Before the doom and gloom completely takes over lets just remember things aren't all bad. The Pentium 4 may be faster at some benchmarks than the G5 but it ain't going anywhere. The recent P4 updates seem something of a desperate step by Intel, adding large cache and overclocking (Remind anyone of the G4?). The G5 is a vastly superior chip which in many ways is just as quick despite the clock differences yet is quieter and more efficient. AMD with the FX have the superior x86 Proc, it kicks seven shades out of the P4 and overclocks nicely, they have similar clock speeds to the G5 and aren't exactly shooting up the GHz ladder, no news on 90nm development either. This puts Apple/IBM in a strong position, we wouldn't even be having this discussion this time last year so
I quite agree we do need to see G5 or new G3 technolgy filter down to the rest of the Apple range to rejuvenate it somewhat. The eMac is unlikely to change, it was designed for education and still just about satisfies this price point. Remember that for none Pro/Pro sumer users the difference between a P4 and even a G4 is only a few seconds maximum at most tasks. The clock speeds tell of a huge gap and it is there but for many tasks you don't notice a difference, this in many ways is thanks to the OS which is one reason we have to be very thankful for Apple. M$ users can go on all they want about Longhorn but it is years off, as long as Apple keep up development then this is one area they have the lead in and will continue to.
Apples are not just about speed but also reliability and design. In this respect the iMac just about makes up for the lack of processing power but I can't see it being long b4 they are updated but I'm stilll not sure about the G5. Think howlong it took for the G4 to reach consumer level. I don't think we've heard the last of IBM's updated G3's yet! It's not 64bit but that makes bugger all difference as does the lack of 4gb RAM support, give it a high clock and bus speed and we may have a winner at least for a while giving the pro chip time to really find its feet, 65nm anyone?
For all those people who don't realise the potential of Garageband watch the key note demo and then look to do that on the x86 platform for below £200. Apple is primarily a software company (or at least was) software like this is where they innovate and drive forward, this is why I own a mac.
This year we need the following:
1.New consumer iMacs (whatever format they may take)
2.G5 PB (bring the pro laptop in line with the desktops and differentiate it from the consumer line)
3.Updated PM (lets keep the ball rolling)
4.A 64bit OS (or at least a more optimized OS, this will be the real breakthrough, get this and benchmarks become irrelevant until M$ release a good'n, first OS then software)
END RANT