No subscription iTunes at event; Macs high priority in enterprise
Hopes for an all-you-can-eat iTunes music service should be dashed this time around, according to purported insiders. Meanwhile, the corporate world says in a new study that integrating Macs into their businesses is one of their top priorities.
Apple said turning down iTunes subscriptions
While the hype surrounding Apple's "Let's Rock" event is building quickly, at least one often-discussed possibility is being dismissed before it gains traction.
Alleged sources of CNET tell the site that there will be no subscription service announced when Apple officials take the stage next week. The iPod maker has only negotiated deals for by-the-track downloads and so wouldn't have rights to let users download bulk amounts of iTunes.
The tip also shoots down content-related announcements as a whole and instead turns the attention back to new iPods widely predicted for the Apple event.
Rumors of a subscription service have surfaced periodically but gained momentum earlier this year when it was suggest that Apple make take a page from Nokia's Comes With Music business model and charge a per-iPod premium in return for a set period of unlimited access to iTunes Store songs.
Mac seen as a top priority in enterprise
Of the immediate IT-related problems in enterprise-class business, the highest priorities involve harmonizing the Mac with a Windows-dominated work environment, according to the results of a new Group Logic study.
Questioning of about 350 technology pros at US workplaces revealed that three out of the top five concerns involved Mac integration and were headed up by supporting Macs on Microsoft's Active Directory system, which was cited as a concern by about 38 percent of the entire group. Roughly 35 percent of the group was concerned about handling help calls from Mac users, while 24 percent were worried about maintaining the "full 'Mac experience'" for clients on the network.
Also, the majority of all the businesspeople polled claimed a Mac influence on their respective companies, with 70 percent having at least some of the Apple computers at their workplace. A remaining six percent said there were immediate plans to add Macs to their corporate networks where they weren't before.
"There is no doubt that companies are increasing the size and scope of their Apple Mac networks," Information Technology Intelligence Corp.'s Laura DiDio says.
Apple said turning down iTunes subscriptions
While the hype surrounding Apple's "Let's Rock" event is building quickly, at least one often-discussed possibility is being dismissed before it gains traction.
Alleged sources of CNET tell the site that there will be no subscription service announced when Apple officials take the stage next week. The iPod maker has only negotiated deals for by-the-track downloads and so wouldn't have rights to let users download bulk amounts of iTunes.
The tip also shoots down content-related announcements as a whole and instead turns the attention back to new iPods widely predicted for the Apple event.
Rumors of a subscription service have surfaced periodically but gained momentum earlier this year when it was suggest that Apple make take a page from Nokia's Comes With Music business model and charge a per-iPod premium in return for a set period of unlimited access to iTunes Store songs.
Mac seen as a top priority in enterprise
Of the immediate IT-related problems in enterprise-class business, the highest priorities involve harmonizing the Mac with a Windows-dominated work environment, according to the results of a new Group Logic study.
Questioning of about 350 technology pros at US workplaces revealed that three out of the top five concerns involved Mac integration and were headed up by supporting Macs on Microsoft's Active Directory system, which was cited as a concern by about 38 percent of the entire group. Roughly 35 percent of the group was concerned about handling help calls from Mac users, while 24 percent were worried about maintaining the "full 'Mac experience'" for clients on the network.
Also, the majority of all the businesspeople polled claimed a Mac influence on their respective companies, with 70 percent having at least some of the Apple computers at their workplace. A remaining six percent said there were immediate plans to add Macs to their corporate networks where they weren't before.
"There is no doubt that companies are increasing the size and scope of their Apple Mac networks," Information Technology Intelligence Corp.'s Laura DiDio says.
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I imagine Apple would be concerned that this Enterprise Macintosh might cannibalize sales of iMacs in the consumer space -- but I recall how Apple initially restricted the eMac to educational institutions. They might consider restricting an Enterprise Mac to corporate users who buy in volume.
I should know. I happen to be one of two people who uses a mac at work at my company which employs over 2600 people. The IT director hates macs so that has a lot to do with it. The rule around here is if you are going to use your own mac for work you are on your own. We officially only support PCs but I, personally, will always lend a hand to a fellow mac user. Kerio FTW.
1) The Mac can run multiple operating systems (OS X, Microsoft Windows and Linux), and
2) The ongoing expenses and hassles of virus and spyware protection are diminished.
If Apple cares to be a serious contender in corporate I.T. departments, they ought make an expandable Macintosh that suits the needs of business users. Such a Mac would be designed to permit easy replacement of the hard drive and video card, provide space for one or two PCI cards, and not have a built-in screen. Essentially, this would be an expandable Mac Mini. (Remember the design of the IIci and IIcx machines?).
Which kind of business really requires such customizable machines? Replaceable video card?? Are you talking about part by part upgrading? What kind of an IT department has time for that? And nowadays this doesn't make any sense anymore, not even for a small business.
There are at least two key attractions of the Macintosh for many businesses:
1) The Mac can run multiple operating systems (OS X, Microsoft Windows and Linux), and
2) The ongoing expenses and hassles of virus and spyware protection are diminished.
I work in a huge company, and neither of those are any advantage here. Symantec antivirus is very good and relatively hassle-free, and the infrastructure for it (the auto-update stuff) would have to be there as long as there are any Windows machines in the company anyway. And if you have to boot into another operating system you've probably lost and productivity gains anyway.
The reason Macs are picking up here are because we're hiring more designers. The engineers were picking them for awhile, but we do a lot of Java so that'll probably go back to Dell. (And the latest mobile rich client stuff was done in flash so the iPhone's out, too.)
If Apple cares to be a serious contender in corporate I.T. departments, they ought make an expandable Macintosh that suits the needs of business users. Such a Mac would be designed to permit easy replacement of the hard drive and video card, provide space for one or two PCI cards, and not have a built-in screen.
Holy cow, this just in! Apple has made available a computer that has ALL of these features readily available! Can you guess what it is?
.... It's called a Mac Pro.
Symantec antivirus is very good and relatively hassle-free
Not that Macs are immune to viruses but don't be lulled into complacency about Symantec being able to protect Windows machines from infection. There are some recent viruses in the wild that can infect XP, Server2003, and Vista which require nothing more than visiting a web site with Javascript turned on to start downloading trojans. And although Symantec can detect the virus, it can often do nothing to quarantine, delete or in any way prevent the infection. Just a word to the wise.
Which kind of business really requires such customizable machines? Replaceable video card?? Are you talking about part by part upgrading? What kind of an IT department has time for that? And nowadays this doesn't make any sense anymore, not even for a small business.
Well then, Apple should discontinue the Mac Pro immediately since nobody wants it, let alone a smaller, lower priced version with similar ease of internal access.
If Apple cares to be a serious contender in corporate I.T. departments, they ought make an expandable Macintosh that suits the needs of business users. Such a Mac would be designed to permit easy replacement of the hard drive and video card, provide space for one or two PCI cards, and not have a built-in screen. Essentially, this would be an expandable Mac Mini. (Remember the design of the IIci and IIcx machines?)
I imagine Apple would be concerned that this Enterprise Macintosh might cannibalize sales of iMacs in the consumer space -- but I recall how Apple initially restricted the eMac to educational institutions. They might consider restricting an Enterprise Mac to corporate users who buy in volume.
Considering that Steve Jobs had the courage to admit that "AppleTV 1.0 was not what people wanted", why can't Apple do the same when it comes to their Mac computers? But instead of admitting that the Mac Mini was not what people really asked for, Apple will try to spin it as "we made the Mac MIni and people didn't buy it, which 'proves' that nobody wants a Mac minitower".
Apple, get off your butt and get subscriptions going. Somehow Rhapsody has been able to equal your library and they have done it for years.
Our company forced our art dept over to AD last year and we have more issues now than we ever did before. They've locked us totally out of our machines to the point where we cannot run Disk Utility without an admin password from IT.
We now have more server glitches where we get locked out of certain servers and when trying to move folders on the server prompts us to say we do not have permissions. Don't even get me started on all the temp files that get created now that were never there before.
It takes my PowerMac G5 almost 3 minutes to just get to the log in screen from a cold start now where before I didn't even have enough time to put my keys and lunch away before it was waiting on me.
Well then, Apple should discontinue the Mac Pro immediately since nobody wants it, let alone a smaller, lower priced version with similar ease of internal access.
I think what he means is most companies see their needs differently than either home users or even small business users. They have VPNs and such and a good machine is primarily a reliable connection to their network, reliable hardware (no having to wrench the thing constantly) and ease of use (no having to call the IT guys constantly). Enterprise users usually can do with a lowly 1.6GHz CPU and a 250GB HD (unless you're into nuclear simulations or graphic renderings). Anything over that will last a respectable 3 years until the next purchase time comes. In fact, many companies probably DON'T want anything too capable, otherwise people will start loading and using stuff (3D video games) rather than doing work!
Considering that Steve Jobs had the courage to admit that "AppleTV 1.0 was not what people wanted", why can't Apple do the same when it comes to their Mac computers? But instead of admitting that the Mac Mini was not what people really asked for, Apple will try to spin it as "we made the Mac MIni and people didn't buy it, which 'proves' that nobody wants a Mac minitower".
He did the spin the AppleTV a bit saying that "nobody got it right." I don't think the Mac Mini is a failure for Apple. The dropped the price of the Shuffle and increased the Flash after sales started to fall, why haven't they done that with the Mac Mini if sales were so bad. I'd think they would have quietly gotten rid of it by now. I guess they could have built too many, but that seems little farfetched to me.
As for an Apple business computer, I think they would need a seperate business computer department for Enterprise. They need a completely new line for the bulk of the large companies and would not be sold on in the Apple Stores. I also think that Apple's fancy keyboards, mice and monitors are less important for bulk business sales. What I'm envisioning is black or charcoal designs in the old NeXT "pizzabox" style design, not all-in-ones. Any consumer-based Macs could still be had, but the main reason why you'd want that number of Macs is for the OS, not for the aesthetics.
If Apple cares to be a serious contender in corporate I.T. departments, they ought make an expandable Macintosh that suits the needs of business users. Such a Mac would be designed to permit easy replacement of the hard drive and video card, provide space for one or two PCI cards, and not have a built-in screen. Essentially, this would be an expandable Mac Mini. (Remember the design of the IIci and IIcx machines?)
I imagine Apple would be concerned that this Enterprise Macintosh might cannibalize sales of iMacs in the consumer space -- but I recall how Apple initially restricted the eMac to educational institutions. They might consider restricting an Enterprise Mac to corporate users who buy in volume.
The important part of your post was the first half of the first sentence.
When Jobs came back to Apple, one of the first questions he was asked in a press conference, was what Apple was going to do to get corporate customers back.
His answer:
"The enterprise is not our customer."
What makes anyone think that anything much has changed here? The iPhone?
For Apple to care about the enterprise customer, it will take far more than the xMac. They need an enterprise division, with its own sales force. It will need to coddle those customers. When is Apple ever known for coddling customers? This is seperate from good customer service.
They need deep understanding of major corporate needs.
They need Sun for that. The OS's are getting closer, the hardware is close, and that would take care of the enterprise division.
Would that happen? Probably not. But it should.
If Apple cares to be a serious contender in corporate I.T. departments, they ought make an expandable Macintosh that suits the needs of business users. Such a Mac would be designed to permit easy replacement of the hard drive and video card, provide space for one or two PCI cards, and not have a built-in screen. Essentially, this would be an expandable Mac Mini. (Remember the design of the IIci and IIcx machines?)
I don't get it, why corporate need to upgrade? if they want upgrade just get a MacPro. If Apple creates a cheap fully upgradeable PC, it will effect iMac sales and bring more Windows Users hence attract the attention of hackers more. Apple do not want that, that's why they are aiming toward the enterprise rather then the home market.
I don't get it, why corporate need to upgrade? if they want upgrade just get a MacPro. If Apple creates a cheap fully upgradeable PC, it will effect iMac sales and bring more Windows Users hence attract the attention of hackers more. Apple do not want that, that's why they are aiming toward the enterprise rather then the home market.
Two problems.
One is that in a number of corporate surveys over the past three years, business executives have said that they want monitors seperate from the computer itself.
Secondly, most business computers cost about $1,000. The Mac Pro is too expensive for a general purpose business computer.