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iBox?

I hope the guy does sell 100+ of them. I hope he makes a profit. I think it's a great idea!

But Apple (esp. under Jobs) has a track record of stomping out things they probably would have been better off to leave alone.

OWC's FireWire DVD-R enabler for iDVD comes to mind first.

Or how about the guy who wrote iCommune.
 
Originally posted by NavyIntel007
I hardly call the plethora of portable space heaters a market of innovations.

Look at the instability.

You really must be a PC user.
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A little defensive for a simple comment on free enterprise and what competition brings to the table. I used the PC example because it's a computer system like apple and competition has driven competitors to innovate and drive prices down. Because the operating system is unstable makes no comment on the device itself. Also in regards to the PC user comment for a page that is happy to discuss the something new you chose to bog it down with underhanded comments. The fact is competition is important for any company, it's also important so as to protect the consumer.
 
Re: No net gain

Originally posted by bikertwin
If he does succeed (and I don't think he will due to intellectual property), then all it will mean is that Apple hardware prices will come down and software (OS, iLife, etc.) prices will go up. Apple has to make profits somewhere.

Net gain: zero.

And of course Apple won't support you if you have any OS or application problems.

And the whole idea is silly. Who would want to buy a BMW-compatible car frame so that you could stick in a BMW engine and some cheap, leftover seats from your last car? :D
Click to expand...

incidentally, BMW does indeed sell the frames for pretty much all of their cars, presumably for enthusiasts building cars for the track. Here's the part number for the frame of the Z4: 41007064711

Whats more, third parties buy BMW's and other cars and retrofit them with all sorts of stuff and allow users to upgrade different parts. Its a specialized niche, but it exists.

I think this is a neat idea, but I think they guy will be shut down. Not by apple legal directly, but by apple cutting off his supply channel. I'd certainly consider it if it comes out and the specs are all good.
 
April Fool?

I can't help but wonder if this isn't some strange April Fools joke... Here's some thoughts I had last night:

Look at the images of this thing. The width is listed as 13", but the sides are curved. So you'll lose about 1.5" - 2" from the bottom. I just measured the logic board in my G4, and it was just over 12" wide, so it won't fit!

Now, lok at the height, listed as 3". That apparently includes the feet. My processor heat sink is that tall! So again, this won't fit!

Next let's look at the back. What's with the ports? Everyone knows the Mac's logic board has all its ports lined up along the left hand side, so why are these ports all over the place? One would have to assume that for some odd reason these external connectors will be wired back to the connectors on the logic board? Does that make any sense?

Then we've got that strange PCI slot in the middle, the only way it can get there would be to have a 90 degree adapter on one of the slots, but then guess what? It will go right over the top of the video card's slot! So where the heck is he getting that video port from? Hmmm?

I'm not even wanting to guess how he's squeezing a power supply and a hard drive into this thing, or what I have to assume will be an array of 1/2" tall fans along the sides for ventilation... You all remember those big fans in the G4's case, right?

I'd suggest that any of you thinking this thing is real to wait until some actual (non-Photoshop) photos get posted of this thing in action. Meanwhile, I'm off to order my 19" PowerBook and PPC 970 equipped iPod w/color screen.
 
Re: April Fool?

Originally posted by jimbo2
Meanwhile, I'm off to order my 19" PowerBook and PPC 970 equipped iPod w/color screen.
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Do me a favor, pick me up one while your there...I'll pay u back later...I promise ;)
 
. The parts can be acquired legally. QED the various tutorials how to build your own Mac from parts. IIRC the mainboard is a generic Phillips board? whoever cares, google for it, fact is you can buy it legally. Same for CPUs, look at the upgrade stuff etc. Hrddrives are run-of-the-mill, you can use any brand, same for optical drives.

So, anyone care to show me how "apple will crush him" when all the hardware is bought and resold legally? He won't infringe on any copyrights or other such crap. Only maybe if iBox is registered, but that name can be changed.
 
theoretical quagmires...

Originally posted by runningman
...I used the PC example because it's a computer system like apple and competition has driven competitors to innovate and drive prices down...The fact is competition is important for any company, it's also important so as to protect the consumer.
Click to expand...

at the risk of being heavy and boring...

competition is beneficial for consumers in the short run (wider variety of products, lower prices) but it's really a moot point in the long run. the tendency in any competitive environment is to concentrate and centralize. those firms that fail in competition with others are invariably snatched up by the victors and the capital is pooled, resulting a very high level of concentration of ownership in a market over time. there's a reason that after 150 years of capitalist development the global economy is dominated by relatively few large firms that often control more wealth then the GDPs of many countries combined.

the computer industry is one of the worst in terms of monopolistic tendencies. there are continual mergers and the number of companies that control the market gets smaller and smaller all the time. the reason that there's still a great deal of innovation in such a monopolistic environment is because most business models are predicated on research and development...if they stop developing new products or improvements at a fast pace and expanding as much as possible all the time, they collapse. does anyone really think the reason that apple creates a new operating system for everyone to buy every 1 1/2 years or so is solely because they want to improve on everything all the time? the only really competitve part of the computer industry (PC wise anyway) is the retail side, where a number of small operators will put together systems at your request made from parts bought from a vasted reduced number of companies.

apple completely dominates it's part of the computer industry...i would like to see this ibox project work out not because i think that it can change the face of the apple sector of the computer industry (the days of getting together with your friends in a garage and inventing the personal computer are long dead)...but hopefully it can at least show apple that there's a market for much cheaper macs that don't necessarily have all the bells and whistles but that do have room for expansion and upgradeability. apple could find a way to implement that into their current product line-up without causing undue damage to the sales of other products if they put effort into it. regardless of what happens, apple won't lose their tight grip on everything mac in the forseeable future.
 
Re: iMac motherboards

>ever heard of iMac mainboards? think about it...

They aren't anywhere as flexible as G4 Gigabit Ethernet boards - soldered components prevents upgrading sans an iron. There's also an analog board meant to fit underneath the monitor, but I don't know if that can be substituted with a generic PC power supply.

All this guy needs to do if he gets whacked by Apple Legal is to come out with a basic case and power supply, and sell the kit for a reasonable price. I, for one, would be happy to do the rest.
 
Originally posted by thies
I'm sorry, but most of you are morons. The parts can be acquired legally. QED the various tutorials how to build your own Mac from parts. IIRC the mainboard is a generic Phillips board? whoever cares, google for it, fact is you can buy it legally. Same for CPUs, look at the upgrade stuff etc. Hrddrives are run-of-the-mill, you can use any brand, same for optical drives.

So, anyone care to show me how "apple will crush him" when all the hardware is bought and resold legally? He won't infringe on any copyrights or other such crap. Only maybe if iBox is registered, but that name can be changed.
Click to expand...
if apple finds this guy a threat belive me, apple will crush him.

iJon
 
that must be the same logic by which Microsoft will crush Apple when they see them as a threat I guess?
 
Originally posted by thies
that must be the same logic by which Microsoft will crush Apple when they see them as a threat I guess?
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ok now we are talking about a software company and a hardware company that have nothing to do with each other. i would bet probably anything that apple legal will find a way to get this guy some way or another, you just wait.

iJon
 
You are joking, right? Apple is a hardware company making no software and Microsoft is a software company making no hardware and they are both not garnering to Computer users to use their architecture? Give me a break.
 
Originally posted by thies
You are joking, right? Apple is a hardware company making no software and Microsoft is a software company making no hardware and they are both not garnering to Computer users to use their architecture? Give me a break.
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apple is mainly hardware and microsoft is mainly software, give me a break, i know the make both but i was stating their main points. this isnt about microsoft and apple, this is about this guys pizza pox and apple, but anyways my stance still stands as this guy will get shut down fast, even faster with the news spreading.

iJon
 
Originally posted by thies
I'm sorry, but most of you are morons. The parts can be acquired legally. QED the various tutorials how to build your own Mac from parts. IIRC the mainboard is a generic Phillips board? whoever cares, google for it, fact is you can buy it legally. Same for CPUs, look at the upgrade stuff etc. Hrddrives are run-of-the-mill, you can use any brand, same for optical drives.

So, anyone care to show me how "apple will crush him" when all the hardware is bought and resold legally? He won't infringe on any copyrights or other such crap. Only maybe if iBox is registered, but that name can be changed.
Click to expand...

If he includes Apple ROMS on the mainboard, he's finished. It's copyrighted code and there will be an injunction as well as a cease-and-desist order.
 
Originally posted by thies
I'm sorry, but most of you are morons. The parts can be acquired legally. QED the various tutorials how to build your own Mac from parts. IIRC the mainboard is a generic Phillips board? whoever cares, google for it, fact is you can buy it legally. Same for CPUs, look at the upgrade stuff etc. Hrddrives are run-of-the-mill, you can use any brand, same for optical drives.

So, anyone care to show me how "apple will crush him" when all the hardware is bought and resold legally? He won't infringe on any copyrights or other such crap. Only maybe if iBox is registered, but that name can be changed.
Click to expand...

the fact is that the only legal supplier of bootable mac boards is apple because of the proprietary hardware rom. Apple controls all of the distribution and production of these boards. If apple wants to crush this, they easily can be removing his access to the boards. He would have to get them on the salvage market, which is a hard way to run a business. its easy to put together a PPC system for linux or whatnot, but a system that boots mac OS with new components is totally controlled by apple and there is no legal way around that.
 
Originally posted by thies
that must be the same logic by which Microsoft will crush Apple when they see them as a threat I guess?
Click to expand...

Microsoft needs Apple. Without Apple M$ would be 5 different companies right now.
 
Originally posted by NavyIntel007
Microsoft needs Apple. Without Apple M$ would be 5 different companies right now.
Click to expand...
You are confusing a company that doesn't really matter to Microsoft (that would be Apple) with one that does (that would be Sun).
 
I don't get it...

If I wanted a pizza box, I'd go down to Little Caesars and buy a $4.99 pizza on Monday Madness nights.

Besides that, this box is UUUGGGGGGLY. I'd rather stay with Apple. No warranty is also a big issue. Who knows? Maybe this guy is really a genetic mutant with ten thumbs. If so, would you want a Mac clone made by someone with ten-thumbs? I wouldn't.

:D

Never the less, I'll probably end up eating my words later (Like usual! :D)
 
Originally posted by yzedf
You are confusing a company that doesn't really matter to Microsoft (that would be Apple) with one that does (that would be Sun).
Click to expand...

I beg to differ. Although not a massive player, Apple does offer the consumer another choice when chosing a computer. If apple wasn't there in '97, the DOJ would have actually used their balls and split the company up because there was no other OS to really compete (linux was at it's infancy).
 
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