Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 4th Feb 2009 07:05 UTC
Apple has always been about moving forward, about pressing customers to buy the latest and greatest. Product pacing has been high in Cupertino (except for the Mac Mini, obviously), and this is obviously a good thing if you're an Apple bean counter. Most Apple fans more or less accept this planned obsolescence without question, but the company may have just gone a little too far.
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Member since:2006-01-02
Member since:2005-07-06
Right. And let's say you bought a computer with Windows XP on it at the time that you bought your G4. Are you saying that you could have bought Vista Ultimate and ran EVERYTHING that is part of Ultimate and that you could run EVERY game that game out in the last year?
I'm knowledgeably saying no to both. No you wouldn't have been able to run everything in Vista and no you wouldn't have been able to run ALL of the newest games. So you would be limited either way.
You also KNEW that Apple wasn't going to be sticking with PowerPC chips when the G5 came out. The problems with IBM and Motorola updating the G5 chip for iMacs and Mac Pros, let alone laptops, was ALL over the web even before the G5 came out.
Which is why I didn't buy a G5. I also didn't buy an early Intel Mac because I was pretty certain that there would be bugs to work out. I waited until the Core2Duo's came out and only then bought a new iMac.
In the meantime my wife and I used, and still use, our 2000 800mhz G4 iMac lamp and our 800mhz G4 PowerBook, which I'm writing this on, by the way.
I've been wanting a Mac mini for over a year now. At the time it had been just under 180 days since the last time that the Mac Mini had been updated and I figured I'm not going to buy a new one until it has been updated again. I'm still waiting at 530 some days or so for it to be updated. I'm not going to buy one know that if I bought one before it gets updated I would be pretty upset when it did.
I in no way feel screwed that my G4s can't install Mac OS 10.5.
Member since:2005-06-29
Right. And let's say you bought a computer with Windows XP on it at the time that you bought your G4. Are you saying that you could have bought Vista Ultimate and ran EVERYTHING that is part of Ultimate and that you could run EVERY game that game out in the last year?
Before we start his discussion, let me, your friendly neighbourhood editor, give you the opportunity to forfeit your point about running the latest games. Because, well, Mac and Games? You REALLY want to go there?
But anyway, well, to answer your question: yes. That machine on the left side of my desk is a machine I bought back in early 2003 (could be late 2002, even), and it has no problems running Vista and Windows 7, and the latest Ubuntu also runs without any problems, but with ALL the bells and whistles on both the Windows and Linux sides.
A Mac bought in that same year, or even during the 3 years after that, will not run Apple's latest software. Sure, I gave that x86 I mentioned a RAM and (minor) video card upgrade - but I can do the same on the Mac, and it STILL wouldn't be able to run the latest Apple software.
All because Apple places arbitrary and artificial restrictions, simply because it wants to shove more hardware up your ass.
When I was given the opportunity to buy a new computer a few weeks ago, I thought about getting a Mac. I like Mac OS X, I like the hardware design (I already own a few and have owned a few). Still, I'm not rich enough to join Apple's upgrade treadmill, and because of that, they just lost a customer. I'm simply not rich enough to buy a new computer whenever Apple decides to place yet another arbitrary cut-off point in its software.
So, I bought a generic x86. Not only is it cheaper, it's also a LOT faster than anything Apple has to offer me (only a custom Mac Pro would beat it, at 5 (!) times the price), and I KNOW that I will be able to install Windows 8 and Ubuntu Grizzly Grucktard on it when the time comes. It may not be the best and fastest computer by then, but at least Redmond and Shuttleworth give me a frakking CHOICE.
Edited 2009-02-04 16:49 UTC
Member since:2006-09-18
Right. And let's say you bought a computer with Windows XP on it at the time that you bought your G4. Are you saying that you could have bought Vista Ultimate and ran EVERYTHING that is part of Ultimate and that you could run EVERY game that game out in the last year? I'm knowledgeably saying no to both. No you wouldn't have been able to run everything in Vista and no you wouldn't have been able to run ALL of the newest games. So you would be limited either way. You also KNEW that Apple wasn't going to be sticking with PowerPC chips when the G5 came out. The problems with IBM and Motorola updating the G5 chip for iMacs and Mac Pros, let alone laptops, was ALL over the web even before the G5 came out. Which is why I didn't buy a G5. I also didn't buy an early Intel Mac because I was pretty certain that there would be bugs to work out. I waited until the Core2Duo's came out and only then bought a new iMac. In the meantime my wife and I used, and still use, our 2000 800mhz G4 iMac lamp and our 800mhz G4 PowerBook, which I'm writing this on, by the way. I've been wanting a Mac mini for over a year now. At the time it had been just under 180 days since the last time that the Mac Mini had been updated and I figured I'm not going to buy a new one until it has been updated again. I'm still waiting at 530 some days or so for it to be updated. I'm not going to buy one know that if I bought one before it gets updated I would be pretty upset when it did. I in no way feel screwed that my G4s can't install Mac OS 10.5.
I'm gonna go ahead and call this a Troll... You're going to compare what games you can run on a PC purchased in 2006 v.s. a PPC imac purchased at the same time in the same price bracket.... MAUAHAHAMAUAHAMAUIAHAMAMAUAHAHAA
(p.s. This may be a foregin concept for iMac users, but on a PC you can purchase this thing called a video card upgrade for about 100$, and run all of Vista's features and all PC games.)
Edited 2009-02-04 16:52 UTC
Member since:2009-02-04
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 7:37 UTC
"In NixOS, the entire operating system - the kernel, applications, system packages, configuration files, and so on - is built by the Nix package manager from a description in a purely functional build language. The fact that it's purely functional essentially means that building a new configuration cannot overwrite previous configurations. Most of the other features follow from this." Interesting approach. A Linux distribution, sure, but with some very refreshing ideas about system configuration.
Linked by fran on 05/18/13 1:38 UTC
Google added, among other features, C/C++ support to its new version of AIDE. From Android-IDE, "Now you can write parts of your app or your whole app in C/C++ on your device. AIDE supports the Standard Android NDK toolchain (GCC 4.6 + Bionic, STL, ...). No changes are necessary if you want to build an app developed on a PC with Eclipse. C/C++ development is fully integrated: Build errors appear in the error list and files can easily be navigated to with Go to file. The editor supports C/C++ syntax highlighting."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/17/13 23:35 UTC, submitted by kragil
Ars nails it: "The answer is that Google did announce what amounts to a fairly substantial Android update yesterday. They simply did it without adding to the update fragmentation problems that continue to plague the platform. By focusing on these changes and not the apparently-waiting-in-the-wings update to the core software, Google is showing us one of the ways in which it's trying to fix the update problem."
Linked by MOS6510 on 05/17/13 22:22 UTC
"It is good for programmers to understand what goes on inside a processor. The CPU is at the heart of our career. What goes on inside the CPU? How long does it take for one instruction to run? What does it mean when a new CPU has a 12-stage pipeline, or 18-stage pipeline, or even a 'deep' 31-stage pipeline? Programs generally treat the CPU as a black box. Instructions go into the box in order, instructions come out of the box in order, and some processing magic happens inside. As a programmer, it is useful to learn what happens inside the box. This is especially true if you will be working on tasks like program optimization. If you don't know what is going on inside the CPU, how can you optimize for it? This article is about what goes on inside the x86 processor's deep pipeline."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/17/13 22:15 UTC, submitted by Tom
"It was the only moment I heard regret slip into Otellini's voice during the several hours of conversations I had with him. 'The lesson I took away from that was, while we like to speak with data around here, so many times in my career I've ended up making decisions with my gut, and I should have followed my gut,' he said. 'My gut told me to say yes.'" The world would've been a much different place - Apple would have been less dependant on Samsung for its chips, which probably would've meant less money for Samsung to develop its Galaxy business.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/16/13 21:41 UTC
Glass is getting some love at Google I/O as well. New applications have been released - Facebook, Twitter, Evernote, Elle, Tumblr, and CNN. Perhaps more interesting: the newly announced Google Glass Developer Kit will allow offline applications and direct hardware access - great for hacking and expanding Glass' potential. This kit will really allow hackers to put Glass through its paces.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/16/13 17:04 UTC
"But Beck and Merrill decided that simply banning toxic players wasn't an acceptable solution for their game. Riot Games began experimenting with more constructive modes of player management through a formal player behavior initiative that actually conducts controlled experiments on its player base to see what helps reduce bad behavior. The results of that initiative have been shared at a lecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and on panels at the Penny Arcade Expo East and the Game Developers Conference." Absolutely fascinating stuff. I'm a League of Legends player, and to be honest, the community isn't nearly as bad as some make it out to be. I'm happy Riot games has the guts to employ science to address the issue.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/16/13 13:17 UTC
"Android and iOS, the number one and number two ranked smartphone operating systems worldwide, combined for 92.3% of all smartphone shipments during the first quarter of 2013 as Windows Phone crept past BlackBerry for 3rd place. According to the International Data Corporation Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, Android smartphone vendors and Apple shipped a total of 199.5 million units worldwide during 1Q13, up 59.1% from the 125.4 million units shipped during 1Q12." Windows Phone doubles from a few to twice few, iOS loser market share as its growth is slower than that of the overall market. BlackBerry continues slide into irrelevance.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/16/13 12:06 UTC
"According to the latest research from our Wireless Smartphone Strategies service, global Android smartphone profits reached US$5 billion in total during the first quarter of 2013. Samsung dominated and captured an impressive 95 percent share of all Android smartphone profits." Wow.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/15/13 23:03 UTC
"During its Keynote today, Google announced new features coming to its flagship search function - you know, that thing we all started using Google for. VP Amit Singhal spent some time discussing what Google's search functionality will eventually morph into. Google's strategy is summarized by three words: answer, converse, and anticipate. Singhal explained that many of the pieces of these upcoming changes can already be seen in products that Google has recently introduced - namely, Google Knowledge Graph and Google Now, with perhaps a splash of Google Glass, too." I hold on to my hat every time Google changes Search. It's such a vital product in my daily life.More News »
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Member since:
2005-06-29
Exactly BECAUSE that limited lifespan is ARTIFICIAL. A PowerPC G5 machine was expensive then, and right now, they are still perfectly capable and fine machines, rivalling many cheap computers still sold today - with the dual G5/quad core models still being top-of-the-line performance-wise. In fact, even many G4 machines, especially the dual processor models, are still perfectly capable of powering ANYTHING Apple currently releases, yet Apple ARTIFICIALLY kills them off.
That is simply appalling, and it's one of the main reasons why I decided to buy a normal x86 a few weeks ago, instead of buying a Mac: what guarantee do I have that my investment will not be made obsolete by Apple's software police?
Edited 2009-02-04 10:45 UTC