Apple's Focus

[pjkelnhofer]

With the seemingly eminent release of 2GB and 4GB iPods below the $200 barrier, I am starting to wonder about the current focus of Apple Computers.
The G5's are incredible computers and worth every penny in my opinion, but I (and many people I know) do not have $3000+ to spend on a professional system.
I worry that Apple has forgotten the non-"power users" that have an allegiance to the company. The Motorola G4 chips continues to dominate Apple inventory, and let's be honest. It is a four-year old chip that has worn out its welcome. How many minor speed bumps can people get excited about? What is left but bringing the 1.25 GHz to 1.42 GHz? 17MHz upgrade in an age of Dual 2 GHz machines.
The iMac - over priced (at $2200 for the 20" how is the a "consumer" machine).
The eMac - who still wants a CRT (it would be one thing if it were a free 17" CRT that came with a desktop then I could upgrade my monitor).
The iBook - only just rid itself of the G3 (we barely got rid of the G3 before 2004)!
I am trying to say that I am worried Apple has forgotten those of us who want to buy Macs but want to get real value for $2000, and instead is concentrating on getting PC users to buy iPod and use iTMS in the hope they eventually by Macs.
While this may be a good (or even great) move for Apple, in the short term I am left with my 400 MHz G3 iMac.
My hope is that early 2004 the IBM 750VX (whatever Apple may call it) appears in Apple's "consumer" lines running at 2+ GHz to fill the void until G5's take over the whole line (by then G6's will be in the PowerMacs no doubt).

[beg_ne]

There are things to consider when it comes to putting the G5 into the consumer line, such as heat. Besides quite frankly what does a non-power-user need more than a G4 for anyway?

I consider myself a power user yet my G3 iBook has no trouble keeping up doing most everything i want to do with it. I even have MySQL, Tomcat and Coldfusion running as development servers on it and it's not a problem.

As far as getting "real value" for your money, $2000 is enough to buy a G5.

[Doctor Q]

I've seen no sign that Apple is ignoring either consumers or power users while being distracting by the other. We'd all like them to do speed bumps and price drops in both lines every week (Tuesday of course), but that's not a reasonable expectation. My impression is that at Macworld they announce consumer Mac hardware and new software without revealing news about upcoming Power Macs. Then they surprise us with the next great Power Mac a month or two later, and it's obvious they've been busy in the back room all along.

So, because we're on the brink of a Macworld, it seems like announcements have been for power users lately. Just wait. I predict consumer announcements will dominate at Macworld.

I wonder if arn would agree after having monitored so many rumored annoucements and seen which came to fruition when.