We just don't have the infrastructure and technology to entirely move away from workstations.
Workstations still have their place, but the segment is in a transitional state right now. Consumer CPU's are becoming powerful enough for some workstation users (allows them to get away from Xeons if they don't require ECC memory), and will continue to be the case as the core counts continue to increase on a single die. Even for those that do need ECC, the same trend will allow those that previously required DP systems (for enough cores), to opt for the less expensive SP based systems (not thinking purely on Apple, but the SP Xeon workstation in general, as other vendors are selling these quite a bit cheaper than Apple, and have similar equipment <can't get exact parity, but the CPUID is identical>).
Another fact that seems to be ignored in terms of workstation loads being transferred to the cloud, is ISP bandwidth. It's possible to get high bandwidth, but it costs a fortune right now (things like T1/T3/SONET, and it's only available in limited areas, as the physical location must be within the cable distance limits from the exchange).
It depends on what you develop. I use a Mini at work, but at home I have a Mac Pro, and in my last development job I have a Mac Pro. I know many other developers with a Pro.
Of course it depends on what you're developing.
Though technically possible, I wouldn't want to use a Mini to create code written for something like RenderMan for Maya. But the MP isn't a necessity in all cases, and when we consider most of the applications development for Apple products seems to be for iOS based devices, a Mini or iMac would be suitable.
I'm assuming that we we say Pro folks are talking about Creative Professional, as that is where the thread started. I've never seen any evidence that Apple's success in this market has had any significant impact on their other products selling well. The math just doesn't even come close to working out.
I think people are overstating the influence of the Creative Pro market.
As do I.
I realize that the creative market could be generating content on systems like the MP, but it's not a guarantee. That content may be developed on consumer based systems, particularly that written for iOS based devices. Since the iOS segment is growing, the need for MP's for content development is shrinking (iMac and Mini would still be viable on the MP, but they're not the largest part of Apple's market compared to the device segment in terms of software development).
In the PC-era Apple lost the corporate market so it went after Creatives to make a buck. It needed a niche.
Exactly. Without the creative pro market, Apple may have gone under.
This has changed however, and given the shrinking of the workstation market as it currently exists, it's causing the creative professional market to take a backseat to the device market at Apple, due to the fact it's much more lucrative.
Loyalty has it's limits, and from what I can tell, Apple's not that big on it anyway. They're in business to make money first and foremost, which is the motivation for pursuing the consumer/device markets rather than staying rooted to the past that saved them from oblivion.
My big concern with Cloud-centric posturing by Apple is that it only can be effective -- including high performance -- IF there's a high performance network connection to the cloud, which isn't a trivial expense.
Glad I'm not the only one that's noticed this. I see current ISP service as the Achilles Heel of the cloud computing. The issue will be addressed eventually, but it's going to take time, as the infrastructure is way behind.
DSL and DOCSIS aren't knocking people's socks off performance wise (need something comparatively speaking to the cost of 768k DSL, and performance of at least 40Mb/s, and that's just to stream 1080p uncompressed without any additional band to mitigate things like dropped packets, which could cause stuttering).
There are faster networks out there, such as FiOS, but it's not widely available yet, and still on the pricey side (~$200 per month for the fastest package last I checked).
I completely agree with this. The pro market is waning, the consumer market is expanding. Apple prides itself on its focus and "the things we say no to" (quoting Jobs). Unfortunately the focus of Apple has been shifting to the common consumer, and the pro market isn't part of that equation anymore. An imac is enough computer for Apple's customer base, leaving the Mac Pro to be the next cast off.
In the next few years, yes. I expect the shrink cycle of Haswell will be the last MP, due to the fact a single consumer grade CPU will have versions with 8 cores on a single die.
Once that's released, the cost savings will be too attractive to ignore, particularly for creative pros, as they will be able to get away from DP based systems, thus eliminating the need for a Xeon (DP CPUID's are expensive compared to their SP brethren).
I really hope that I'm wrong, that Mr. Cook will steer the company away from its current path. A new Mac Pro and some serious rethinking about the way Lion works would be a great sign.
It's possible, but I wouldn't bet on it. He's been molded by Steve Jobs directly to the same way of thinking, and if any of his decisions cause a profit loss (particularly a significant one), the Executive Board would demand his resignation.
So drastic changes aren't likely. Though I do think there's room for him to be able to implement improvements in Quality Control (stop the bugs before products reach users).
The pro market hasn't gone anywhere.
It's not vanishing, but it's shrinking due to former workstation users capable of shifting to consumer systems, have done so in favor of the lower costs (no longer need DP systems for their software usage, and never needed ECC).
Reading that statement that you replied to is becoming pretty tiring. I can't figure out why people don't understand this, but in order to have a "consumer market" then you also need the "professional market" to create stuff for the consumers to consume.
To an extent yes. But it will depend on what that content is.
For example, an iOS application won't require a MP to develop (could be done on a Mini, iMac, or laptop).
But animation OTOH, particularly feature film animation by companies like Pixar consumers might be streaming over the cloud, would be setup on workstations and processed on a cluster. Since clusters are usually created out of servers, not workstations, it reduces the number of workstations needed for such use.
I'm not saying the workstation market is going to disappear, as it's not. Scientists and engineers for example will still need them. But such systems will generate a lower annual sales volume than they have in the past, or even compared to current figures.
