Yes, and there was no Apple commercial during the SB. So, life goes on. Now we have to wait and see if tomorrow or Tuesday will hold anything special...
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PowerBooks on Feb 2nd?
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Yes, and there was no Apple commercial during the SB. So, life goes on. Now we have to wait and see if tomorrow or Tuesday will hold anything special...
I can't imagine that Apple will bump the pepsi logos on the front page for a week or more, so sadly I think we will have to wait at least a week, likely a while longer...damn, I want a mac but I don't want to buy tech just before the bump and likely price drop...
So here we are the beginning of the business day, Monday, February 2, 2004. There is time yet to surprise me, but I fear, my friends, that this will be another day of false hopes and disappointments, as yet again we realize that rumors were wrong and Apple has no new products for us.
I wasn't bitter on January 6th. No, I'm not buying my new computer until August anyway. But then again, I figured I'd see some action by the end of January, and that there would at least be a friggin' PowerMac speed bump for goodness sakes! And worse, the Powerbooks are hopelessly behind the times.
Apple was at the brink of something last June. It became strong in the hardware department again. But industry leader in June 2003 is market straggler in January 2004. Sure, there hasn't been THAT much development on the PC side, but things are starting to move, and Apple did not have much margin (if any) last June. The point was that the first G5 was supposed to give Apple a foothold, and with a stronger production stream from IBM, more frequent updates would boost the Mac hardware platform into clear superiority.
I don't see that and I'm dismayed. Could this be just another instance when Apple had great stuff on its hands but dropped the ball? I'll stick with our favorite company, but each blow is a little more depressing.
I wasn't bitter on January 6th. No, I'm not buying my new computer until August anyway. But then again, I figured I'd see some action by the end of January, and that there would at least be a friggin' PowerMac speed bump for goodness sakes! And worse, the Powerbooks are hopelessly behind the times.
Apple was at the brink of something last June. It became strong in the hardware department again. But industry leader in June 2003 is market straggler in January 2004. Sure, there hasn't been THAT much development on the PC side, but things are starting to move, and Apple did not have much margin (if any) last June. The point was that the first G5 was supposed to give Apple a foothold, and with a stronger production stream from IBM, more frequent updates would boost the Mac hardware platform into clear superiority.
I don't see that and I'm dismayed. Could this be just another instance when Apple had great stuff on its hands but dropped the ball? I'll stick with our favorite company, but each blow is a little more depressing.
Don't worry, I've got a feeling something's coming tomorrow... (Gut only, not insider knowledge I'm afraid). But I think it's likely to be PMs first.
This seems a little extreme to me. Speed bumps of a couple hundred megahertz are the difference between the success and failure of Apple Computer, Inc.?
I don't think so. Besides, the rest of the technology in the G5 towers is, for the first time since the introduction of the G3 line, still way ahead of comparable PC desktops.
I'm not too concerned. Sure, I want new towers to come out as well, but I don't think that the death-bell is tolling for Apple if nothing comes out tomorrow or even in the immediate future...
I'm not saying that this little speed bump is going to be essential to the success or failure of Apple Computer, Inc. No, rather, I'm saying that not providing the speed bumps in a timely manner is Apple at its worst--not following through.
Apple will stay strong enough, because it has a loyal base and is doing better now than it has in quite a while. However, the goal is to make Apple's products without a doubt superior to their PC counterparts.
This is not true in the PowerBook department and is questionable in the PM department. The PowerMacs are almost as high-performance as the AMD chips, and though more efficient when time saved with the better operating system is considered, raw performance isn't where it should be--miles ahead of the competition.
And actually, the components aren't really THAT far ahead. PCs are catching up in bus. RAM speeds are starting to come to 400 MHz widely. GPU's are FAR better on the PC side. Yes, the architecture is better, but we need individual features of that architecture to be improved.
I'm not another death-crier, because I was around with Apple during the worst times, the non-steve ceo times, when all but a few of us thought Apple was done for.
I'm just saying that Apple needs to take the initiative to capture the lead. That's all. It's almost there, and with a little effort and a little 'boring' development, it can get to the top and stay there. Where are the 90nm chips?! They should be at higher clock speeds in the towers by now...The towers should be modified to fit another drive bay...nVIDIA and ATI must be beasted heartily until they release equal-level graphics cards for the Mac! These things are necessary to dominate in a world that is clueless about the Mac.
See, I think you're attributing too much responsibility -- maybe more correctly, too much power -- to Apple.
They can't change the laws of physics (that pesky First Law of Thermodynamics gets in the way of PowerBooks every time), and they can't "make" IBM, nVIDIA, ATI, or any other supplier produce critical components at a pace much faster than the particular subcontractor chooses to.
So while we would all prefer a faster-developing Apple, I don't think that the lack of development is because Apple wishes to lag behind.
I just received my elusive Powerbook 15" here at work fro mthe UPS guy. Both him and everyone in my office got a chocolate cigar and I was allowed to open it up to show off.
But thats all, I haven't been able to turn it on yet or anything, so don't know about iLife and all that yet.
But I have to say, WOW, it is huge compared to my 12" iBook. I literally thought they sent me a 17" by accident.
More later...
But thats all, I haven't been able to turn it on yet or anything, so don't know about iLife and all that yet.
But I have to say, WOW, it is huge compared to my 12" iBook. I literally thought they sent me a 17" by accident.
More later...
right now i'm not sure if i'm lucky or just getting an extra delay. the thing is, my apple dealer called me yesterday that my order was complete, but there was one malfunctioning pixel in the lcd. (the blue subpixel was always on.) good thing is we agreed beforehand that lcd must be faultless, so they took another pb out of box and guess what - it also had one faulty pixel, this time bright red.
anyway, the dealer run out of 1.25ghz powerbooks and had to order more devices into the store. i may have been lucky if apple really announces new powerbooks today, but if they don't, i curse the blue subpixel that caused me to wait longer.
not that a day or two would hurt much normally, but i have been laptopless since the beginning of the year when my tibook had an accident.
well, hopefully apple releases new 'books that are ready to ship immediately. if they are available in march or something, i might just buy the current one. though if the new models have L3 cache, then i'll wait for sure.
any new info about this rumor? i'm guessing it won't happen...
anyway, the dealer run out of 1.25ghz powerbooks and had to order more devices into the store. i may have been lucky if apple really announces new powerbooks today, but if they don't, i curse the blue subpixel that caused me to wait longer.
not that a day or two would hurt much normally, but i have been laptopless since the beginning of the year when my tibook had an accident.
well, hopefully apple releases new 'books that are ready to ship immediately. if they are available in march or something, i might just buy the current one. though if the new models have L3 cache, then i'll wait for sure.
any new info about this rumor? i'm guessing it won't happen...
"Laptopless"?
Oh, yeah, that's what happened to Janet Jackson at the end of Sunday's halftime show at SuperBowl OS XXXVII, when Justin reached across her LAP snap! TOPLESS by ACCIDENT! How Freaky is that?
Hey! LAPTOPLESS by ACCIDENT is following the thread, just like the exposed dead pixels.
Well, it's 3 in the morning, what do you expect.
"Lap-top-less"! Is that a word?
Oh, yeah, that's what happened to Janet Jackson at the end of Sunday's halftime show at SuperBowl OS XXXVII, when Justin reached across her LAP snap! TOPLESS
by ACCIDENT! How Freaky is that?Now, if this was an unintentional accident, why was she wearing a "metallic pastie" under the "molded ...cup of the bustier"?
Hey! LAPTOPLESS by ACCIDENT is following the thread, just like the exposed dead pixels.
Well, it's 3 in the morning, what do you expect.
Too late in the day for us Australians to see it I'd imagine
I'm a former iBook G4 owner waiting for announcements too And my money's in St. George
I'm a former iBook G4 owner waiting for announcements too
And my money's in St. George not happening
So, it's 9:10 AM Eastern Standard Time. Someone told me when they hae big announcements, it's usually up on their webiste by 9 AM. Does this mean nothing's happening today? Anyone know? I've been waiting to buy a new powerbook.
So, it's 9:10 AM Eastern Standard Time. Someone told me when they hae big announcements, it's usually up on their webiste by 9 AM. Does this mean nothing's happening today? Anyone know? I've been waiting to buy a new powerbook.
The "performance" game....
These days, the entire computer market has matured considerably over what it was like when Apple first hit the scene (or even when they first brough out the Macintosh).
Anymore, it's much like Indy car racing. It takes a LOT of money to get into the game, and only the biggest spenders are likely to incrementally get ahead of everyone else in speed/performance.
In the world of computer processors, Intel rules the game, closely followed by AMD. If there was going to be a speed-leader in CPUs, it came from one of those two companies, because they spent the most $'s on R&D.
Apple's traditional CPU builder, Motorola, on the other hand, is much more of a "commodity" supplier. They're worried about reliable, long-lasting parts for pagers, cellphones, 2-way radios, and other such things. Building CPU's for Apple was really just one more "nice little contract to have". They got out of the "race for performance" game a long time ago (arguably, back when chips were first transitioning from 8-bit to 16-bit!).
Apple finally made the smart move of contracting with IBM for the G5. (IBM is probably the only other company other than Intel or AMD who has the financial backing, experience, and at least the on-again/off-again interest in building competitive CPUs for computers.) Now, they're backed by a real player in the performance race - but unless a miracle happens, you're really not going to ever see much more than a *slight* jump on what the Intel/AMD guys are doing for the Windows side of the market.
They've ALL hit the limits of what can be done with the available technology, and they ALL know the next little steps they need to do for their next "speed bumps". (Heck, Intel has a "road map" years into the future that reliably predicts what speed of chip will be out when from them!)
This is why Apple was right, all along, in not really getting heavily into the benchmarks and "head to head comparisons". It's a sucker's game.... Instead, concentrate on the areas where you can truly offer something different and innovative. (Style, more functional GUI, better quality applications, etc.)
These days, the entire computer market has matured considerably over what it was like when Apple first hit the scene (or even when they first brough out the Macintosh).
Anymore, it's much like Indy car racing. It takes a LOT of money to get into the game, and only the biggest spenders are likely to incrementally get ahead of everyone else in speed/performance.
In the world of computer processors, Intel rules the game, closely followed by AMD. If there was going to be a speed-leader in CPUs, it came from one of those two companies, because they spent the most $'s on R&D.
Apple's traditional CPU builder, Motorola, on the other hand, is much more of a "commodity" supplier. They're worried about reliable, long-lasting parts for pagers, cellphones, 2-way radios, and other such things. Building CPU's for Apple was really just one more "nice little contract to have". They got out of the "race for performance" game a long time ago (arguably, back when chips were first transitioning from 8-bit to 16-bit!).
Apple finally made the smart move of contracting with IBM for the G5. (IBM is probably the only other company other than Intel or AMD who has the financial backing, experience, and at least the on-again/off-again interest in building competitive CPUs for computers.) Now, they're backed by a real player in the performance race - but unless a miracle happens, you're really not going to ever see much more than a *slight* jump on what the Intel/AMD guys are doing for the Windows side of the market.
They've ALL hit the limits of what can be done with the available technology, and they ALL know the next little steps they need to do for their next "speed bumps". (Heck, Intel has a "road map" years into the future that reliably predicts what speed of chip will be out when from them!)
This is why Apple was right, all along, in not really getting heavily into the benchmarks and "head to head comparisons". It's a sucker's game.... Instead, concentrate on the areas where you can truly offer something different and innovative. (Style, more functional GUI, better quality applications, etc.)
BZZZZZZT!
I'm sorry, but that's a wrong answer. Thank you for playing, and please, enjoy our parting gift. What do we have for him, Mike?
I just got this from Apple regarding my 15" PB order:
"Due to an unexpected supply delay, we are unable to ship the following item(s) by the date that you were originally quoted:
PBG4 15.2/1.25GHZ/1024/80/SD/AP/BL/LL will now ship on or before 02/09/2004"
Any hope left?
Originally posted by Kid Lemming
I just got this from Apple regarding my 15" PB order:
"Due to an unexpected supply delay, we are unable to ship the following item(s) by the date that you were originally quoted:
PBG4 15.2/1.25GHZ/1024/80/SD/AP/BL/LL will now ship on or before 02/09/2004"
Any hope left?
Oh goody! Now we can rename this thread to be 'PowerBook Updates on Feb 9'!!
Let the rumors continue!!
Anyone figure out what that "LL" means yet? I've now got my Powerbook and there was no included Lava Lamp, Lots of Luck, or Love from Apple, except for how beautiful they made it.
However, it certainly doesn't stand for iLife because even though I was assured by the Apple phone guy that it would come with iLife 04, it didn't. I called Apple today and the lady assured me I was misinformed and it won't be included until mid-February to March.
I told her other people had received it and she said she hadn't heard of that. She was a little snarky.
However, it certainly doesn't stand for iLife because even though I was assured by the Apple phone guy that it would come with iLife 04, it didn't. I called Apple today and the lady assured me I was misinformed and it won't be included until mid-February to March.
I told her other people had received it and she said she hadn't heard of that. She was a little snarky.
RE: "well, hopefully apple releases new 'books that are ready to ship immediately. if they are available in march or something, i might just buy the current one. though if the new models have L3 cache, then i'll wait for sure."
I MUST get a powerbook by Friday -- I have had enough of waiting -- SHOULD i get the 17" older unit with 1G L3 cache and 256M L2 OR the newer 17" one with no L3 cache, but, according to Apple a FASTER 512M L2 cache?!?! I am leaning toward the latter becuase it has Panther and an ATI card (although I never game) and a slightl better battery
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR ANY HELP YOU CAN OFFER
Peace Out
Tom
I MUST get a powerbook by Friday -- I have had enough of waiting -- SHOULD i get the 17" older unit with 1G L3 cache and 256M L2 OR the newer 17" one with no L3 cache, but, according to Apple a FASTER 512M L2 cache?!?! I am leaning toward the latter becuase it has Panther and an ATI card (although I never game) and a slightl better battery
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR ANY HELP YOU CAN OFFER
Peace Out
Tom
Re: MUST get a powerbook by Friday
Bigger isn't always better
Neither is heavier.
Faster, faster!... oh, yes!!...more RAM!!!
All good batteries need to recharge, but I recommend a teenie weenie 12"SuperDrive/1.25MB DDR RAM/80GB/AirExtreme + 23"cinema display
Bigger isn't always better
Neither is heavier.
Faster, faster!... oh, yes!!...more RAM!!!
All good batteries need to recharge, but I recommend a teenie weenie 12"SuperDrive/1.25MB DDR RAM/80GB/AirExtreme + 23"cinema display
Thanks. Perhaps I will wait for a higher resolution / illuminated keboard 12.1" and hold myself over with a $800 new AMD Athlon 2.4G 802.11g WIndowsXP 15.1" machine
$800 will buy me alot of time assuming the notes I have to integrate that onto an Airport Extreme network pans out
STILL waiting on the L3 question though!!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS! Let's stop them from getting killed in the current wars and the ones about to be unleased if the pseudoReThugnicans seize ofice again CHEERS
$800 will buy me alot of time assuming the notes I have to integrate that onto an Airport Extreme network pans out
STILL waiting on the L3 question though!!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS! Let's stop them from getting killed in the current wars and the ones about to be unleased if the pseudoReThugnicans seize ofice again CHEERS
Powerbook decisions
I had a real tough time choosing PB 17" or 15" myself. I finally went with the 15" and I love it! The 17" was tempting, but ultimately - it's a little too big. I love the big screen itself, but typing on it was sort of weird. It feels like you have to stretch your hands way out just to reach the keyboard on the thing!
Also, it requires a special carrying bag just to fit it in... You can't just choose any old carrying case you happen to like.
If I was really determined to go with a 17" though, I'd choose the newer model. The better ATI card makes a real difference, (gaming or not), because everything in OS X is of a graphical nature, and "Quartz Extreme" relies on your graphics card's capabilities. Having a touch more CPU speed is never a bad thing, either....
They're all nice laptops though - so in the end, just get whatever you get a good deal on or whatever you think you like best, and you should be pretty satisfied. (I guess my only real point is, if you're thinking of maybe going with an older 17" mostly to save some money, I wouldn't rule out buying the newer 15" instead.)
I had a real tough time choosing PB 17" or 15" myself. I finally went with the 15" and I love it! The 17" was tempting, but ultimately - it's a little too big. I love the big screen itself, but typing on it was sort of weird. It feels like you have to stretch your hands way out just to reach the keyboard on the thing!
Also, it requires a special carrying bag just to fit it in... You can't just choose any old carrying case you happen to like.
If I was really determined to go with a 17" though, I'd choose the newer model. The better ATI card makes a real difference, (gaming or not), because everything in OS X is of a graphical nature, and "Quartz Extreme" relies on your graphics card's capabilities. Having a touch more CPU speed is never a bad thing, either....
They're all nice laptops though - so in the end, just get whatever you get a good deal on or whatever you think you like best, and you should be pretty satisfied. (I guess my only real point is, if you're thinking of maybe going with an older 17" mostly to save some money, I wouldn't rule out buying the newer 15" instead.)