tenthousandthings

spliff monkey said:

Roy Moore is not the original creator, that was Glen Larson in the 70's. If you like good endings you're going to hat Roy Moore. Other than that seems like a good acquisition for Apple's entertainment aspirations. I'll watch it. 

Roy is the man who caused me to learn that the word "ephebophile" exists. Ron is the creator of the remake of BSG (just as the article says).

Re: good endings, the decline of the final half-season was due to three things: [1] the writer's strike, which derailed production and led to [2] the loss of Callum Keith Rennie (and thus his character Leoben), completely screwing over the storyline for Starbuck, and [3] the lack of an overall plan for the finale. As I understand it, the writers (including Moore, and always under his direction) basically made the story up as they went along. Only one of these [#3] was within Moore's control, and we can only hope he learned from that experience.

There is evidence that he did, and not just Outlander. Caprica was cancelled during production of the second half of its first (and only) season, but it was well-organized and had an overall plan -- as seen in the "shape of things to come" overview the producers aired at the end, to give the audience some closure. That cancellation isn't quite on par with that of Firefly in terms of cosmic injustice, but in my mind it is close. Caprica was unique, and could have grown into something quite beautiful.

Sounds like this is going to be an alternate-history future series -- the history of NASA and the Soviet space program is rich soil for that.

We ended up just buying a 32GB a week or two ago. I'll guess the shortage is a miscalculation -- the $20 price difference is not enough -- almost everyone choses the 64GB. I certainly would have done so, given the choice. But thanks to AI I also know I don't really need it, so I happily bought the 32GB with the 64GB being out of stock.

amcliz said:

[...] so I use Quark Xpress 2017, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Lightroom, Parallels, Suitcase Fusion as my Core apps for my day to day... then for my hobby activities and free time I use Final Cut Pro X, Adobe Premiere and Adobe After Effects only for editing home video essentially in 1080p... maybe possibly the new iPhone X 4K @ 60fps footage....

[...] I had been anxiously waiting for the new MacPro... and the announcement that it would be 2018 was amazing.... but then this new iMac Pro got sneak previewed and I said to myself... this machine actually delivers on all my needs and more.

I would love to wait for the new MacPro... but I will need a new 5K screen with that... [...] not sure if I can wait until the end of 2018 or start of 2019 for a new MacPro.... do you think for my needs the new iMac Pro can more than deliver ? I love the idea of a super computer and 5K screen all in one... with 128GB Ram... possibly 18 cores... depending on price.

[...] is the new MacPro going to be really targeted at the hardcore 4K content creator or VR or AR creator using insane 3D computing power, stuff I will never be involved with or have expertise in. [...]

I think your initial reaction was correct -- the iMac Pro should easily handle 4K home video. My principal concern would be heat and durability. AppleCare is a must for a new (internal) design like this. I can't argue with future-proofing if you can afford it, but it's hard to imagine you needing the top-end W-2195 for that. The W-2155 or the W-2145 seem like more than enough -- both are mid-range Skylake Xeon W.

On the 2018 Mac Pro, there should be options that meet your needs without overkill. I don't think it will just be aimed at the sort of high-end content creators you mention. I'll guess pricing similar to the current Mac Pro structure, with two base configurations, one starting at $3000 and the other starting at $4000. This reflects the base price differences between Xeon-SP Silver versus Xeon-SP Gold. If they go dual-processor, then the starting points would be around $3500 and $5000.

In sum, I'll guess it will be possible to get a 2018 Mac Pro with the new display for somewhat less than the base iMac Pro configuration. But once you add comparable processing power, RAM, and graphics, the base iMac Pro might seem like a bargain?

AppleInsider said:

All models can be ordered with Apple's Magic Trackpad 2 instead of the standard Magic Mouse 2 for $50 more, or you can get both pointing devices for an additional $129. Also new this summer is Apple's wireless Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad, sold separately for $129.

It is not only "sold separately" -- it is also sold with the iMac BTO. If you hit "change" under Keyboards during checkout, there is a full selection of Magic Keyboards with Numeric Keypads for $30 more.

lorin schultz said:

Do we think the keyboard shown in the sneak preview is real? It *looked* like a wireless keyboard with a full number pad, but maybe the cable was just excluded from the photo for aesthetic reasons. If it's a space grey wireless with number pad, SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!

Say goodbye to your money. It is. Even though I didn't get any images on Apple's web site, the text is there and it specifically says it's a Magic Keyboard with a full number pad.