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Has anybody ever tried to install Tiger or Leopard on one of the existing netbooks to see how the OS would run on the hardware? I'm sure it's possible using one of the hacked OSX86 or whatever versions out there. Would be kinda cool if OSX could run on one of these systems and take Windows out of the picture for those of us who want a netbook now, but don't wanna use Windows or Linux. Just some thoughts to ponder...

I haven't but I have seen lots of threads from people who have hackintoshed existing netbooks. You can look into it some more, but I see them using a version of their mobile OS or maybe SL. Though that's clearly exactly what Apple doesn't want. An existing style netbook with OS X.
 
iBook

Apple will not make netbook
or small device that have keyboard

they will make "iBook" or "iRead"
- 10" multi-touch screen
- thin device as ipod touch
- the Kindle's killer , you can buy book from iTunes and read them on it
- HD VDO
- Bigger Screen Games Apps
- front side camera
- bluetooth/wifi/3G

i guess ^_^
 
Imagine if all companies were like Apple and selling products with high margins. The world would be a completely different place with only rich people being able to afford a computer. A computer would be a status symbol.

But you are forgetting one thing: If ALL companies sold things for high margins then YOUR company would be making lots of money too. Everyone's company would be making tons of money and there would be no poor people.

But it's not going to happen. Some guy would try to under cut the others to take their business.


And one more thing....

Anyone remember this quote from Steve Jobs on Jan 10, 2006 at Mac World.
"Hi, I'm Steve Jobs, and welcome to my weekly podcast, Super Secret Apple Rumors, featuring all the latest news from our favorite company."
He went on to talk about, as if it were a joke, an iPod with a 10" screen. Does anyone have the full transcript? It was here on MR live back in Jan 06. Looks like Steve was not joking. I bet the "netbook" is going to be a 10" iTouch.

In my opinion 06 was the last good Mac World keynote, the last time he talked about Mac computers and software and actually had something to show off.
 
But you are forgetting one thing: If ALL companies sold things for high margins then YOUR company would be making lots of money too. Everyone's company would be making tons of money and there would be no poor people.
Umm... if ALL goods and services would cost more, money would be worth less. You might as well take all dollar bills in America and write an extra zero after the denomination. Is everyone ten times as rich now?
 
What Cook is really saying is "There is no way to make any money selling billions of cheap netbooks. Apple preferes to sell a few expensive netbooks."

That is Apple's way of doing business, sell in comparative low numbers but very high markup. After all, the way you determine how much money you make is to multiply the number of units times the margin in each unit.


Exactamundo!

Why on earth (or any other planet) would Apple want to build a low cost netbook to compete with all the other netbooks? Although they seem to be selling in good numbers, It seems unlikely that any netbook manufacturer is making any profits on the little buggers. To throw out junk equipment would not enhance the Mac user experience. Apple does not make junk and hopefully never will.

Will the larger touch screen device be priced in the $300 to $500 range. Very doubtful. But it will be a slick (and profitable) machine built on quality equipment, based on an ever expanding software platform. No doubt it will be able to print, accept external keyboards and mice, and have other USB expandability. It will be a game changer for the long run, unlike the netbook fad, which, I predict, will fade as users realize how crummy they really are.
 
Multi-core ARM chips really don't make much sense in an iPhone/Touch (higher power drain), but they make a lot of sense in a netbook (there are several linux ARM netbooks coming out this year). Apple now has a cross-compiler flow to ARM because of the iPhone/Touch, so they'd just have to add the rest of the pieces to run most of MacOS. This would also allow Apple to control an App Store for this.

Unlike a low-end Desktop Companion, a netbook gives a full desktop experience, runs no-compromise software, has a much larger screen and KB, and can run higher end software in a pinch. Unlike a Desktop Replacement, a netbook is cheaper, usually has better battery life, takes up 1/2 the bag space, and weights 2 to 8 pounds less (really nice for traveling if you don't really need full DR capabilities).

In my opinion these two statements are inconsistent. An Apple ARM netbook would be a big mistake - primarily because it gives Apple's App Store another pipeline to your credit card.

Apple's netbook will be a full x64 Atom chip, running full OSX, and will be able to run any off-the-shelf 32-bit or 64-bit OSX application. Not app store Iphone apps, but Office, Photoshop and anything else.

10" screen. Anything less would be marginally useful.


I agree about the App Store, but Apple would view it as a new after-sale revenue stream.

By no-compromise software, I mean that you can run basically everything on a modern netbook that you can on any other laptop. (Obviously the performance may be abysmal, but that still may be good enough in a pinch.) That's a lot different than with a smartphone/PMP/MID/PDA/etc, which can't run desktop level software at all. For web browsing alone, while iPhone Safari is really good, it's still not in the same league as MacOS Safari.

For software on an ARM, Apple would make it an easy recompile for MacOS software. ARM would be cheaper and multi-core can give just as good of performance as Atom.

However the biggest reason for ARM is this: netbooks HAVE proven to eat into laptop sales. The Mac world has a higher percentage of laptop sales than the PC world, and they have MUCH higher margins. If Apple ships a netbook with a 64-bit Atom, they'll be slitting their own throat...

I wouldn't be shocked if Apple would then bring out a 15" touchscreen nettop with ARM later.
 
I guess Tim Cook must hate the iPhone/Touch if he thinks cramped keyboards/small screens are a problem.

Oh yeah, netbooks run osx just fine so the "crappy software" doesnt seem to be an issue either.
 
Back to school is critical

Macbook sales have soared in recent years during June, July and August. They are the perfect high school graduation gifts. (I speak from experience as I've sent 2 off to college the last 4 years and have 2 in the pipeline.) I think Apple would be committing "suicide" by releasing a fully-capable low-cost notebook in this time frame. On the other hand, given the current climate, Apple may already lose a significant slice of this back-to-school laptop market to $300 netbooks, which profess to be able to run any application a student might reasonably require.

So... I believe this is the calculation they currently consider: lose Macbook sales to their own low-margin netbook, or lose it to someone else's. I believe the solution is to up the ante on the customary ipod back-to-school rebate. ie, give macbook purchasers an ipod touch, rather than a nano. I don't think they should consider announcing the "netbook" product until September, with the ipod refresh. And then, it should be a big ipod touch rather than a small Mac. And get Snow Leopard out, pronto.

To Summarize:
1. no "netbook" product till September
2. it won't run Mac OSX
3. maintain Macbook (and Touch) sales by giving away Touches

And one more thing: I think there's a very high chance the "netbook" will not be a stand-alone product, but rather a Foleo-like iPhone accessory, that requires the iPod/Phone to plug into the base to act as the trackpad. It will utilize the HD dock in the new iPhone and iPod to allow input from the hard keyboard and will mirror the iPhone screen on its own 10 inch (non-touch) screen. $399. Come to think of it, they could release this now since it shouldn't cannibalize Macbook sales and should actually augment iphone sales.
 
While Apple is still looking at the space, they have no interest in putting the Mac brand on these types of devices.
you could interpret this as "We just might put out something soon, but like the iphone and ipod, it won't have the Mac name on it." This answer doesn't make producing one less likely, still more of the same maybe/maybe not.
 
Apple will not make netbook
or small device that have keyboard

they will make "iBook" or "iRead"
- 10" multi-touch screen
- thin device as ipod touch
- the Kindle's killer , you can buy book from iTunes and read them on it
- HD VDO
- Bigger Screen Games Apps
- front side camera
- bluetooth/wifi/3G

i guess ^_^

Whats all this about Kindle killer, what's there to kill? I bet Apple TV has sold more units than the Kindle but it's considered a failure while the Kindle is a booming success.
 
Looks like Steve-o has trained his underlings well in responding to questions without actually answering them.

That statement is just riddled with vagueness and, really, he only spoke of his personal preference even! I've come to not really listen to Apple when they deny something. :)

No, it's probably riddled with the description of the apple netbook. That's probably a partial laundry list of things they've decided need to be addressed to make their netbook standout. Hardware, obviously, will be superior. Probably aluminum. Small screen - probably a screen that goes edge to edge with better resolution or something. Maybe touch so that like iphone so that screen space is utilized better. In other words, the mobile osx os upscaled. And cramped keyboards will be fixed with the new touch keyboard that pops up only when you need it, and only with the keys you need, so that it can be more spacious.

Etcetera.
 
Yeah I'm sure they will stay in Windows world and deal with Conflicker.

et al. There is also some serious discussion if there even actually is a botnet(work) based on this trojan. In other words, this potential malware, that depends on piracy and seems not able to propagate, may not have legs...
 
I love the amazing amount of arrogance and elitest attitude in this thread. Atom equipped netbooks benchmark faster than most computers made just a few years ago; computers that shipped with XP, and cost hundreds more.

Somehow this has turned into a "useless piece of junk". So tell me guys, what did you all use back in those days? Cray?

Sure, some of the netbooks are crap (Asus 1000HD, speaking from experience), but some are well built and serve their purpose very well for a $300-$400 computer that small (such as the Lenovo S10).

I don't think it's necessarily elitist. With netbooks it is a race to the bottom. Some of these machines has son nice specs but you have to know that whatever parts that are put in them have to be of the lowest quality to maintain their profit margin. You can't honestly say that when you buy a netbook you are getting something that is high quality. Even microsoft is having a hard time figuring out how to make money from it.

If a netbook is what you can afford, then so be it.
 
Yeah I'm sure they will stay in Windows world and deal with Conflicker.

You do realize that:

  • It's "Conficker", not "Conflicker" - if you can't at least get the name right, you should just give up
  • Anyone running Windows Update is safe from Conficker coming in over the net. The bug was patched before Conficker was released.

Anyway, now that there's an active Apple botnet - maybe the myth that "MAC's are immune" will die....
 
Cook said that when he looks at the existing netbook market, he sees:

-cramped keyboards,

-terrible software,

-junky hardware

-and very small screens

Sounds like a preview of what their selling points are gonna be.

Cramped Keyboards- Multitouch
Terrible Software - OS X
Junky Hardware - Apple's newely acquired semi-conductor company
very small screens - Multitouch again
 
I don't think it's necessarily elitist. With netbooks it is a race to the bottom. Some of these machines has son nice specs but you have to know that whatever parts that are put in them have to be of the lowest quality to maintain their profit margin. You can't honestly say that when you buy a netbook you are getting something that is high quality. Even microsoft is having a hard time figuring out how to make money from it.

If a netbook is what you can afford, then so be it.

uh... Microsoft does not build netbooks, or any other consumer computer...
 
uh... Microsoft does not build netbooks, or any other consumer computer...

uh...I was talking about Microsoft in relation to software and how they aren't going to allow anything other than Windows Starter Edition because they would be losing money...
 
Yeah I'm sure they will stay in Windows world and deal with Conflicker.

Well, I'm a Mac devotee, so you needn't try to convince me of its superiority. But many people who are switching to Mac are doing so to escape the incredibly icky world of PC viruses.

If this is the beginning of the targeting of the Mac community --- and I'm surprised it took so long with Apple so loudly proclaiming its virus-free-ness in its marketing, thereby becoming a textbook case of the phrase "asking for it" --- I think the appeal of a Mac netbook will be significantly diminished.

Some paranoid Mac users think Microsoft is somehow behind or funding these new viruses. That's a little krazy, if you ask me. But I do wish Apple would just shut up about not having viruses! Stop bragging! No good can come of it! You're only going to invite resentment.

The perception of Macs as being For The Privileged will only incite some kind of messed up Robin Hood fantasies on the part of the virus makers out there.

Like, duh!

In other words, we might be due for a nasty year ahead. I hope not, but I think that, sociologically speaking, the calculus is emerging for a storm of mac viruses this year.

In an economy like this, people want the wealthy to suffer. A dark side of human nature.

- c
 
Cook said that when he looks at the existing netbook market, he sees cramped keyboards, terrible software, junky hardware and very small screens. While Apple is still looking at the space, they have no interest in putting the Mac brand on these types of devices. Cook notes that if they do find a way to deliver an innovative product that makes a real contribution, Apple will pursue it.

This doesn't necessarily look like a denial to me. He basically criticizes the way current netbooks are build and that Apple will not and would not build them that way.

After that he confirms that they are looking at them and would build a better type if they could find a way..

Doesn't sound to me like they would never build one, or are in fact not busy building one.

Let's look at his criticism:

Cramped keyboards: the chicklet keyboard Apple uses is already quite small and very thin. Would they be able to make it a bit smaller by eliminating the space between the keys for example? Looks like a solvable issue. Not a physical keyboard at all?

Terrible software: OS X runs very well on the iPhone. Apple should be able to adapt OS X for a netbook also. Doesn't look like an issue to me.

Junky hardware: shouldn't be in issue of availability. More an issue of price. I guess we would have to pay for good hardware and that an Apple Netbook will not be cheap.

Small Screens: Depends how big you manufacture your netbook, but also depends on the resolution. Is also a question of price.

To me it looks like all the described issues are technically solvable and that Apple even has most of the elements in place to do it. So even with Cook's statement I don't see any reason to think that Apple won't introduce a netbook device soon.
 
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