<strong>The discussion is moot since Apple WILL ABSOLUTELY NOT pre-announce 970's for a number of reasons.
1) Actually there are still some PowerMac sales and it would kill them stone dead.
2) Apple is not an ordinary computer company. In some respacts Steve treats it more like a film company that is only as good as its last production (The Powerbooks at the moment, which are fine and dandy). Apple also garners far greater interest and column inches than its relative size merits. This means that the 'news flow' has to be very carefully controlled and now is simply not the time to get the entire world and its dog in a tiz over a product that may or may not ship on a particular date.
Can you imagine the feeding frenzy and demand for information from the Apple acolytes (that's us) and trade press if such an announcment were made? It would totally undermine any PR efforts between then and now concerning, ooh...iMac updates, iPod updates, new screens, iPad(?), iLife, Airport Totally-Out-There etc.
3) Its a 'hostage to fortune' that Steve cannot possibly commit to at this time.</strong><hr></blockquote>
The only Power Mac sales are to idiots and people who need new Power Macs (ei an expandable macintosh) right now! That wouldn't change if they Power Mac G5 (or whatever) is pre-announced.
Isn't it possible that the Power Mac G5 [i]will[/]i be the big product this year, and deserves hype!?
You do have a point with the "hostage to fortune". It's not going to be cancelled as you imply, however target dates can slip.
A risk Apple is willing to take perhaps? It could be that Apple could announce a conservative date, and ship eariler than that if possible. After 3 years of development, it must be close to ready.
<strong>What advantage is there to Apple for having pre-announcements or a long-term machine RoadMap. None that I can see.</strong><hr></blockquote>
If people know that future PowerMacs will perform equal to or better than the competition, and that lagging performace will soon be a thing of the past, it will encourage them to stick with the platform. If you have to upgrade to a new machine now, and the choice is:
1. Continue to invest time and money in Mac software, or
2. Switch to x86, it would be helpfull to know that in a year or two good hardware will be available, and you will not have to then switch to Windows in any case.
The Powermacs are seriously behind and it would be reassuring to know they will not remain behind, or that (allah forbid) the line is closed out and Apple only sells Portables, AIOs, and Servers. I don't expect this to happen, but Mr. Steve Suprise gives the impression that anything is possible. Let him remind us that Apple is committed to the expandable Desktop platform, not that the PowerMac is expendable.
Didn't Stevie MacJobs say that this was the year of the Powerbook or laptop or lapdance or something? Doesn't that sort of set the stage for portable based product announcements at least for a while? Like half the year anyway?
I still hold out the possibility of an early surprise 970 announcement (I'm thinking Apple and IBM have a private/secret deal on the 970 chips for Apple's specific needs), but I don't think it looks good. In the meantime I'm going to get a PowerLogix G3 ZIF 800 when they are ready. That'll make my Beige 300 MT useable for another 9-12 months. Like mayn Mac users I keep my sytems a long time and then wait for the most major jump in power I can get.
If people know that future PowerMacs will perform equal to or better than the competition, and that lagging performace will soon be a thing of the past, it will encourage them to stick with the platform. If you have to upgrade to a new machine now, and the choice is:
1. Continue to invest time and money in Mac software, or
2. Switch to x86, it would be helpfull to know that in a year or two good hardware will be available, and you will not have to then switch to Windows in any case.
The Powermacs are seriously behind and it would be reassuring to know they will not remain behind, or that (allah forbid) the line is closed out and Apple only sells Portables, AIOs, and Servers. I don't expect this to happen, but Mr. Steve Suprise gives the impression that anything is possible. Let him remind us that Apple is committed to the expandable Desktop platform, not that the PowerMac is expendable.
I don't see it working. Apple comes out to Time mag. and CNN and tells them here is our roadmap. See how bad our stuff is now; it stinks, and here is where we are going to go and look how fast we are (maybe) going to be. Then Intel comes out with there road map saying, look we'll still be twice as fast as the Mac and we have the experience; you can count on us (the Wintel gang).
Apple is still screwed. Apple's best bet is what they are doing. Keep everyone (insert general consumer) interested/occupied in the consumer equipment and then come out (secretly) with a Boy! Howwdy! whup arse system with some new kick butt apps (movie, photo, 3D, etc)
Comments
<strong>The discussion is moot since Apple WILL ABSOLUTELY NOT pre-announce 970's for a number of reasons.
1) Actually there are still some PowerMac sales and it would kill them stone dead.
2) Apple is not an ordinary computer company. In some respacts Steve treats it more like a film company that is only as good as its last production (The Powerbooks at the moment, which are fine and dandy). Apple also garners far greater interest and column inches than its relative size merits. This means that the 'news flow' has to be very carefully controlled and now is simply not the time to get the entire world and its dog in a tiz over a product that may or may not ship on a particular date.
Can you imagine the feeding frenzy and demand for information from the Apple acolytes (that's us) and trade press if such an announcment were made? It would totally undermine any PR efforts between then and now concerning, ooh...iMac updates, iPod updates, new screens, iPad(?), iLife, Airport Totally-Out-There etc.
3) Its a 'hostage to fortune' that Steve cannot possibly commit to at this time.</strong><hr></blockquote>
The only Power Mac sales are to idiots and people who need new Power Macs (ei an expandable macintosh) right now! That wouldn't change if they Power Mac G5 (or whatever) is pre-announced.
Isn't it possible that the Power Mac G5 [i]will[/]i be the big product this year, and deserves hype!?
You do have a point with the "hostage to fortune". It's not going to be cancelled as you imply, however target dates can slip.
A risk Apple is willing to take perhaps? It could be that Apple could announce a conservative date, and ship eariler than that if possible. After 3 years of development, it must be close to ready.
Barto
<strong>What advantage is there to Apple for having pre-announcements or a long-term machine RoadMap. None that I can see.</strong><hr></blockquote>
If people know that future PowerMacs will perform equal to or better than the competition, and that lagging performace will soon be a thing of the past, it will encourage them to stick with the platform. If you have to upgrade to a new machine now, and the choice is:
1. Continue to invest time and money in Mac software, or
2. Switch to x86, it would be helpfull to know that in a year or two good hardware will be available, and you will not have to then switch to Windows in any case.
The Powermacs are seriously behind and it would be reassuring to know they will not remain behind, or that (allah forbid) the line is closed out and Apple only sells Portables, AIOs, and Servers. I don't expect this to happen, but Mr. Steve Suprise gives the impression that anything is possible. Let him remind us that Apple is committed to the expandable Desktop platform, not that the PowerMac is expendable.
[ 01-24-2003: Message edited by: pey/coy-ote ]</p>
I still hold out the possibility of an early surprise 970 announcement (I'm thinking Apple and IBM have a private/secret deal on the 970 chips for Apple's specific needs), but I don't think it looks good. In the meantime I'm going to get a PowerLogix G3 ZIF 800 when they are ready. That'll make my Beige 300 MT useable for another 9-12 months. Like mayn Mac users I keep my sytems a long time and then wait for the most major jump in power I can get.
<strong>
If people know that future PowerMacs will perform equal to or better than the competition, and that lagging performace will soon be a thing of the past, it will encourage them to stick with the platform. If you have to upgrade to a new machine now, and the choice is:
1. Continue to invest time and money in Mac software, or
2. Switch to x86, it would be helpfull to know that in a year or two good hardware will be available, and you will not have to then switch to Windows in any case.
The Powermacs are seriously behind and it would be reassuring to know they will not remain behind, or that (allah forbid) the line is closed out and Apple only sells Portables, AIOs, and Servers. I don't expect this to happen, but Mr. Steve Suprise gives the impression that anything is possible. Let him remind us that Apple is committed to the expandable Desktop platform, not that the PowerMac is expendable.
[ 01-24-2003: Message edited by: pey/coy-ote ]</strong><hr></blockquote>
I don't see it working. Apple comes out to Time mag. and CNN and tells them here is our roadmap. See how bad our stuff is now; it stinks, and here is where we are going to go and look how fast we are (maybe) going to be. Then Intel comes out with there road map saying, look we'll still be twice as fast as the Mac and we have the experience; you can count on us (the Wintel gang).
Apple is still screwed. Apple's best bet is what they are doing. Keep everyone (insert general consumer) interested/occupied in the consumer equipment and then come out (secretly) with a Boy! Howwdy! whup arse system with some new kick butt apps (movie, photo, 3D, etc)
[ 01-24-2003: Message edited by: Bigc ]</p>