Why apple should just make the 970 public

if they did that they wouldn't be apple.

apple likes surprises and secrets

 

If they create a big buzz around it and then release it, sales
would jump. And by a big buzz, I mean a BIG buzz.

 

The average Joe who is buying a powermac usually researches before they buy. $3000 is not chump change to us or them, so it is less of an impulse buy. This being said, current stocks of powermacs just would not sell when it came time for the new ones to come out. Backing up inventory and delaying launch times, similar to what has happened with the 15" powerbook. It would not benefit the consumer much compared to how much the current strategy benefits apple.

 

I think Apple is starting to face a huge problem here. The Average Joe doesn't know alot about PPC, and speed differences between P4 and G4. But this "wrong preference" posted by Adobe will be taken seriously by many, many people. This can definitely hurt current and (near) future PowerMac sales.
Usually, I'd say: Yes, let Apple surprize use. It's fun speculating (especially here ) and I love it when Steve shows something magical again and again.
But this is different. First of all, I think that many Apple Pro users would have heard something about the 970 coming soon. But he (the pro user) doesn't know for sure, and could be thinking: "why the h*** should I wait for something I didn't know if it's even coming"... and go buy the most productive graphics production computer there is: P4.
Secondly, to counter Adobe's remarks. Like I said, it will be taken seriously, and Apple's current answer (our software is better than yours) isn't showing muscle. The only serious reply Apple has is: THIS SUMMER WE WILL HAVE A MAC THAT WILL BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF ANY PC, USING ANY SOFTWARE. -signed S. Jobs. CEO Apple.

 

The type of person that is so desperate that having a minor speed advantage makes them jump to a x86 box will jump right back to a Mac if it shows a similar speed advantage.

Advertising a product before it's ready can kill a company and has many times before.

 

If apple announced 64-bit processors on their desktops, it would send shockwaves through the tech news world. everyone would know about it, and those who were clueless would check up on it at some level. an announcement would most certainly cannibalize apple Pmac and other sales like none other. they can't afford to announce them till there is a reasonable amount of time between anouncement and delivery.

 

Desperate for a minor speed advantage? I'm talking about the Pros who need speed, but you cannot expect them to replace their computer every couple of months. It's all about timing. Right now there is more than slight speed advantage for the Intels, I'm afraid.

Advertising for a product before it releases is very common amoung proc manufacturers. IBM themselves are advitising the same 970 way before it's in mass production. I don't see why Apple can't advertise the same proc.

 

IBM does it because they can afford it. do you realize that company could shut down everything, and continue to be a corporation with a sizable revenue just based on the patents it owns? it's one of the biggest tech companies on the planet, certainly the best-known. i don't think you'll get far suggesting that apple follow its current business model.

and as for Intell, they don't even make PCs. all chip makers produce roadmaps and release them pretty well in advance. motorola's G4 has one, as does IBM's (as you point out), and Intel is public about it.

I continue to question whether it would be responsible for apple to announce the distant future inclusion of a piece of hardware that would very doubtless cannibalize sales. i wouldn't worry much about losing current user base; most apple people i have seen seem to have a bigger reason for keeping off windows etc, and if you bring up linux on x86, i'll ask you how big that market is, and how fast they are still migrating to the mac . I think apple has a fine product release strategy, and so do you. if apple were like dell and everyone else, why would we need macrumors, or any of the other rumor sites. lol

 

Yeah, you're right. I probably want to know for sure too much if and when this 970 will be in a Mac...
I just hope that your statement about most Apple users staying with Macintosh for other reasons besides speed, is true enough for the PowerMac sales (well, even the consumer Macs) not to shrink too much....

 

fear and terror in the graphics studio

I'm really worried about this Adobe punch, because I myself feel a bit swayed by it. I'm not fearful that Apple won't have a kick-ass piece of hardware within the next year. I'm fearful that Adobe will not support os10 ever. As a full-time AfterEffects/Photoshop/Illustrator user, I have to tell you... the version of AE made to work with os10 started aweful, and after waiting way over a year for an update with fixes remains aweful! It just clunks on through. Photoshop's a lot faster, but I still wonder how much support Adobe is willing to give os10 users. That's a big problem. I think FCP has made Apple a lot of enemies among the important companies that had their own non-linear editing applications, such as Adobe's Premiere and Avid's Media Composer/Symphony. Both Adobe and Avid have worked very hard to pull down Apple. Without Adobe's support I don't know how I will be able to keep making a living on a Mac. I'm definitely waiting until July or so, but twice the speed and full support from Adobe is nothing to sneeze at.

 

Well it cant say in 6 months we will have a new cpu and computer to go with it because that would kill sales, but it should say something closer to the introduction. It probably will in fact. 2-3 months before they make it to the shelf apple will be talking. The problem is that us macrumors crowd are so far ahead of this curve. we were talking about a 970 in october.

 

I think that apple need to look at how it supports its Pro customers.

I have been a Pro Graphic designer for 5 year and have worked for some Big Blue chip companies in my time.

It all seems to come down to budget and how mush a company has got too spend.

I have been hearing a lot of people in my industry getting really feed-up with apple and there secret campaigns. And these are the people hue have supported apple for years and spend the big money on upgrading there departments with apple computers.

If the life-span of a CPU is coming to an end like the G4 then apple should say something about what is coming next. Just for the sake that companies can then budget and get the best for there money.

As it is at the moment no one I now in my industry are touching the G4 Powermac.

 

Being able to save yourself an hour in a task that takes so long you have to run it over night anyhow is a minor speed advantage. Most regular tasks the mac will come a few seconds behind. Yes those few seconds may be twice as long but it's an insignificant amount of time that isn't really enough time to pick up a cup of coffee and take a sip. As I said before on tasks that take excruciatingly long on a PC the job will be ran overnight anyhow and in that case who gives a rats ass if it takes an extra hour.

If the person is so desperate to have that sort of speed advantage and can't wait a few months to see what happens then they should buy now. Though that sort of person probably upgrades yearly anyhow in which case they will buy a Mac if they show a speed advantage.

IBM and Intel can announce there future product because it won't hurt them. How can a computer manufacturer such as Apple, Dell, Compaq sit back and say oh we can't buy chips now there's a faster one coming out in 3 months I guess we'll just forgo 3 months sales. Basically the people who buy from IBM, Intel, and AMD are captive buyers they have no where to go and can't afford to wait.

If Apple, Compaq, Dell, or any of the others were to announce today that in 3 months they would have a whole new processor across the board that would be twice as fast and the computers would be cheaper they would all go out of business. There isn't a one of them that can afford to lose all there business for even a month without serious repercussions.

 

They can't reveal anything because of marketing reasons. Element of surprise and awe create urge for people to buy things. Also, they want to sell as much of current products as possible before introducing something new.