Rackmounts a smokescreen?

jbljbl
Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
What is <a href="http://www.macuser.co.uk/macsurfer/php3/openframe.php3?page=/newnews/newsarticle.php3?id=1985"; target="_blank">this</a> about?



From MacUserUK:

[quote] Mounting speculation about new Apple device Speculation is growing that Apple's 14 May announcement of new rack-mounted servers may well be a smokescreen for the unveiling of a brand new product.



Prime source for the rumours is US movie reviewer Harry Knowles who declared on his Web site that 'my recent trip to New York to shoot a commercial for Apple was partly responsible' for the delay in his review of the new Spiderman film.



If the 'commercial' he refers to is one of the short, talking-heads films that Apple typically makes to accompany new products and bearing in mind Knowles occupation, it could all point to a new video-based digital device. Beyond that, no-one seems to have an inkling



Adding weight to the speculation, a MacUser source close to Apple has discovered that journalists have been invited to a special Apple announcement in California next week. It seems unlikely that Apple would invite scribes from around the world if they did not have something seriously major to show off. Though as ever with Apple, you can never be sure, which, I guess, is all part of the fun.<hr></blockquote>
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 37
    exercise in frivolityexercise in frivolity Posts: 233member
    Freud: Mmm, very interesting.
  • Reply 2 of 37
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Maybe it's a compositing/real-time mixer/broadcast box...like the Trinity GlobalStreams GlobeCaster



    <a href="http://www.globalstreams.com/products/studio/"; target="_blank">http://www.globalstreams.com/products/studio/</a>;



    We used one in 1999 to do wipes, dissolves, overlays, etc with several different live camera shots in countingdown.com Star Wars line.
  • Reply 3 of 37
    apple.otakuapple.otaku Posts: 590member
    It's a series of new commercials that deal with how people in the industry use Macs. Although it is not tied into any new product at all, that is how the rumors of something else to be announced on the 14th started. Bottom line: don't expect anything but the rack-mounted server announcement on the 14th. Thats a big enough announcement on its own.



    [ 05-10-2002: Message edited by: apple.otaku ]</p>
  • Reply 4 of 37
    fischerfischer Posts: 35member
    Why would they assume that a 'talking heads' promo video or media alert = something other than the rackmount machines? The new servers are surely important enough for Apple to launch in its usual manner...



    I guess it's a slow news day for MacUser UK (hey - how about working on those gigantic frames? <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" /> )
  • Reply 5 of 37
    macommentarymacommentary Posts: 196member
    Ok look, these servers are a big thing for that industry and Apple's gonna have it, so their gonna flaunt it! I don't think that there's anything else to be said...
  • Reply 6 of 37
    dennis the phantom menacedennis the phantom menace Posts: 64member
    Who knows, they might also announce an updated ibook.
  • Reply 7 of 37
    jasonppjasonpp Posts: 308member
    I think MWNY is more likely for an iBook update. Then it could get integrated bluetooth, a g4, higher resolution 14.1" model and please PLEASE a better vid card and higher external monitor options. A 12.1" 700MHz G4 iBook with a Geforce 2Go or something that can push 1600x1200x32 on an external display would be the perfect computer for me. Bundle a pretty dock and they'd sell 15" and 17" LCD's along side iBooks...



    [ 05-10-2002: Message edited by: JasonPP ]</p>
  • Reply 8 of 37
    macjunkiemacjunkie Posts: 35member
    Speaking as an 'old-school' ElectricImage user, and as one who went to Siggraph in 1998 (while EI was under the corporate control of Play Inc.) and meet good ol' Kiki Stockenhammer (sp?) while at the users meeting in one of the hotels there (Play couldn't afford a booth that year...), I will clue some of you folks in on what the GlobeCaster was REALLY developed for...!



    On the EI Platter (secret ElectricImage users Hotline server), we always referred to it as the 'PornCaster'...!



    Seems that the Trinity never took off, and the majority of GlobeCaster purchases were by adult film companies...



    I still find that highly amusing...
  • Reply 9 of 37
    spotbugspotbug Posts: 361member
    G5!! <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />



    I posted this in another thread: maybe they're updating the entire PM line with new enclosures, etc.
  • Reply 10 of 37
    apple.otakuapple.otaku Posts: 590member
    [quote]Originally posted by Fischer:

    <strong>Why would they assume that a 'talking heads' promo video or media alert = something other than the rackmount machines? The new servers are surely important enough for Apple to launch in its usual manner...

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Because many of the people involved wouldn't be using a rack-mounted server. That is why they jumped to the conclusion that it must be for a new product. However, its not a promo video as they think but rather a series of actual commercials talking about the advantages of using a Mac. They cover all the current products. The rumor was started over at the PowerPage and picked up by MacUser UK and it spread from there.



    [ 05-10-2002: Message edited by: apple.otaku ]</p>
  • Reply 11 of 37
    max8319max8319 Posts: 347member
    don't count on anything



    better to be surprised than upset
  • Reply 12 of 37
    zaustinzaustin Posts: 18member
    Actually, I think it IS a promo video as opposed to a commercial. The description of the shoot over at PowerPage sounds exactly like the current promo videos they show at the Apple stores...about iMac, iPod, etc.
  • Reply 13 of 37
    apple.otakuapple.otaku Posts: 590member
    The commercials show these people with selected products (current products) on a pedistal in the background. They talk about how they use the Mac, how it has changed their lives. It does not center on hardware at all. So not a promo video for a new product. That's for sure.



    [ 05-11-2002: Message edited by: apple.otaku ]</p>
  • Reply 14 of 37
    fischerfischer Posts: 35member
    "My iMac helped me lose 30 lbs in two weeks, and I've never had so much energy! Thank you Apple..."



  • Reply 15 of 37
    junkyard dawgjunkyard dawg Posts: 2,801member
    Powermac G5!
  • Reply 16 of 37
    bobthetomatobobthetomato Posts: 665member
    Fisher:



    Does anyone know what time the Apple Event on the 14th is? Be nice to have an idea when rather than checking 50-60 times during the day
  • Reply 17 of 37
    bobthetomatobobthetomato Posts: 665member
    Sorry, as I glanced at the title of this thread i had the passing thought "Oh no, not another Powerbook 5300"



    I could just imagine the headlines:

    "Apple heats up server closets"

    "PowerMac toasts Pentiums....and everything else in the closet"

    "Apple's new server is white hot....literally"





    <img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />
  • Reply 18 of 37
    snoopysnoopy Posts: 1,901member
    Apple and Matrox are both introducing new products on May 14th. The chances are very good that they have been cooperating on a new and powerful video board, and Apple will announce a new Macintosh that includes this board. Such a conclusion seems to be the most likely explanation of the seeming coincidence of introductions. Just consider how often a significant new Macintosh or video board is revealed. The probability of these events occurring on the same day at random can be calculated, and the odds are fairly low. Therefore, a Mac with a Matrox video card is not wild speculation. Also, since servers are unlikely to use such a card, we can expect more than servers on the 14th. It isn't certain, just probable.
  • Reply 19 of 37
    percolatepercolate Posts: 14member
    [quote]Originally posted by snoopy:

    <strong> The probability of these events occurring on the same day at random can be calculated, and the odds are fairly low. Therefore, a Mac with a Matrox video card is not wild speculation. Also, since servers are unlikely to use such a card, we can expect more than servers on the 14th. It isn't certain, just probable.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I have to respond to this simply because the reasoning is so weak. The odds of two specific press announcements by computer hardware manufacturers coinciding on the same day is low, however the odds of any two press announcements by computer hardware manufacturers coinciding on the same day isn't that unusual. This is because there are many, many hardware manufacturers, each of whom make multiple announcements per year. Even if you limit one group to computer system manufacturers and another to component manufacturers that will be supported by the chosen system's motherboard, the odds favor having multiple coincidences per year (in sum, not per manufacturer). The fact that two announcements by companies with no formal public relationship coincide on the same day does not in any way imply any connection. This is my main point; I was mainly just bothered by your abuse of statistics and the logic thereafter. Perhaps you were joking and I just didn't get it.



    I'm not saying it's impossible Matrox will be working with Apple but at this point there's nothing much to support that claim. The closest thing I've seen was a mention of OS X by Matrox when they were talking about their new card and it's use with the PowerPC by way of Amiga, who have publicly confirmed using the card in future hardware. That mention and a coincidental date is a very weak spot to be jumping to claims of new hardware from Apple using a card by a manufacturer they don't currently support. nVidia, in comparison, has been making grand claims of what they'll be releasing later this year and their increasing importance to Apple.
  • Reply 20 of 37
    baumanbauman Posts: 1,248member
    [quote]Originally posted by BobtheTomato:

    <strong>Does anyone know what time the Apple Event on the 14th is? Be nice to have an idea when rather than checking 50-60 times during the day</strong><hr></blockquote>9AM -Noon, PST
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