Expo Discussion

[reyesg4]

Apple can't be a winner 100% of the time.

Apple always has to juggle its mhz in all its products. Making the iMac the best value in Macintosh history is OK for a few months until they release the new towers at a press event. Remember, we all know that G4's are now capable of going above 1Ghz and that NVida will make new graphics chips. Put these in a tower with better ram and a bigger bus and maybe dual processors and you have something worth the high price they charge for them. Let the iMac bask in the spotlight for about 3 months like the iBook did. At the price their asking for it, if people still say it is an excellent value, then this will be a great seller.

Personally though, I have no need for a Superdrive because I have no other devices I hook up to my Mac. And Apple making the most expensive mac available only for the next few months so the suckers can buy it and not the cheaper ones will make iMac take twice as long to sell 6 mililion units as the originals did. Not having devices to hook up to the iMac is the biggest downside to asking someone to buy one of these. But, on the other hand, anyone that has bought a tower before last year now can upgrade and be happy with what they get. I think this might spell the end of the pro line if Apple can't keep up speedwise with PC's.

 

[networkman]

for the company

the imac will help apple the business

as for apple for the sake of us hardcore users, it seems like many of us would have wanted a 1 ghz+ g5, but in all fairness, it would only speak to the converted (<4-5%)

apple needs to sweep up some of that 95 percent of the market and most of those people are consumer level and that is just what the imac, and not the g5, is targeted for

i do like the 14" inch screen on the new ibook since the pc world has used the larger screen now on their comsumer laptops for a year now as standard equipment

 

[amichalo]

Great Key Note

Best part about the Key Note is that Apple sold lots of devices and continues to.

The new iMac is awesome - very cool that one can have a computer in the living room or kitchen or bedroom and now hav eto try to hide it away because it is so big and aweful.

 

[andy_r_boyd]

generally ... ok?

Thanks to Time Canada we all knew what to expect from Apple, which for me took away most of the expectation surrounding the whole event. As a happy ex Windows user, I was really enjoying the hype running up to the keynote speech, something which is totally unheard of with MS.

But, I was surprised that
a) there was no upgrades to the Tower range, making them look hugely overpriced
b) the iBook got another makeover so soon
c) there was no mention of the TI Powerbook
d) they offered no little extra, the much rumored 'iThing'

I was impressed with iPhoto, but is a boosted iBook and a rather strange looking new iMac really going in direction.

Certainly there is no other company like Apple, great Apps and fantastic hardware, but I can't help but feel a little downbeat. Was anyone else expecting a little more flamboyant?

 

[buffsldr]

Awesome.

Apple, blew me away. The new iMac is so powerful. Considering the monitor that comes with it is a great value. Totally fits with the digital hub add value campaign. 800 mhz.... you want faster now? Why? What apps specifically can you not use efficiently as is? As demonstrated today by Lucas and others, the present apps lead the community (no not in video games, sorry kiddies, go back to your game boys, errrrr.... peecees for that).

I get the macho part of "MORE POWER", but man, middle america wants to see their grandkids pics, make home movies, burn cds of mixes, do their school work, taxes, and surf the net. The present hardware provides for that in spades and style.

I own a 733 mhz PIII and a MAc G4 466, and I would love to add an iMac with superdrive, it would be such a conversation piece and so powerful.

Finally, I can sleep at nights again dreaming peacefully of my future desk lamp, ooops I mean iMac.

Laters....

 

[evanmarx]

wrong way, mate!

Originally posted by Falleron
For me it was a big let down! The only thing I really interested in was the new towers. I am not prepared to wait for example till march for an imac with a superdrive, or feb for a combo! Todays Towers are expensive for what they are, so what do you do if you need a desktop now???? Apple has a problem there I think!

whoa whoa ..cool down ... it's the other way round, mate, the high-end imac ships in january, the cheaper on in feb and the cheapest oone in march ... i had to doublecheck too

 

[sparkleytone]

well, the imac IS indeed strange looking, but i remember my reaction when i first saw an iMac ("ew"). the design is flamboyant, and i really really really think as soon as i get my hands on one of these babies in real life, im gonna sell a kidney.

 

[arn]

Originally posted by Pants

Originally posted by arn
I guess everyone will ge psyched for http://www.idg.co.jp/expo/macworld2002/en/ <- MacWorld Tokyo (Mar 2002)

no they wont - after two major let downs, im giving up on apple (sadly). The hype just doesnt seem to live up to expectation - its one thing when we invent the hype, but when apple promote it? Thats not on......

[Edited by Pants on 01-07-2002 at 03:01 PM]

Well... it's easy to get caught up in the hype of it all... especially when you have every other person talking of G5's, 2ghz machines, etc... it's easy to get disappointed...

Some guides to how things generally have worked in the past give you someone easier explanations

In the past product lines generally lasted 18 months or so - with minor speed bumps in between. This certainly may have been accellerated in the past few years... but expecting major redesigns every 6months is a bit unrealistic.

That being said, I thought MacWorld Expo NY last summer was a great expo... I was in the market for a G4 Tower, and they dropped the price of the Top end model to the low end and introduced a serious dual processor machine.... and this was only 6 months after them releasing the 733.

As for this expo - there was a lot of Apple spun hype - and I can see why. They've created an 800mhz G4 iMac for $1799. I'm personally not in the market for it - but it's well above and beyond what I expected... you can bet there are those who were in the iMac/low end PowerMac market who are crazy happy about this machine.

I'm a little puzzled that Apple did that without bumping the G4's... but I think that just means the G4 bumps are just around the corner.

arn

 

[Falleron]

Re: wrong way, mate!

Originally posted by evanmarx

Originally posted by Falleron
For me it was a big let down! The only thing I really interested in was the new towers. I am not prepared to wait for example till march for an imac with a superdrive, or feb for a combo! Todays Towers are expensive for what they are, so what do you do if you need a desktop now???? Apple has a problem there I think!

whoa whoa ..cool down ... it's the other way round, mate, the high-end imac ships in january, the cheaper on in feb and the cheapest oone in march ... i had to doublecheck too

Ok then, my mistake! However, I need a tower + dont intend on buying an imac because I need the expansion! Where does that leave me? Buy a PC??? (Which I dont want)

 

[gandalf55]

agree to this: right now Apple needs to expand it's market share. Which means new Mac users. Consumers. Apple needs ca$h.

To be honest, I can skate by with my G4 right now until they ramp it up. But I hope they do that very soon. I was hoping that iWalk was real (in any respect), but booo! I was hoping for even a demo of a G5, but booo! I wanted a bigger announcement (Apple brought this hype on themselves - if they suffer some for it, who can you blame?)

Tokyo... let's hope you bring something to us Pro users.

 

[mstur]

Originally posted by Falleron
For me it was a big let down! The only thing I really interested in was the new towers. I am not prepared to wait for example till march for an imac with a superdrive, or feb for a combo... Todays Towers are expensive for what they are, so what do you do if you need a desktop now????

Then you must be rather HAPPY and not let down ;-)

1. As far as I understood the top iMac2 is available NOW (Jan 02)
2. Better No G4 Towers now, and G5 towers in Feb or Mar !!
If you REALLY need a tower today, get a 800 MHz G4, use it as long as you can bear its sloowwww speeeeeed, rotate to it file or web server function when G5 are available ;-)

Mike

 

[mcbane]

iMac is good and all but I was extremely disappointed about the lack of a tower upgrade. just wondering if anybody knew about this as I haven't been following apple's release strategy for too long. Does apple ever release speed boosted comps without a big event? like could we see a dual 1.4ghz powermac in the near future or will it not be until the next macworld?

bah and I was really ready to shell over my cash to apple for a new tower. fooey

*edit: btw when is the next macworld?

 

[beigemac]

I think the new imac's cool like me!

So what do you guys think is the plan for the pro-line?
I was a bit suprised , or r apple toying with the power mac fans. This just makes me wonder if the power macs may debut as a combination of Apollo G4's and G5's. And i still believe a new replacement for the cinema display is on the cards as well.

Well i hope its worth the wait , cause right now i feel like the G4 i have right now (733 superdrive) is like toiletpaper compared to the new Imac. Excuse will i flush my head down the toile!!!

 

[ob]

A couple of notes...

I agree no one will buy the towers....not the G4 ones...

but...

I see a few nasty things with the iMac.

-100MHz system bus ;(
-no s-video outputs ;(
-video mirroring on the VGA port, no extended desktop ;(
-1024-by-768-pixel resolution ;(
-Weight: 21.3 pounds (9.7 kg) - fatso!!!

Release schedule?? Superdrive-combo-cdrw why?

Toyko = G5

 

[mstur]

I wanted a bigger announcement (Apple brought this hype on themselves - if they suffer some for it, who can you blame?)

What did you expect after watching Steve for the last twelve months:

1. He wants always only a SINGLE new product to be presented. Thus, he would NEVER present the new iMac, AND G5, AND a new PDA (if it ever will happen).

2. I think the new iMac is marvelous, better than expected. The cool design, AND G4, AND Superdrive.

This is much much better the iWalk, which was clearly just a hoax ;-)

Mike

 

[corbin_a2]

Too much hype

Too much hype.

Although I’m not surprised with the announcements made at MacWorld, I’m a little disappointed. This time I think Apple is to blame more then the rumor sites. They really over hyped this event. A flat panel imac was a given and might I say long overdue. And what about the prices? Yeah, it’s a good deal having a G4 and all, but $1299 is still too high for “Joe American.” They should have retained an old “classic imac” at the $799 or $699 level. If you want to steal sales form compact gateway and dell that is ware you want to be.

What about the digital device? What about the underpowered overpriced towers? True Apple did not have to introduce these today, but with all the hype they generated, they should have.

 

[Falleron]

Then you must be rather HAPPY and not let down ;-)

2. Better No G4 Towers now, and G5 towers in Feb or Mar !!
If you REALLY need a tower today, get a 800 MHz G4, use it as long as you can bear its sloowwww speeeeeed, rotate to it file or web server function when G5 are available ;-)

Mike


*********

The computer is for home use so if I buy a computer now I wont be buying a new one any time soon (2/3 years)!

 

[britboy]

if you check the apple store, they're still offering the 'classic' iMac with G3 etc, for $799. So Joe America can still get his cheap mac.

 

[Beej]

Re: Too much hype

Originally posted by corbin_a2
They should have retained an old “classic imac” at the $799 or $699 level.

You can still buy the 500 and 600 MHz models of the old iMacs, starting at $799...

 

[Paul777]

The iMac is cool.

The spec is way superior to anything we "Really" expected.

If this is the "consumer" offering from Apple for the next few years, then I would say it fits the hype.

This machine is going to take Apple into PC territory Big Time!!


Personally, I took a gamble on this years Macworld & sold my 5 month old G4 450 Cube & 17" CRT Studio Display. I raised the grand sum of £1100 UK pounds (It cost me £1200). I would guess the new High-End iMac will cost me £1500.

So thats £300 for a Superdrive, G4 800 & a 15" TFT.

I'm happy, Real Happy!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[earblast]

Tomorrow

Is he saving something for tomorrow?

 

[maiku]

very disappointed

I am trying to have an open mind about this... but its very hard.
The ten of us that work at our publishing company are Mac fanatics. We all watched the keynote and when they introduced the new iMac, 9 out of ten of us were on the floor laughing, the (other one was crying)! Are they serious? Is this what consumers want? We all agreed it would be the next Cube. This could very well put them out of business. I seriously doubt if they will sell 6 million of these hockey pucks with a display attached. Then, when they failed to announce new towers, we were ALL crying. Our company was ready to buy 5 new G4s (not to mention the one I was gonna get with my fat Christmas bonus). Guess we'll have to wait. Who would pay $1000 more for a tower with 67mhz faster processor, less RAM and no monitor? Please Apple Marketing Dept. explain this to me. Oh, look, now my Wintel friends (if you could call them that) are sending me hate mail. After work, I am peeling the Mac sticker from my car before I get laughed off the planet.Yea, I guess Apple still rocks (sniff, sniff, trying to dry my tears) but a little less so today... Where's the 1Ghz PPC Steve? Well..... we're stll waiting.....

 

[The saint]

Summary list at the end.

Did anyone notice that in the summary of all the Apple products at the end of the Keynote the PowerMacs were not listed at all? iBook, TiBook and iMac were all there though. Strange, to say the least. Also did anyone also notice the Adobe guy call Mac OS X OS "ex" rather than "ten", oops!

Anyway. Lie down all those who are "disppointed" and think about the new products. Come on the new iMac is way cool, and iPhoto too. Now I just need to rob a bank!

 

[arn]

Originally posted by Paul777


Personally, I took a gamble on this years Macworld & sold my 5 month old G4 450 Cube & 17" CRT Studio Display. I raised the grand sum of £1100 UK pounds (It cost me £1200). I would guess the new High-End iMac will cost me £1500.

So thats £300 for a Superdrive, G4 800 & a 15" TFT.

I'm happy, Real Happy!!!!!!!!!!!

That was a good gamble...

I read somewhere that someone had sold his Dual 800 in prep for this MacWorld. He is likely very unhappy.

I'll admit, I considered it too... - but fortunately, I've still got mine (dual 800)

arn

 

[amichalo]

Re: Re: wrong way, mate!

Originally posted by Falleron
Ok then, my mistake! However, I need a tower + dont intend on buying an imac because I need the expansion! Where does that leave me? Buy a PC??? (Which I dont want)

What exansion do yo uneed the new iMac can't handle - did I hear *5* USB ports and *2* fiewire - plus Ethernet and airport.