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Dvorak: Apple to Dump OS X for Windows

D

DTphonehome

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 4, 2003
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Another brilliant article by everyone's favorite Windowphile, John Dvorak:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1925239,00.asp

Yes, John, I'm sure that Apple is going to switch to Windows. Makes sense on so many levels :rolleyes:
And his source is a psychology professor! Good thing top minds are mulling over this issue and coming to the logical conclusion.

How do these people even have jobs? People actually pay them for their verbal diarrhea? John, remember to think about what you're saying before you put it down on paper. People with brains might actually read it.
 
Dvorak is always great for a laugh. But I'm guessing the "psychology professor" who "wrote to him" was actually one of his psychotherapists who haunt his waking dreams with the voices that just won't go away, mommy please make them go away...
 
Yeah, he mentioned in the last TWIT podcast that this was coming up. He said his logic was compelling. I don't see that in the article.

As for using Windows and bolting on a Mac look-and-feel, you can do that now (http://osx.portraitofakite.com/), but obviously he hasn't tried it himself.

I've tried that with a Windows PC and it just didn't work. Get past the visual layer and it was obviously Windows underneath. I only kept the Mac OS skin for a couple of days before removing it.

If Apple switched to Windows, this iMac would be the last (and first) Mac I own. I would just buy a Dell and put Linux on it. (Not that that threat is going to scare anyone)

Edit: He did "predict" the Intel switch though, several times over the years, if I recall correctly. I guess he thinks he got that right so he has a direct line to Jobs's brain.
 
He's wrong on two points... the switch campaign DID work - not fantastically, but it did raise Apple's visibility and help persuade some (myself included) to switch. Second, the iPod HAS increased Apple's market share. Haven't we been hearing oodles and oodles about the 'iPod halo effect' and the steady increase in Mac sales since the introduction of iPod.

And it didn't take a genius to realize Apple was going to switch processors at some point. For one thing, they'd done it before, because the Motorola processor roadmap lead nowhere. Beyond that, ever since I joined these forums I'd seen, here and there, discussion about it. The only argument we had in defending PowerPC is that Apple would want to remain distinctive, go its own way, and all that. Put that aside and all signs pointed to the necessity of another processor transition.

And the loss of FireWire connection? Not a big deal, really. USB 2.0 is faster than FireWire, more prolific, and (if I'm not mistaken) less expensive.

I'm one of the rabid, fanatic crazies he's talking about. The hardware is a very minor reason for my being an Apple user. I love the beauty of it, but if the OS it runs is puffed-up crap, I don't want anything to do with it.

PS - Okay, he was wrong on ALL points. I should review these things before I post.
 
ColoJohnBoy said:
He's wrong on two points... the switch campaign DID work - not fantastically, but it did raise Apple's visibility and help persuade some (myself included) to switch. Second, the iPod HAS increased Apple's market share. Haven't we been hearing oodles and oodles about the 'iPod halo effect' and the steady increase in Mac sales since the introduction of iPod.

And it didn't take a genius to realize Apple was going to switch processors at some point. For one thing, they'd done it before, because the Motorola processor roadmap lead nowhere. Beyond that, ever since I joined these forums I'd seen, here and there, discussion about it. The only argument we had in defending PowerPC is that Apple would want to remain distinctive, go its own way, and all that. Put that aside and all signs pointed to the necessity of another processor transition.

And the loss of FireWire connection? Not a big deal, really. USB 2.0 is faster than FireWire, more prolific, and (if I'm not mistaken) less expensive.

I'm one of the rabid, fanatic crazies he's talking about. The hardware is a very minor reason for my being an Apple user. I love the beauty of it, but if the OS it runs is puffed-up crap, I don't want anything to do with it.

PS - Okay, he was wrong on ALL points. I should review these things before I post.
Click to expand...

Yeah, what amazes me is that this is a "respected" tech writer, and yet it seems he knows absolutely nothing about Macs. I can understand if he wrote this as pure conjecture, but he seems to think that this is a likely path for Apple to take. How can anyone in the computer business not know how well Apple has been doing in the last couple of years? He makes so many blatantly incorrect statements in that poor excuse for a column that I wonder if he is even qualified to write for PC Mag.
 
ColoJohnBoy said:
And the loss of FireWire connection? Not a big deal, really. USB 2.0 is faster than FireWire, more prolific, and (if I'm not mistaken) less expensive.
Click to expand...
I agree with much of what you said, but I believe the answer would be no, yes, sort of.

FW has a slower burst trasfer rate, faster sustained (many threads here going into more detail) than USB. USB is more prolific, especially because of the sort of. FW is an Apple development, USB an intel. I believe that it costs more to build/attach a FW controller, but Apple doesn't have to pay roaylties to Intel (although I guess it would be a good thing to deduct as a business cost :)) But, I may be wrong on the cost aspect of USB/FW controllers
 
Not a very compelling or convincing article. The switch campaign and iPod halo effect have been working as forums like these can attest to. This to me was the biggest misnomer of his article.

I've listened to him on the TWiT podcasts for awhile now and find him mildly irritating at his best moments.
 
If Apple switched to Windows, that'd be my last Mac. I buy for the OS.

John Dvorak is simply an idiot. But being an idiot works. Make up the most outrageous, idiotic story imaginable, and you get readers, thousands of people clicking the link, even if just to laugh at you.
 
Agreed...

nbs2 said:
FW has a slower burst trasfer rate, faster sustained (many threads here going into more detail) than USB. USB is more prolific, especially because of the sort of. FW is an Apple development, USB an intel. I believe that it costs more to build/attach a FW controller, but Apple doesn't have to pay roaylties to Intel (although I guess it would be a good thing to deduct as a business cost :)) But, I may be wrong on the cost aspect of USB/FW controllers
Click to expand...

I don't understand so many people's INSISTENCE that USB 2.0 and Firewire can be directly compared.

Correct, FW has a better sustained rate, USB 2.0 has a faster burst rate.
Correct, FW is more expensive to implement, and the controller is not a part of the logic board (or something like that) while USB 2.0 shares bandwidth with another part of the system.

Furthermore, FW is STILL the best way to transfer large amounts of data at an acceptable rate. Now, for simple data transfers (to iPods, backing up, etc.) USB 2.0 is acceptable. However, for capturing video without dropping any frames, USB 2.0 can't hold a candle to FW.

I do lament the loss of FW on the new iPods, but I understand the reasoning. I do hope that Apple will never completely drop FW on their computers because of its usefulness with external drives and video cameras.
 
strange things have been happeningly lately: apple switches to x86, apple introduces multi-button mouse, sun and microsoft are now "friends" (?!?!?!), dell is selling amd processors, etc.
 
There's your answer

appleretailguy said:
I do hope that Apple will never completely drop FW on their computers because of its usefulness with external drives and video cameras.
Click to expand...
You just reasoned why it won't happen. I really doubt Apple will abandon FW before a truely faster alternative is ever developed. The need for speed with fast external HDs is going to make it importnat, but video cameras are the bigger issue. Everybody thinks they are the next Robert Rodriguez thanks to iMovie and what not (including me). The most they can do is supplant it with something compatible and faster. FW is here to stay, either as a direct port or as the Magic Happy Slot on the MBP.
 
appleretailguy said:
for capturing video without dropping any frames, USB 2.0 can't hold a candle to FW.

I do lament the loss of FW on the new iPods, but I understand the reasoning. I do hope that Apple will never completely drop FW on their computers because of its usefulness with external drives and video cameras.
Click to expand...

I'm confident that this is precisely why Apple will never drop Firewire on their computers.

MiniDV camcorders (and relatives like DVCAM) rely virtually exclusively on Firewire to transfer video across from camera to camera or camera to computer. The use of the miniDV/DVCAM format has become so ubiquitous that most newscasters and even filmmakers are using it, to say nothing of the millions of consumer hobbyists, parents, students, and so on.

Without Firewire, none of these people have any way to losslessly capture all that video into their shiny new Macs. That would render iMovie and iDVD perfectly useless. And with machines like the iMac you wouldn't be able to add it on (what, you gonna convert the Firewire into USB?) Apple would be completely shooting themselves in the foot.

Edit: darnit, type faster next time, instead of trying to come up with silly idioms
 
jhu said:
sun and microsoft are now "friends" (?!?!?!)
Click to expand...

Heh heh, nope, not with comments from McNealy like this: "The cost of viruses is higher than the revenue generated by the company that sells the Petri dish”, and referring to the "desktop monopoly that will go unnamed because we are partners now.” With "friends" like that...etc.

--Eric
 
Best idea ever- The O'Reilly Factor should have a new tech segment featuring Dvorak each week. They totally match up in that everything they say makes perfect sense.

I found this post on slashdot pretty amusing.

http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=177651&cid=14735289

Dvorak is seriously delusional, and his timing is great as always. I guess the mentality is to just make outlandish comments until someone listens. Admittedly, that was how I was introduced to him.

Yeah, Apple spent millions (and is currently spending more) on OS X, went to the trouble to cater to its loyal users by including a ton of legacy features in it and then one day decided to throw it all away and make their computers overpriced wins**t. That new Finder we've all been hearing about? It's actually Windows Vista Explorer! Don't worry, we're getting WinFS too... in 2013! It's gonna be Fing revolutionary!

I wish it was possible to boycott him, but once you click on that link to read his retarded article it's already too late.
 
I like how the forums for that article are now offline.
19 posts, and somebody broke it.
 
"The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a 'mouse'. There is no evidence that people want to use these things. I dont want one of these new fangled devices." -John C Dvorak San Francisco Examiner 1984.

This is a real quote people (I can't find the full article). Enough said.
 
latergator116 said:
"The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a 'mouse'. There is no evidence that people want to use these things. I dont want one of these new fangled devices." -John C Dvorak San Francisco Examiner 1984.

This is a real quote people (I can't find the full article). Enough said.
Click to expand...

I really can't stand this man, he is a moron I remember watching him on ZDt.v (G4) Him and Leo Laporte would go back and forth it was fun.Dang I miss ZDt.v
 
In a word...

No!

He seems ato get a few things right and goes on at length about how he called the intel switch. However, even macosrumors gets it right occasionally, i'm inclined to believe that if you talk enough crap eventually something true will fall out. It's a bit like the room full of monkeys writing shakespeare - sadly they'll never succeed as they are too busy turning out Dvorak's next column!
 
IJ Reilly said:
I have only one question for John Dvorak...

Who the hell pays you to write this crap?
Click to expand...

woah there man.. he was on twit the other week and was talking just about this same thing.. you never know.. it seems ironic, but hey steve already has a track record for ironies...
 
CubaTBird said:
woah there man.. he was on twit the other week and was talking just about this same thing.. you never know.. it seems ironic, but hey steve already has a track record for ironies...
Click to expand...

When was the last time Dvorak was right about anything?

He has become one of the laziest and consistently least-credible writers in tech journalism, completely unbound by facts, logic or good sense. Some guy from New Jersey has a nutty idea, and Dvorak writes a column about it. Nice going. I am simply amazed that PC Magazine continues to pay him for this garbage.
 
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