journals

Counterspective: Apple is a hardware company.

By Arden, January 24, 2006

Apple is a hardware company. Repeat ad nauseum.

This article started out as a comment on UnnDunn’s latest entry, and grew long enough to merit its own entry.  For more on this topic, see John Gruber’s The Art of the Parlay, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Platform Licensing and Market Share.

---------------

Say it with me.

APPLE IS A HARDWARE COMPANY.

Good, now repeat until it sinks in.

Apple is not in the business to sell software.  Why?  Because they make lots and lots of money from the high premiums they place on Macs and, in the last 5 years, iPods.  These are both hardware products.  This whole Intel switch?  It’s a hardware transition.  For all intents and purposes, the software is exactly the same on a MacBook Pro as on a Powerbook.

Putting Intel Inside was never the smartest technical decision. But it makes it easier for Apple to move to a software licensi g business for Mac OS X, or sell the computer business completely.

This would be like Ford Motor Company selling their auto manufacturing business to sell car seats and auto upholstery to other manufacturers.  That’s what OS X is:  the cushy, comfy interface to the machine.  Now, I’m not going to get into too many car analogies because at some point they don’t fit anymore (i.e. you can drive any car on any road), but in this case it’s a good fit: you buy a car that has good performance, good mechanical features, and a nice interior with well-designed controls.  Similarly,…
(Continue)


Arden's Avatar 46 2535
Arden Arden's Profile comments views

Back to top

An Interesting Perspective on the Intel Switch

By UnnDunn, January 24, 2006

By ditching the Mac hardware altogether, Apple frees itself up to aggressively attack Microsoft with software.

Also read Arden’s response to this story. --ed

---------------

Intel Macs only one-fourth, not four times faster

Macworld has gotten hold of the x86 iMacs and run some benchmarks. There’s lots of good news for speed-starved Mac users. The iMac boots in 25 seconds, and shaves the time taken to perform some mathematically-intensive tasks by a third.

But on the whole, the results show a speed bump of only a measly quarter over today’s overclocked G4 and new G5 processors.

“Unfortunately, our tests suggest that the remarkable results of Apple’s published tests aren’t reflected in most of the real-world applications we tested. Based on our initial tests, the new Core-Duo-based iMac seems to be 10-20 per cent percent faster than its predecessor when it comes to native applications, with some select tasks showing improvement above and beyond that,” writes Macworld’s Jason Snell.

Ouch! That’s gotta hurt!

Why did Apple move to Intel, then, really?

Intel justifiably remains one of the most lauded companies on the planet not for the quality of its chips, but for its consistent innovation in production. It’s a manufacturing company first and foremost, and its R&D is geared towards keeping its facilities full.

What falls off the end of the Intel production doesn’t really matter.

This hardly helps you, dear reader, as you’re waiting for a window to refresh, or a QuickTime export to finish, but it’s the reason for Intel’s importance in the global economy, when superior products from Texas Instruments, IBM and AMD are available.…
(Continue)


UnnDunn 8 2199
UnnDunn UnnDunn's Profile comments views

Back to top

Macintosh turns 22

By Nick, January 24, 2006

“Hello, I am Macintosh. It sure is great to get out of that bag!”

Today we celebrate the twenty-second glorious anniversary of the Apple Macintosh. It was 22 years ago today that Steve Jobs unveiled the original Mac to Apple shareholders and the world. A lot has changed since then, and while the Mac was never destined to rule the PC market, the world of computing owes a large debt to this little putty-colored box.

Here’s to twenty-two years of the Mac, with twenty-two or more years to come!


Nick 1 1033
Nick Nick's Profile comment views

Back to top

iLife 06 Review Part 4: iMovie

By Nick, January 21, 2006

This is the second in a series of articles reviewing Apple’s iLife 06 software suite. Applications will be reviewed in this order: iPhoto, GarageBand, iWeb, iMovie, and iLife summary. I will not be reviewing iTunes because iTunes 6 has been out for a while, and it’s ubiquitous. Also, the score on this page reflects this application only, not the suite as a whole. Read on for more not-so-mind-numbing (I hope!) drivel.

iMovie is Apple’s oldest, er, most mature iLife application, having made its debut in 1999 (nearly seven years ago; feeling old yet?).  iMovie 1 and 2 were very different from iMovie 6; they were released before iLife and lacked the integration of later versions. iMovie 3, released in 2003, marked a shift toward the current iMovie incarnation, with integration with other iLife applications, an updated user interface, and abysmally slow performance. It was absolutely painful. iMovie 4 was mainly a performance update and iMovie 5 introduced the Magic iMovie feature and high-definition video support. Along the way, a few new features (new effects, titles, transitions, etc...) made their way into iMovie as well. iMovie 6 is an evolutionary update, but helps polish iMovie’s shine.

iMovie’s user interface is somewhat different from previous versions. The most obvious change is that it sports the smooth metal look that the rest of iLife 06 does. The changes go deeper than that, however; the interface has been streamlined some. The number of tabs on the right side of the window has been reduced, as…
(Continue)


Nick 9 16535
Nick Nick's Profile comments views

Back to top

iLife 06 Review Part 3: iWeb

By Nick, January 18, 2006

This is the third in a series of articles reviewing Apple’s iLife 06 software suite. Applications will be reviewed in this order: iPhoto, GarageBand, iWeb, iMovie, iDVD, and iLife summary. I will not be reviewing iTunes because iTunes 6 has been out for a while, and it’s ubiquitous. Also, the score on this page reflects this application only, not the suite as a whole. Hie thee, make haste! Read forth!

The concept of an easy-to-use web site creation application has been around for quite some time. Claris Home Page comes to mind. More recently, applications such as RapidWeaver have been developed to fill this market. iLife itself has had some very rudimentary web creation capabilities, but those have been limited to photo albums in iPhoto and such. Enter iWeb. iWeb brings a more complete set of web creation tools (and a decidedly plain name) to iLife 06, such as blog creation. While iWeb will be a boon to most home users, more advanced users (e.g. those who have moved beyond iWeb but not into the realm of professional toold like Dreamweaver) will find iWeb much too limited.

iWeb’s user interface borrows from other applications such as iTunes and iPhoto, with a touch of Pages spliced in for good measure. The application window has a source list to the left, an editing pane to the right, and a small toolbar along the bottom of the editing pane. It’s a vintage Apple UI in its simplicity. Creating a new page is as simple…
(Continue)


Nick 10 16939
Nick Nick's Profile comments views

Back to top

Page 44 of 107 pages « First  < Prev  40 41 42 43 [44] 45 46 47 48 Next >  Last »

more stuff

Page 3 of 6 pages
 1 2 [3] 4 5 6 Next >