room to grow within their installed base. Bluntly, they're going to have to expand the service to cover more than roughly 1% of their users if they want it to be a significant part of the platform.
[edit: Since this Future Hardware, I should add that I would be truly shocked if this "jaw dropping" thing is a piece of hardware.]
....OR, Andy Ihnatko simply had a bad informant.
I don't know, he sounds pretty convincing/convinced. I think it's for real. I hope it's genuinely "NO WAY!!" though.
Since this (is in) Future Hardware, I should add that I would be truly shocked if this "jaw dropping" thing is a piece of hardware.
That's a given. It's obvious it's going to be hardware.
How about Apple buys Sprint. Your precious Pre is screwed.
What's Sprint?
/I know what it is. It's just sometimes people seem to think Apple serves only the US.
I'm having a hard time believing all of this "jaw-dropping" device stuff. If this is such an incredible thing and so secretly guarded, why would Apple see that a couple of outside people were told about it (a journalist no less)? If this really happened it wouldn't still be a secret.
Don't underestimate Apple's tactical tenacity. They have a habit of changing it up.
It doesn't have to be hardware, it could be Snow Leopard and I don't think the Mac Mini needs to pale in comparison to it.
OS's aren't "Jaw dropping", they just aren't. If true it'll be hardware.
....OR, Andy Ihnatko simply had a bad informant.
I'm not a reader of this guy, so can anyone confirm whether or not he's been accurate or not over the past? I just want to know if he's a credible journalist or a blogging fanboy.
I don't know, he sounds pretty convincing/convinced. I think it's for real. I hope it's genuinely "NO WAY!!" though.
Same here. But I want it to happen NOW! Can't wait any longer! Need to buy a new computer!!!
I'm not a reader of this guy, so can anyone confirm whether or not he's been accurate or not over the past? I just want to know if he's a credible journalist or a blogging fanboy.
He's prone to gushing sometimes, but I generally like the guy and he's pretty respected in the Mac community.
That's a given. It's obvious it's going to be hardware.
I don't agree. Apple hardware currently consists of the largest practicable screen on which to present software and as little else as they can get away with. The only piece of hardware that is not either hidden behind a display or small enough to hide in a jewelry box is the Mac Pro, and that's because its design criteria (expandable, top-end hardware) require it to be huge. All except for the iPod classic run OS X.
All the action is in software, networking and services.
Consider the fact that, for the first time, consumers are forgoing the big, heavy laptops because the small, cheap ones are actually powerful enough to do what they need. Hardware is finally reaching a plateau where you can make what used to be significant compromises in hardware and still have a product that appeals to a general audience. Hell, I read recently that people are getting iPhones because they're close enough to notebooks and wireless internet, but cheaper, and in the economic downturn cheaper closes the deal. In terms of the actual hardware powering it, the iPhone is blandly generic.
The only people still hungry for the latest and greatest hardware are professionals in industries that require massive number-crunching capabilities and hardcore gamers. Of course, Apple will continue to cater to the former market (gaming is a lost cause, for now), but for most people the issue now is not whether the machine can do what they want to do, but how easily. For Apple, the major change they can take advantage of is that nearly all of their devices now run OS X and have some form of network connectivity. That opens up a whole new frontier for Apple.
I'm not going to say that there's no possible way it will be a hardware announcement. But it will definitely surprise me.
It's just sometimes people seem to think Apple serves only the US.
So does Apple unfortunately.
OS's aren't "Jaw dropping", they just aren't. If true it'll be hardware.
Without the new hardware, Snow Leopard won't be jaw-dropping. Plus it depends what impresses you most personally.
The trouble with hardware is that it won't impress everyone. New iMacs, I don't care, new Mac Pros are great but I'm probably not going to buy one. New Cinema displays likewise. New laptops great but I want a desktop. Touch tablets are great but as impressive as it might be, I'm personally not going to get one. They will satisfy a certain group and I think they should make one but Axiotron have them to some extent already and the new ones based on the MBP look pretty cool. This dampens the introduction of a tablet severely.
An Apple model will be ok but it's just something I will look at in store. The iphone by contrast is something I had a chance of owning and now own because it benefits me. A new OS and a fast desktop will do this and it is accessible to every Mac user out there. Done well enough, it will drop jaws sufficiently. There will need to be new hardware but I think the impressive part will be how the software handles it.
The trouble with hardware is that it won't impress everyone.
It depends what the hardware is.
Say what you want, but when I read this I thought, "this is something amazing, and new". He was told about something, not shown something. Someone can't tell you something about Snow Leopard and get that response. I'm expecting something big.