Think of a future "Mac Pro" as a "service" rather than a big bulky product. I honestly think that's how Steve sees it.
I am still only beginning to grok why the Cloud is so important to Apple's vision of the future. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, where Apple launches it's own satellite network or something...Here is what I started to consider this evening:
Instead of merely distributing data on the Cloud, what if we we saw Apple build distributing processing power into the next OS, and used their new massive data farms to churn renderings, simulations, etc.. Mondo power could be accessed over the Net.
For a subscription service starting at $100 or year or whatever...you could batch render any 3d model or mathematical formula remotely on Apple's processor farm. Your OS would tap into Apple's service..and attain Gigaflops of power. Software vendors could write easy hooks in the SDK, so that their application could tap into it.
Granted 95% of apps have no use for such power. But the power users would dig it...and a big battleship computer like the current MacPro would cease to have much relevance.
Apple would secure another revenue stream, and make both end-users and vendors all the more dependent upon Apple.
Additionally Apple could sell this "Mac Pro service" to hundreds of millions of customers on a as-needed basis. It wouldn't even matter what device you were using: iphones, iPads, Macs...All could tap the same power. Surely Apple would begin to conceive, program and pitch true next generation applications that utilize virtual reality, and AI at a whole new level. Apple could use its marketing whiz to make customers line up to access Apple's Massive SkyNet.
The circle would then be complete: Jobs would be the very Big Brother he satirized with the 1984 commercial.
I am still only beginning to grok why the Cloud is so important to Apple's vision of the future. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, where Apple launches it's own satellite network or something...Here is what I started to consider this evening:
Instead of merely distributing data on the Cloud, what if we we saw Apple build distributing processing power into the next OS, and used their new massive data farms to churn renderings, simulations, etc.. Mondo power could be accessed over the Net.
For a subscription service starting at $100 or year or whatever...you could batch render any 3d model or mathematical formula remotely on Apple's processor farm. Your OS would tap into Apple's service..and attain Gigaflops of power. Software vendors could write easy hooks in the SDK, so that their application could tap into it.
Granted 95% of apps have no use for such power. But the power users would dig it...and a big battleship computer like the current MacPro would cease to have much relevance.
Apple would secure another revenue stream, and make both end-users and vendors all the more dependent upon Apple.
Additionally Apple could sell this "Mac Pro service" to hundreds of millions of customers on a as-needed basis. It wouldn't even matter what device you were using: iphones, iPads, Macs...All could tap the same power. Surely Apple would begin to conceive, program and pitch true next generation applications that utilize virtual reality, and AI at a whole new level. Apple could use its marketing whiz to make customers line up to access Apple's Massive SkyNet.
The circle would then be complete: Jobs would be the very Big Brother he satirized with the 1984 commercial.
