The G4 Tonka toy story by macbidouille
http://macbidouille.com/niouzcontenu...003-09-09#6568
Why do I get the feeling that a the cosy relation between Apple and Motorola will unravel pretty soon
Like when the dieshrunk IBM 970 is in production
Quote:
We on several occasions spoke you about the relationship more than tended between APPLE and Motorola. The things are not improving, on the contrary. Steve would have made a descent a few days ago at the central office of Motorola. It is told that high words colors would have been exchanged during the discussions. Very in Anger, Steve would have qualified G4 of "Tonka Truck Processor". (This deserves an explanation. Some among you probably remember the Tonka Toys, cranes, trucks...) By this allusion, Steve wanted to render comprehensible at Motorola which it now regarded G4 as a toy compared to G5. While waiting, APPLE does not want to leave portables as long as they will not be certain to have a regular and sufficient supply processors 7457. They do not want especially to start again the error of Powerbook 17"and other announced but inalienable products. A point of the situation will be made each week. This last problem with load for Motorola probably will be added to the others if APPLE would decide to continue them in 2004.
We on several occasions spoke you about the relationship more than tended between APPLE and Motorola. The things are not improving, on the contrary. Steve would have made a descent a few days ago at the central office of Motorola. It is told that high words colors would have been exchanged during the discussions. Very in Anger, Steve would have qualified G4 of "Tonka Truck Processor". (This deserves an explanation. Some among you probably remember the Tonka Toys, cranes, trucks...) By this allusion, Steve wanted to render comprehensible at Motorola which it now regarded G4 as a toy compared to G5. While waiting, APPLE does not want to leave portables as long as they will not be certain to have a regular and sufficient supply processors 7457. They do not want especially to start again the error of Powerbook 17"and other announced but inalienable products. A point of the situation will be made each week. This last problem with load for Motorola probably will be added to the others if APPLE would decide to continue them in 2004.
Why do I get the feeling that a the cosy relation between Apple and Motorola will unravel pretty soon
Like when the dieshrunk IBM 970 is in production
Comments
Always fun to wade through the various "your processor are all belong to Motorola and last to the kind not of before" kind of phrases that on-the-fly translators provide.
Originally posted by DrBoar
Why do I get the feeling that a the cosy relation between Apple and Motorola will unravel pretty soon
Like when the dieshrunk IBM 970 is in production
Here's hoping Apple is clever enough to have an exit strategy not only for Moto but for IBM as well should they fail to ramp up the G5's quickly.
It's sad to see a top of the like company take such a heavy fall in their reputation at the consumer level. I'm sorry that they couldn't keep up.
At the same time it is exciting to see IBM stepping in and providing a dynamic future for the Gx PPC line. I think they are going to outperform public expectations as a matter of pride (and revenues) and also as a chance to show Intel how it is done.
I think the next 12 - 24 months are going to be awesome for Apple and continue to be amazed that they were able to keep the company growing through the dark Moto years.
In this new environment I bet that the guys at Moto had a very difficult time when Steve J dropped in for a chat!
A point of the situation will be made each week.
That does not sound like an exit strategy. That, to me, sounds like an empty threat. "We'll watch the situation closely. Improve or else..." without there actually being an else to go to.
Screed ...<die deathtype=horrible>Motorola</die>
So while Apple may hate Motorola they need them for a couple of months still (I really hope it is less than a year)
Originally posted by Powerdoc
Mot sucks at an incredible point : they deserve to disapear of the semi-conductor market.
They are fast disappearing. Fallen off the top ten chip maker list for the first time in history this year. On the cell phone front too. In the largest market in the world-China with its 250 million subscribers, its market share has fallen from 34% to 10% in two years.
Originally posted by BJer
They are fast disappearing. Fallen off the top ten chip maker list for the first time in history this year. On the cell phone front too. In the largest market in the world-China with its 250 million subscribers, its market share has fallen from 34% to 10% in two years.
I think somebody at some point wrote up an entire expose and used Moto as the perfect example of "how NOT to run your business" ... and if not, somebody should ... I'm very curious as to what exactly are the key mistakes they've made over the years?
Originally posted by OverToasty
I think somebody at some point wrote up an entire expose and used Moto as the perfect example of "how NOT to run your business"
It's called "Dilbert." Seriously.
... and if not, somebody should ... I'm very curious as to what exactly are the key mistakes they've made over the years?
I've enumerated most of them elsewhere, and there are enough of them that I don't feel like writing them out again. But most of Mot's current woes can be laid at the feet of their CEO.
Originally posted by DrBoar
. . . A low power 2GHz G4 with DDR support would not be a bad CPU in 2003, if it arrives late 2004 it will never end up in a Mac (barring CPU upgrades and such non Apple stuff). . .
IBM is working on on such a chip now, called Mojave, and it may appear about mid 2004. I've read rumors about it for almost a year, and it's usually thought to be for the iBook, eMac and possibly some new low end consumer Macs. Recently, even MacOSRumors has been discussing it. Its cost and power should be significantly lower than the G5 family, with respectable performance for most jobs. I think the iMac could go either way, the Mojave or a lower power version of the G5.
Originally posted by Amorph
...But most of Mot's current woes can be laid at the feet of their CEO.
Who has told analyst ( when asked ) that he will never leave the company. I get a visual of Ahab stabbing a white whale and going down to a watery grave.
Here's some anectdotes of Mot's incompetance.
This guy Wizeapple ( sp. ) used to head of Motorola cellular. Back in the analog phone era, Motorola used LED's to display the number, etc. Other manufacturer's were moving to LCD's ( lower costs, lower current, more info convey'ed to user ). Wizeapple refused to move to LCD's because LED's were a "key differentiator" for Mot cell phones. Users ended up preferring LCD's and their benefits ( longer battery life, more info ) to Mot's "key differentiator."
Motorola was very slow moving to digital because they could not keep up with the demand for analog. The common reason was, why move to digital, we are going at 120% on analog. In several years Nokia eclipsed Motorola when analog phones faded and digital took over.
When competing standards TDMA and CDMA came on the scene ( GSM was known but considered a "European" technology), Motorola refused to take the lead on either technology but wanted to wait to let the "market" decide. The only problem with this was that the market was uneducated about the risks and differences between the two standards and would need to be educated about the technologies. Motorola was in a perfect place to guide the market. They dropped the ball and it was taken from them.
There are more... my fingers grow weary!
( edited for spelling )
Going back to the original quote, two sentences I am trying to understand simply refuse to parse:
1. "While waiting, APPLE does not want to leave portables as long as they will not be certain to have a regular and sufficient supply processors 7457."
2. "They do not want especially to start again the error of Powerbook 17"and other announced but inalienable products."
Re #1. Apple doesn't want to stop making portables just because they're not certain of having a stable supply of processors? I think there are too many "not"s in the sentence. Maybe it means: Apple doesn't want to announce or introduce new powerbooks until they are certain of a stable supply of 7457s.
Re #2. They don't want to repeat the problem of the 17" being announced but unavailable for a long time.
Any thoughts?
Take a look at what O'Grady's PowerPage is posting. It's in english and I'm having a tough time understanding it!
http://www.powerpage.org/cgi-bin/Web...powerpage.woa/
Originally posted by chazmox
The only other interpretation I could see for sentence #1 is that Apple does not want to take any action against Motorola while they are dependant on 7457. But that would be a long shot interpretation - the one you state is much better.
Confirmation from a French native speaker : cubist is right. "Apple does not want to release new laptops until they are certain to get sufficient and steady supply of 7457 CPUs".
And on subject of MacBidouille, they are retiring from the rumour "business" because their relationship with Apple France is getting tense (they are not invited to PR events any more, people from Apple won't be seen in public with them...). They think they have nothing to gain from the rumours ("When we're right, Apple is mad, when we're wrong Apple and our readers are mad"), and want to focus on what they do best : provide technical support, reviews and howtos (about overclocking particularly) to the French mac community.
What could the manufacturing hangup be? If it isn't the CPUs from Moto or the OS from Apple, what could be holding things up? Sufficient 15.4" displays or 2x DVD-R SuperDrives? Quality control issues? Whatever it is, it's costing Apple a fortune in lost sales.
After all this waiting and wondering, we don't even know if this update will be worth the wait. If it isn't, for the benefit of the French readers, Merde sainte ! Ce qui le ?!?!?!? de baise (Sherlock translation)
My question is, if IBM is spending so much money on these chips, how come they're not using it themselves? I always wondered that. Granted Windows wouldn't support it, but they could license a Linux version to work with it or attempt some type of license. I know there are complications and such, it's just my curiosity since IBM computers are so highly regarded in the business world and they're losing revenue using Intel Processors.
Originally posted by contempt
Remember back in the Clone Wars when Motorola had a machine running Mac OS?
My question is, if IBM is spending so much money on these chips, how come they're not using it themselves? I always wondered that. Granted Windows wouldn't support it, but they could license a Linux version to work with it or attempt some type of license. I know there are complications and such, it's just my curiosity since IBM computers are so highly regarded in the business world and they're losing revenue using Intel Processors.
Eh?
IBM made the Power series machine including the Power, Power2, Power3, Power4, and the future Power5. These machines are the machines that gave birth to the PowerPC instruction set. IBM has no lack of commitment to their own CPUs and they most certainly will use th 970 in blade servers.
The 970 (G5) is a derivative of the Power4. IBM will use the 970 in blade servers on the low end (the 970 is on low end compared to a Power4, but it doesn't have the same price tag). Yes, Such a blade server will run Linux. This is all common knowledge (do a google search on "IBM Linux 970 server")
I think that there was an arrogance and a real lack of understanding by the decision makers in the company to how bad things were.
Right before the market down turn and at the beginning of MOT most recent problems, upper management was purchasing stock like mad.
This was when MOT was trading around $70 a share. This contrasted to much of the insider trading by other tech companies. It seems like they had no clue.
Lemon Bon Bon