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: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:2005-11-14
It's not true that they've been "artificially" killed. Apple did what almost every software company would do, and looked at the cost of supporting those platforms and the money they would make by doing so.
Also, you mentioned buying a "normal x86"... Macs now are normal x86 systems. The main reason Apple's cutting support for older systems is because they transitioned to "normal x86".
You also mentioned running a current Linux distribution on an old PC - can't you do that on the old Mac as well? It seems the only problem here is that Apple doesn't support older systems with newer software as well as Microsoft. That's pretty much a solid fact, but keep in mind that supporting a completely different architecture is not the same as supporting older and less powerful machines.
Apple's hardware and software have always been very much tied together, but people should start seeing things for how they are now. Apple sells computers that can run Mac OS X, Windows or Linux as well as any other PC.
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$, and run all of Vista's features and all PC games.)
Edited 2009-02-04 16:52 UTC
Member since:2008-12-06
(p.s. This may be a foregin concept for iMac users, but on a PC you can purchase this thing called a video card upgrade for about 100$, and run all of Vista's features and all PC games.)
You know, I've heard of that? It's genius! I think the general term is called "customization." I read about people who actually build their own computers with as little or as much power as they want and with as high or as low quality parts as they want, usually for cheaper than buying from a manufacturer. Fancy that! Installing whatever you want on most hardware available! Power to the consumer!
Sarcasm aside, Apple artificially disabling hardware and software? I don't follow Apple as much as MS and some open source, but have they been practicing this for their entire existence? If this is a new concept, I don't see it helping computer sales in the future. They're hurting enough as it is because the price-to-power ratio when compared with non-Mac PCs is in favor of the non-Macs, especially in this economy. Bad move, I say. It'll only lose them customers. But then Apple really doesn't make a ton of profits from Macs when you look at iPhones and iPods and all of their other iStuff.
On the other hand, I can see why Apple's doing it. Letting new software run on hardware incapable of running it properly will often result in some negative light. But doesn't it seem a little... totalitarian to limit people's choice on what hardware to run their software on? That's what system requirements on the side of the box are for. Just make sure the requirements are high enough to run the software well, and most people, especially Mac users, will know that they're taking a risk of poor performance to run on a machine that doesn't meet the standards.
**getting off my soapbox and going to bed**
Edited 2009-02-05 06:25 UTC
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The open source Contiki operating system and its commercial Thingsquare distribution are making strides towards the connected home. According to a Computerworld article, a new LED light bulb manufacturer is putting small computers into their light bulbs. Each computer runs the Contiki OS, which gives each bulb an IP address and allows them to be controlled with a smartphone application. To connect the bulbs to the application, the bulbs use both Wi-Fi and the much lower power IEEE 802.15.4 mesh technology.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 22:25 UTC
"Google asked the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday to ease long-standing gag orders over data requests it makes, arguing that the company has a constitutional right to speak about information it's forced to give the government. The legal filing, which cites the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech, is the latest move by the California-based tech giant to protect its reputation in the aftermath of news reports about sweeping National Security Agency surveillance of Internet traffic." Draining the ditch after the cow has drowned in it.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 17:45 UTC
"I can't find one person who has been using the Nexus 7 for an extended period of time, and hasn't seen a massive downgrade in performance. Just what kind of downgrade are we talking here? I cannot pick up my Nexus 7 without experiencing problems like a lag of ten seconds, or more, just to rotate the display; touches refusing to acknowledged; stuttering notification panel actions; and unresponsive apps." Fully and utterly agreed. My Nexus 7 was blazing-fast and awesome for a few months, and at some point, it just started sucking. Just like that. I've tried loads of ROMs, and nothing helps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 17:32 UTC, submitted by poundsmack
A new release of the hobby operating system MenuetOS! The release notes are a bit non-descript, but you'll have to take what you can get: "updates and improvements (picview, httpc, ehci, ...)".
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/17/13 17:58 UTC
"The Internet is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach. And this is far from being a solved problem. There are many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity - jungles, archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges. Right now, for example, in most of the countries in the southern hemisphere, the cost of an Internet connection is more than a month's income. Solving these problems isn't simply a question of time: it requires looking at the problem of access from new angles. So today we're unveiling our latest moonshot from Google[x]: balloon-powered Internet access." Insane.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/17/13 17:52 UTC
"MineAssemble is a tiny bootable Minecraft clone written partly in x86 assembly. I made it first and foremost because a university assignment required me to implement a game in assembly for a computer systems course. Because I had never implemented anything more complex than a 'Hello World' bootloader before, I decided I wanted to learn about writing my own kernel code at the same time. Note that the goal of this project was not to write highly efficient hand-optimized assembly code, but rather to have fun and write code that balances readability and speed. This is primarily accomplished by proper commenting and consistent code structuring." Just cool.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 21:03 UTC
Jon Rubinstein, former CEO of Palm: "Well, I'm not sure I would have sold the company to HP. That's for sure. Talk about a waste. Not that I had any choice because when you sell a company you don't get to decide that. Obviously, the board and shareholders decide that. If we had known they were just going to shut it down and never really give it a chance to flourish, what would have been the point of selling the company? I think the deal we had with Verizon really hurt us, but who knew that at the time? These things are all hindsight."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 20:46 UTC
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Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 17:32 UTC
From Bloomberg: "Microsoft, the world's largest software company, provides intelligence agencies with information about bugs in its popular software before it publicly releases a fix, according to two people familiar with the process. That information can be used to protect government computers and to access the computers of terrorists or military foes." The lid has officially been blown off.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 11:39 UTC
"The key takeaway we've reached (after two less than 24 hours playing with the iOS 7 Beta release) is this - every App must consider even basic updates to its UI to survive in a post-iOS 6 world." Great. Telling developers to update their entire application - user interface and behaviour alike - to target a look and behaviour that isn't final yet. Seems like potential for a lot of wasted work here.More News »
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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.