eBook?

2

Comments

  • Reply 21 of 50
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    It sure does have an impact. Apple is obviously putting money from somewhere into development of this machine, and the four quadrant strategy is as much a deal as it is to the .edu market as it is to the consumer market. An educational customer is going to have tough time deciding between an iMac, eMac and LCD iMac.
  • Reply 22 of 50
    baumanbauman Posts: 1,248member
    Ahhh. There will [I]never[/U] be an Apple eBook. eBook is already copyrighted. Sorry, guys.



    Even so, I doubt there will be an educational iBook, simply because the iBook is perfectly suited for it as it is. Now, if they change the iBook (ie add a G4), and call the old iBook eBook (whoops - edu iBook), there's a possiblity.



    I wonder if there will be a sextant grid:

    prosumer: TiBook, Powermac

    consumer: iBook, iMac FP

    edusumer: eBook (or whatever), eMac (ONLY AVAILABLE TO EDU SALES)



    This would still fit ino Apples ideology, and strengthen their position in education. The only tricky part is the consumer iBook.
  • Reply 23 of 50
    undotwaundotwa Posts: 97member
    I see it as this, Apple has four main 'computers' available retail:



    Consumer Professional

    iMac PowerMac

    iBook PowerBook



    1 Line of Server Products

    PowerMac G4 Server



    and Education models of computers:

    eMac iBook

    PowerMac PowerBook



    I think the slightly different name emphasizes a completely different computer/design.
  • Reply 24 of 50
    bellebelle Posts: 1,574member
    [quote]Originally posted by Eugene:

    <strong>It sure does have an impact. Apple is obviously putting money from somewhere into development of this machine, and the four quadrant strategy is as much a deal as it is to the .edu market as it is to the consumer market. An educational customer is going to have tough time deciding between an iMac, eMac and LCD iMac.</strong><hr></blockquote>

    I don't think it's that tough a decision, and no doubt Apple representatives will push and prod buyers in a certain direction. Take a look at Dell's educational offerings and ask yourself which is more complex.



    There is one huge benefit to this for "the rest of us". With the low-end desktop machine now on two separate paths, the consumer machine no longer has to be held back by technological and financial considerations for the educational market.
  • Reply 25 of 50
    Exactly, the Prosumer end is now free to move rapidly upwards in Spec, esp. as Apple seem to be going after high end Video/Film editing/etc. with their new apps. If this thing (eMac) doesnt appear as the "new" lowend iMac by September I'll eat my hat.... (a leather indiana Jones Fedora BTW)... but as for the eBook ?!?.... no hat consuming bets on that one..
  • Reply 26 of 50
    powerdocpowerdoc Posts: 8,123member
    Idoubt that we will see ebook. The emac is enough for the education market. And two lines of laptops is sufficiant in my opinion.
  • Reply 27 of 50
    escherescher Posts: 1,811member
    Jonathan: Even in light of the introduction of the eMac, my first thought when reading "eBook?" was executive PowerBook, which <a href="http://www.powerpage.org/"; target="_blank">O'Grady's PowerPage</a> popularized before the introduction of the original iBook in 1999. As all of you know, a small and light 'Book is what I have been demanding for years.



    BTW: Isn't it ironic to have an eMac after the whole eMachines ripoff drama in 1998/99?



    [quote]Originally posted by bauman:

    <strong>There will never be an Apple eBook. eBook is already copyrighted.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    bauman: Just for the record, "eBook" would be trademarked, not copyrighted. Individual words and small phrases cannot be copyrighted. By the way, the <a href="http://www.ebook.com"; target="_blank">eBook.com domain is for sale</a>.



    [quote]Originally posted by Belle:

    <strong>There is one huge benefit to this for "the rest of us". With the low-end desktop machine now on two separate paths, the consumer machine no longer has to be held back by technological and financial considerations for the educational market.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    As always, Belle hits the nail right on the head. Here's to swift innovation and progress in Apple's consumer (i****) line!



    Escher
  • Reply 28 of 50
    [quote]Originally posted by Eugene:

    <strong>An educational customer is going to have tough time deciding between an iMac, eMac and LCD iMac.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Why? Educational customers know the difference between 15" and 17" (except maybe here in Canada - whats that in cm?). They also know the difference between CRT and LCD. The eMac will be available at a good discount to volume buyers I imagine. As others have pointed out the LCD iMac is probably not a good choice for most schools (especially elementry grade schools).



    I think that schools are going to gobble these up. It is especially nice that the IT people at schools can now say we are upgrading our machines because we are moving from G3-G4 and 15" to 17". The school district money man then says oh, well in that case by all means upgrade. G3 15" to faster G3 15" is a very hard sell.
  • Reply 29 of 50
    neutrino23neutrino23 Posts: 1,561member
    [quote]Originally posted by powerdoc:

    <strong>Idoubt that we will see ebook. The emac is enough for the education market. And two lines of laptops is sufficiant in my opinion.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Apple already has an "eBook", it is called the iBook. What they need is a sleeker, slimmer, slighter, shinier, speedier portable as Escher has so often pointed out on these boards.
  • Reply 30 of 50
    [quote]Originally posted by Eugene:

    <strong>Apple is breaking from the 4-quadrant strategy again, and I think it will hurt them. Going to the new iMac and keeping the old was one thing, but creating *another* CRT iMac doesn't seem like a good idea to me...</strong><hr></blockquote>



    You're taking Apple's marketing far too seriously. The "4-quadrant strategy" is simply a marketing term to bring order to the various products Apple sells.



    If you ignore Apple's marketing for a moment and focus on reality, you'll see that the G4 iMac starts at $1400. That's a very high entry point for someone wanting to buy their first Mac, someone who doesn't already know how great Macs are and is not yet willing to pay a gross premium to run OS X.



    Under $1400, there is only the CRT iMac, a pathetic excuse for a modern computer, with a 20th century 15" CRT, a G3, and did I mention that it's CRT is last century technology? It's not even a flat screen! So really, Apple offers no viable alternative to the G4 iMac for a budget minded customer.



    But now Apple does offer a great entry level Mac: the eMac. It's priced right under the $1400 iMac, it's got a G4, a respectable array of ports, and a modern CRT display! The flat screen makes for much higher quality viewing compared to the old iMac, and the viewable area and resolution are even superior to the LCD iMac.



    This eMac is what Apple should have offered alongside the iMac when it was first introduced. I've lost count of all the people I know who wanted a Mac but couldn't afford a Powermac, and who were not willing to tolerate the 15" CRT of the iMac. If a 17" iMac had been sold alongside the original iMac from the start, Apple wouldn't have missed out on so many sales to consumers in need of a respectably sized display.



    The only problem I see with fitting the new eMac into Apple's current lineup is that the eMac's display is superior to the iMac's LCD display. It has an extra inch of viewable area, greater resolution, better color accuracy, and of course the superior durability and viewing angle of CRTs. I think it is now imperative that Apple offer a 17" LCD iMac, or even better, for Apple to migrate the entire iMac line to 17" LCDs. Of course this isn't practical until LCD prices drop again, but one can be idealistic.



    But anyways, it's time for some people to quite being such slaves to Apple's marketing propaganda. The product matrix exists only on Apple's website, if you look at Apple's hardware in real life, what you see are different computers at different prices, with some very large price gaps and performance gaps in the lineup that need to be filled. The eMac just filled the biggest gap at the low end of Apple's lineup.



    I dare say, that considering its intended market, the eMac is Apple's most "perfect" Mac in recent memory. It's a stunning achievment, in that Apple offered the perfect blend of features to maximize value and durability. I'm floored!
  • Reply 31 of 50
    Personally, I imagine that the current iBook will become the 'eBook', and that the iBook3 will be a seriously digital hub device, probably coming in at under 4 pounds.



    Something like that little Sony Picturebook, but better with more bells and whistles:





    Or maybe even something totally cool, like the newest handhelds:





    TING5



    [ 04-30-2002: Message edited by: There is no g5 ]</p>
  • Reply 32 of 50
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Apple won't make something as totally useless as that clie.
  • Reply 33 of 50
    [quote]Originally posted by Matsu:

    <strong>Apple won't make something as totally useless as that clie.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    You've never used a thumb pad interface before, obviously. They rock. They provide the missing link between handhelds and laptops, as devices continue to shrink.



    Styluses suck.



    TING5
  • Reply 34 of 50
    jrcjrc Posts: 817member
    [quote]Originally posted by Willoughby:

    <strong>What exactly would they offer in an "ebook"? Unless they kept the 14 inch iBook as the iBook and made the eBook and 12.1 inch with a G3. Yuck, I hope not.



    I really want an iBook with a G4 and keep the 12.1 inch screen or at least increase the res on the 14 inch. Is that so much to ask?</strong><hr></blockquote>





    Silly question. What would they offer???



    A 14" CRT ...of course!!!



  • Reply 35 of 50
    I don't see any reason why an eBook wouldn't work. Dell, Sony, HP, Compaq have multiple consumer portables, as well as a few professional portables. Each one has its niche. They all come with different configurations of processor speed, memory, screen size, expandability, etc. The guys (maybe galls) who run Apple Marketing know what they are doing, somewhat. We all have our opinions on what should be done, but in the end, it doesn't really matter.



    [ 04-30-2002: Message edited by: PowerMatt ]</p>
  • Reply 36 of 50
    [quote]Originally posted by There is no g5:

    <strong>

    Styluses suck.

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    I think that is styli suck. Someone correct me if I am wrong
  • Reply 37 of 50
    jdbonjdbon Posts: 109member
    In an education machine, especially a portable, a G4 is NOt necessary. Students will use them mainly for web browsing, word processing, and light multimedia. If Apple wants an eBook do this. Like the eMAc, use the old iBook form factor as a start. Make it a little less curvy, keep the latchless design, handle, rubbery sides,, make it real durable. 500mhz G3, 128mb ram, 10gig hard drive, 8meg rage 128, 1024 768 screen. CDROM. Price for education $799 airport card for $49 dollars. Combo version for $999.

    BTW, at the same time g4 ibooks with better video,higher clock speeds, more ram, hd, would be introduced. This would sell. Wireless web browsing, durable, easy to use. Perfect for kids. The division between iBook and eBook is very distinct.I'd by one as a "throw-it-around"portable.
  • Reply 38 of 50
    zozo Posts: 3,117member
    Having been using SMS with my gsm (mobile phone for the laggard fellow Americans who are, unfotunately for us, miserably behind in the portable mobile phone situation) since 1997 and therefore using thumbs to type out thousands of messages since, I can tell you that typing messages and even entire chat sessions with something like that Clie isnt a problem. Not the same as a keyboard, duh, but not a problem.
  • Reply 39 of 50
    zozo Posts: 3,117member
    [quote]Originally posted by jdbon:

    <strong>In an education machine, especially a portable, a G4 is NOt necessary. </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Wrooong.



    Do you want to give your future potential Mac users a half assed experience? Do you know how important it is to make sure that young crowds are hooked or like a certain product? Its invaluable.



    Sure, a G3 based system is fine for TODAY (barely, the performance of OSX on my brand new 14inch iBook with 384MB ram is pathetic) but 6months, 1 year down the line? Nope... Macs have to last a long time and try and make em as future proof as possible.

    Imagine a 10 year old kid sees a brand new eMac and it was G3 based and 'slow'. The kid then sees after 6 months its slow, etc... Is he going to choose for himself (in the future) or persuade his parents to buy a Mac? No.



    The intro of G4 in low end is something EVERYONE has been raving about for YEARS and now that its here, people are bitching about it. WTF is all your people's problems????
  • Reply 40 of 50
    jdbonjdbon Posts: 109member
    You make it seem as if the purpose of these eMacs is to be advertisements for Apple in school. I see it differently. Computers are a tool. While I agree a G4 is favorable in terms of running OSX and adding longevity, it may not be cheap enough to produce a sub 1000 Apple portable. When push comes to shove, having an inexpensive portable will be better for Apple because Schools look for the cheapest stuff, heck why do you think Dell is #! in education.I wont get into a debate about OSX speed, though on my iBook 500mhz the speed is adequate for the types of things student do. I agree that we want to provide a good Macintosh environment to attract users, however I think it is more important to get computers into the hands of children rather than worry about expanding Apple's market share.
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