No More iBooks?

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Comments

  • Reply 41 of 51
    crusadercrusader Posts: 1,129member
    Well maybe Apple should lower the price of the PB G4 and make the iBook a PDA?



    If I recall correctly the 800Mhz iMac and the 800 Mhz Powermac were insanely close pricewise/spec wise with the iMac eating into the low-end Powermac sales. Did Apple drop the iMac to save it's high margin Powermacs? No. Apple updated the Powermacs to get rid of that problem. The iBook will get a feature lift (along with the rest of the entire laptop line) and maybe a price drop. I would like to be able to get a nice laptop for $900. Of course this begs the question of what I should do with my $2200+ but I'll save that for a relevant post.
  • Reply 42 of 51
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kecksy

    I just can't see a 15 inch wide screen iBook. It wouldn't look right.



    You're wrong. Try harder



    It would look better than a big 11" Chiclet (aka the 14" iBook...).



  • Reply 43 of 51
    peharripeharri Posts: 169member
    The iBook/PowerBook thing illustrates the fact that Apple's marketing is somewhat dysfunctional at the moment, largely for historical reasons.



    The iBook came out at a time when the original iMac was selling strongly. Both the iMac and iBook were similar - cheap and cheerful (in a market where $999 was not a ridiculous amount of money to spend on a computer), aimed at average consumers. Hence the sharing of the 'i' prefix - consumer shorthand that linked the two products.



    At this time, the PowerBook was a relatively ugly black splodge - the TiBooks were two years away (original iBook was 1999) - and Apple quickly released versions of the PowerBook with firewire and USB, etc. These PowerBooks were aimed at professionals, as were the PowerMacs.



    Apple completely changed everything with the "new" iMac. The new iMac was aimed at the design conscious. Prices were higher than the portable-TV-machines they replaced, in a market where average consumers weren't willing to pay $1000 for a PC any more. Meanwhile, the iBook held onto its original market - it survived because low-end laptops in the PC world were still not much cheaper, and Apple redesigned them to look and be more utilitarian.



    Meanwhile, since 2001, the PowerBook has been aimed largely at the design conscious. It's still more powerful than an iBook, but it's not exactly the ultimate pro-machine, in the same way as the PowerMacs are. Earlier PB designs allowed the easy replacement of components like removable media drives, but this is now much, much, more difficult. As an example, the PB uses a slot-loading optical drive - elegance over flexibility, and virtually everything is either built into the machine or has to be added externally. Changing the harddrive, for instance, requires a screwdriver.



    So iBooks now cover the same market segment as the eMac line, not the iMacs. The PowerBook now goes with the iMac line, with a little overlap with the PowerMacs. There's no pro- or tech- laptop, the best one can get if one wants something like that is a PowerBook that's already loaded with as much as possible, and dozens of firewire cases.



    Really, Apple needs three laptop lines, not one. It needs the "eBook" (the current iBook), a cheap, rugged, does-what-it-says-on-the-tin machine that's accessable and affordable.



    It needs an iBook, asthetically great, something to be proud of, powerful enough to be worth the extra. [Edit - ie the current PowerBooks]



    And I guess it needs an xBook, or PowerBook, a machine for the rest of us who are less bothered about whether the machine is one or two inches thick so much as whether we have to use a screwdriver to swap in hardware. Something closer, perhaps, to IBM's old 750 and 760 Thinkpads.



    The latter is doubly important because Apple users can't shop around. If aspects of Apple's range are annoying or frustrating, then right now Apple users have two choices - put up with it, and develop a dislike for the platform in the meantime, or ditch the platform altogether.



    I hope they don't drop the iBook. They need to do something about their range, but cutting out choices will do the Apple market more harm than they can imagine.



    [Edited 10pm to clean it up]
  • Reply 44 of 51
    kecksykecksy Posts: 1,002member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by pscates

    You're wrong. Try harder



    It would look better than a big 11" Chiclet (aka the 14" iBook...).







    Hey, I happen to own a 14" iBook, jerk. There's nothing wrong with the way it looks. Some people don't want a small notebook with a small screen, and 15 inch PowerBooks are expensive. The 14 inch iBook fullfils a need, and just because you like it, doesn't mean it shouldn't exist.
  • Reply 45 of 51
    nofeernofeer Posts: 2,427member
    MY 2.2 CENTS WORTH



    for the first time ever laptops outsold desktops--that wont change especially as more wifi sites expand, you can't use macdonalds wifi witha desktop.. so how can apple expand its base without more laptop choices including as i said before an entry level ibook, there is overlap but if you can get the g3+ real cheap with combodrive then the g4+ and the g5 powerbook, what's wrong with that, if they analyze the market what do people want and how do you build market share. excluding people won't work

    answer me this--how does apple build consumer base and market share without an entry level laptop...now that should be a forum, remember apple wants to make money show they are serious competitor in this market and can take advantage of the growing economy they need entry level laptops so what would that be?????



    if the ibook is dropped what would be entry level and the cheapest to make and sell what configuration????

    how do you get a $850 laptop with combo drive, what processor and hardrive size what screen size



    what's the lowest reasonalble price for a laptop with combo drive?????



    What about name recognition---ibook is known worldwide, if apple drops the iBook who would buy the rights to that powerful name. just too much to lose why go backwards
  • Reply 46 of 51
    dhagan4755dhagan4755 Posts: 2,152member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by pscates

    You're wrong. Try harder



    Time to re-post your renderings!
  • Reply 47 of 51
    nofeernofeer Posts: 2,427member
    This i got from cnet.com for laptops to watch dvd's



    http://reviews.cnet.com/4002-3121_7-...?tag=cnetfd.ld



    so how is apple going to face this competition when it has low value, apple needs better price and values and ibook fills this.
  • Reply 48 of 51
    phongphong Posts: 219member
    peharri, that post was magnificent. The very reason this thread has gone to a second page already illustrates all of your points. The second last paragraph, particularly took some guts...



    Quote:

    Originally posted by peharri

    ... Apple users can't shop around. If aspects of Apple's range are annoying or frustrating, then right now Apple users have two choices - put up with it, and develop a dislike for the platform in the meantime, or ditch the platform altogether.



    Some in this forum would just say you were whining, but Apple's sucky range is undisputably the principle reason for lack of a large switchers' movement - it causes noncompetitive pricing. Remember when they almost moved the whole PowerMac line into multiple processors? That was right around the iMac debut - what were pro users who only needed one processor going to buy? And what of the non-design centric consumer?



    Dropping the iBooks alienates markets. Unfortunately that's what they're good at doing.



    Once Apple achieves a more reliable, stable relationship with its new processor manufacturer, they will have less of an excuse to not make a well thought-out line of machines with competitive prices. I see bright things for the future of the Mac, and double marketshare within the next 5 years (although they should've been close to doubling it by now) - Apple has plenty of life left in it to learn its lesson by then - They're doing a great job with OS X and software availability, hardware will just have to come next.
  • Reply 49 of 51
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kecksy

    Hey, I happen to own a 14" iBook, jerk. There's nothing wrong with the way it looks. Some people don't want a small notebook with a small screen, and 15 inch PowerBooks are expensive. The 14 inch iBook fullfils a need, and just because you like it, doesn't mean it shouldn't exist.



    "Jerk"?



    First off, settle down. Second, don't call me names over something as trivial as a laptop description. Third, what the **** do you care? Fourth, it's "not me not liking it". Fifth, you might be a little too attached to it if you fly off like this.



    Sixth, if you're joking/being silly, use a smiley so I won't think you're just an ass by default.



    I've heard plenty of people rip on the LCD iMac and the gumdrop iMacs and it never pissed me off or I never felt the need to "lash back" at them.







    And yes...it does look like a big Chic-let. Just as the original iMacs look like a gumdrop or jellybean, the G4 iMac looks like a lamp, the original iBooks look like a toilet seat and the G5 looks like a cheese grater.



    Get over it. I said "Chiclet", not "horrid, offensive piece of ill-designed shit from hell" (which, of course, it ISN'T...but you're kinda acting like I did).







    Jeez...



    Truth be known, K, I'm probably going to buy one for my best friend as a surprise. She's gone back to college to get her Masters and she's currently using a 3-year-old Gateway with no Ethernet, no FireWire, no built-in modem and only a DVD drive (no CD-burning). It's a 14" model with 1024x768, so she's losing nothing on screen size/resolution, BUT gaining an entire world of better computing (OS X, Office v.X, modern I/O and networking and 'net access...not to mention iTunes, iPhoto, etc.).



    The model is perfect for her and I'm happy to buy - or help buy - it.
  • Reply 50 of 51
    bigcbigc Posts: 1,224member
    I think Porsche should re-make the 356 and sell it for $6995.99, I want one.
  • Reply 51 of 51
    kecksykecksy Posts: 1,002member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by pscates

    "Jerk"?



    First off, settle down. Second, don't call me names over something as trivial as a laptop description. Third, what the **** do you care? Fourth, it's "not me not liking it". Fifth, you might be a little too attached to it if you fly off like this.



    Sixth, if you're joking/being silly, use a smiley so I won't think you're just an ass by default.



    I've heard plenty of people rip on the LCD iMac and the gumdrop iMacs and it never pissed me off or I never felt the need to "lash back" at them.







    And yes...it does look like a big Chic-let. Just as the original iMacs look like a gumdrop or jellybean, the G4 iMac looks like a lamp, the original iBooks look like a toilet seat and the G5 looks like a cheese grater.



    Get over it. I said "Chiclet", not "horrid, offensive piece of ill-designed shit from hell" (which, of course, it ISN'T...but you're kinda acting like I did).







    Jeez...



    Truth be known, K, I'm probably going to buy one for my best friend as a surprise. She's gone back to college to get her Masters and she's currently using a 3-year-old Gateway with no Ethernet, no FireWire, no built-in modem and only a DVD drive (no CD-burning). It's a 14" model with 1024x768, so she's losing nothing on screen size/resolution, BUT gaining an entire world of better computing (OS X, Office v.X, modern I/O and networking and 'net access...not to mention iTunes, iPhoto, etc.).



    The model is perfect for her and I'm happy to buy - or help buy - it.




    I'm sorry. 'Jerk' is a term of endearment. nn[]n
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