Was the Apple G5 mistake really a mistake? Or just a hype ploy?

[GeneR]

As we get closer to WWDC, it seems to me that Apple would need to do everything it could to create an enormous amount of hype around its new product line. Shock value being such a great spin tool, and especially news of MAJOR BLUNDERS such as placing G5 info on the Apple website, could it simply have been a ploy to generate more free publicity for Apple?

We see how blunders and shocking news always generates the most amount of free publicity. Gets the rumor mill going like wildfire. It would make sense to me that this "mistake" may have actually been a more calculated act by Apple to get the news out and get people talking.

The timing to cause such hype is right. A nearly one-week window prior to WWDC could really get people talking just as it has on these boards.

Additionally, it seems a bit weird to me that Apple who is known to have such precision about releasing news instantly on their website, would actually have a G5 spec on the screen next to the G4. If they were stupid enough to load their website with upcoming projects they may run the risk of such blunders and, God forbid a hacker/cracker attack, more info leaking prior to this new release.

What do you think? I'd love to hear the feedback from people about this. It just seems a bit too odd to be uncalculated.

[dynamicd]

I agree...nothing goes up on that website without it being checked and rechecked again. Especially something as big as new processors wouldn't just be accidentally leaked. Do the site maintainers even have access to that type of knowledge in advance to an event like the WWDC?

[Dont Hurt Me]

Good question, but i shure hope they have done better then a flattened wind tunnel I mean MDD. the specs are great but darn to have to look at a stubby MDD might be to much to bare.

[strider42]

Personally I think the information (if indeed it wasn't a hoax by an employee or a hack of some kind) was too specific to be a hype thing. If apple wanted to create hype, they might dropped some hints, maybe "accidentally" put up a G5 reference, but not all the specs. Apple likes to surprise people, to shock them if they think they have something relaly worthwhile. If the specs are true, they totally could have shocked people at the keynote and I think it would have been more effective. I don't think the hype generated around this leak would be as big as the hype generated by totally shocking people in a controlled environment. And since nobody knows if its true or not, and the people really hyped about it would have been anyway, it relaly doesn't seem like a whole lot of hype to me, nor does it seem like a good marketing technique.

Sometimes mistakes just happen. The images would undoubtedly be around if it was going to be released next week. They probably want to test some of this stuff before trying to go live with it. I suppose its possible, but I think its more likely to be a simple mistake or hack rather than some grand scheme by apple. The simplest answer is usually the correct one.

[wdlove]

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, accidents so happen. I'm just so elated that the G5 is no longer a rumor, but is real.

[jelloshotsrule]

Originally posted by Dont Hurt Me
Good question, but i shure hope they have done better then a flattened wind tunnel I mean MDD. the specs are great but darn to have to look at a stubby MDD might be to much to bare.

you seem ridiculously hung up on how the new machines look, and that they don't look much like the MDD's.... why? sure, we'd all like it to look good, but that's second to how it performs.... my computer's on the floor. i don't look at it much.

wd- i'd still say it's "rumor" until apple officially announces it....

[evoluzione]

i don't think this was a "mistake", more of a hack than anything. think about it, and correct me if i'm wrong, if they have new stuff on the website, they just switch servers and bosh, up come the new pages. for just a tiny part of the screen to be different doesn't sound right to me.

i, personally, don't believe this. i'd like to, but don't. :)

[Dont Hurt Me]

hey Jello, come on, i mean gee if you spend as much as you do on a mac it should not only be faster then the windows machine but it should not look like crap. If they are using the flattened wind tunnel this isnt going to help sales. surley they would have done better then use the same basic looks of their worst selling powermac??? I dont know about you but if I came up with a new chip and all new motherboard i wouldnt want it to look at all like the current machines. It would have to be innovative looking and squashing the current powermac a little isnt going to do it. lets hope they have done better.

[tpjunkie]

I think that there is a good chance the specs were put up, as they were to provoke the type of speculation thats been going on...and if it was, its sure doing its job

[WinterMute]

I want it to be a mistake, that way the specs are real and the games afoot, but my gut says it's a hoax, either deliberate or a hack.

I've got a new audio lab to spec for October, 20 DP 2gHz G5's would do the job nicely, it's that opital audio in/out that could be the real killer for me:cool:

Still, we'll find out soon, won't we?

[Tim Flynn]

Either way its not bad !

If it is a mistake, we were assuming 1.8 GHz on the top end, but get 2.0 instead. Thats good !

If it was media hype, then Apple can't release a 1.8 GHz top end. Their top end has to be at least 2.0 GHz now. But ... Apple likes to surprise us, so .. perhaps their high end will be higher than 2.0Ghz, like the 2.4 GHz thats been rumored.

Either way, it looks good.

:cool:

[jelloshotsrule]

Originally posted by Dont Hurt Me
hey Jello, come on, i mean gee if you spend as much as you do on a mac it should not only be faster then the windows machine but it should not look like crap. If they are using the flattened wind tunnel this isnt going to help sales. surley they would have done better then use the same basic looks of their worst selling powermac??? I dont know about you but if I came up with a new chip and all new motherboard i wouldnt want it to look at all like the current machines. It would have to be innovative looking and squashing the current powermac a little isnt going to do it. lets hope they have done better.

you're going off of some crappy composite job that someone did of a current design... why would you put any stock in what this person came up with? do you think they have the design know how of the group at apple? seriously, think

the reason the current model is their worst selling powermac (got proof?, though i'd believe it) is because they are just a stopgap, as they have been for a while... not because they're ugly. how dumb an argument is that

the new design is almost assured to look better than any pc, so what's the problem? if they're faster than pcs, and better looking, but not quite as good looking as an older mac, you're not going to buy it? right.

[wdlove]

Originally posted by jelloshotsrule
you seem ridiculously hung up on how the new machines look, and that they don't look much like the MDD's.... why? sure, we'd all like it to look good, but that's second to how it performs.... my computer's on the floor. i don't look at it much.

wd- i'd still say it's "rumor" until apple officially announces it....

Thank you for blowing my bubble. Going to try to hold on to my dream! :( :)

[Dont Hurt Me]

The problem is what does the thing look like???how about this??

[shadowfax]

Originally posted by Dont Hurt Me
The problem is what does the thing look like???how about this?? haha, that looks like it's straight out of a bang and olufsen store! badass! lol.

[scem0]

Originally posted by Dont Hurt Me
The problem is what does the thing look like???how about this??

well the stats match what apple said.

I think it was a ginuine mistake by apple.

I think it would be hella hard to hack into the apple site, and if I did, I wouldnt change just one thing. I dunno, seems unlikely that is was by a hacker.

http://www.my-smileys.de/signs/cdcb35acd7902df97d2eb5e6c320263b.png

[wdlove]

Originally posted by Dont Hurt Me
The problem is what does the thing look like???how about this??

Beautiful, Dont Hurt Me. That is awesome, a dream coming to reality. Yours is similar to a design I saw earlier, just can't remember where!

[voicegy]

Originally posted by Dont Hurt Me
The problem is what does the thing look like???how about this??

The non-Pro looks like a purse.:rolleyes:

Straight out of a Bang & Olufsen store? Er, don't think so, although Apple can hold their own in the excellence of design catagory. I did recently drool over their flat screen television entry, but the price was, well...let's just say I'll buy the G5 before I buy the B&O flat screen.

(oh, in case you're wondering...the B&O Plasma Screen, with rotating stand if you're so inclined to place it on the floor, is.............$20,500.00):eek:

[ThoughtKriminal]

its NOT hype for sure.

If everyone knows that G5s are CONFIRMED around the corner, no one is going to buy a G4. It doesnt make good business sense.

Im even regreting my G4.. and thats weird cuz its the best comp ive ever seen in my life let alone owned =)

[shadowfax]

Originally posted by ThoughtKriminal
Im even regreting my G4.. and thats weird cuz its the best comp ive ever seen in my life let alone owned =) my G4 powerbook is the best computer i have ever owned, both because of the processor and because of the design. it's also the best laptop in the world, i think, though not because of the G4. not remotely.

in the desktop world, the G4 is a disgrace. if it's the best you've ever seen, maybe you should get out more ;)

[MacFan25]

I'd say that the G5 thing was a mistake. A big mistake. But, I don't think that it was a hacker. I would think that Apple would be one of the most secure sites.

[GeneR]

Originally posted by Dont Hurt Me
The problem is what does the thing look like???how about this??

Well, I guess the pict, Don't Hurt Me put up wasn't remotely like the new G5. Dang. And they looked cool too. (In a HAL 9000 sort of way :D) Egads. On second thought, I'd feel like it would start talking to me at any moment so maybe it's better that it doesn't look like it. :D

RE: Mistake.
Hmmm. Maybe it was a "mistake". However, I think SJ's reality distortion field would always make me a bit skeptical.

(Dang. I'm beginning to sound like my Conspiracy Theory Friend! :D)

Anyway, whatever is the truth, I'm just glad the G5's are coming out in September. (Just hoping it's not really October!) Well, see...