Linked by David Adams on Tue 27th Jul 2010 07:44 UTC
An interesting article at Ars Technica takes a look at some compelling data (the longer-than-normal processor update cycles in Apple's personal computer lineup) and speculates that Apple's enthusiasm for its partnership with Intel might be cooling. Like Apple's soured relationship with once-BFF Google, this may be the result of Intel's increasing activities in the mobile computing space.
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Member since:2006-09-07
PPC delivered in spades. Apple switched to Intel for two reasons: Intel gave them a better deal for processors, and it made it easier for Macs to play Windows games... and that second reason is probably more important than the first.
I agree with the first point, but I don't see any real push from Apple on the gaming side (and it's been four years since the switch to Intel). If anything, I'd say they continue to be, at best, rather indifferent to gaming on the Mac. Case in point: not even an Nvidia card option on the new Mac Pro. The new iMacs are ATI-only as well.
The G5 was a very good chip when it first appeared in 2003 (I bought an original dual 2 GHz Power Mac G5 -- now retired in favor of a $1000 Hackintosh that outspecs/outruns a Mac Pro priced at $3300), but it ran quite hot and required liquid cooling in its later iterations. Apple's laptop processor at that time, the G4, was stalled at a bus speed of only 167 MHz for nearly 4 years before the Intel laptops were released.
Apple switched to Intel because it gave them processor parity with the rest of the PC industry and there's no way they could put the G5 in their laptops, which have constituted a majority of Macs sold for quite some time now.
Member since:2005-07-06
Apple switched to Intel because it gave them processor parity with the rest of the PC industry and there's no way they could put the G5 in their laptops, which have constituted a majority of Macs sold for quite some time now.
Ugh - not this laptop myth again! Apple used water-cooling for their desktops because they over-clocked their CPUs, but by the same token, they could have UNDER-clocked the CPUs to put them in laptops. IBM also came out with a low-power version of the G5 right before Apple announced their move to Intel.
Not that low-power in laptops even mattered at the time. They were making laptops at that time using the PRESCOTT CPU! There were enough lap-scorching Intel laptops out at the time that lap protectors were a big item. So let's not hear anymore of this nonsense that "Apple couldn't put a G5 in a laptop." It's just as stupid as people STILL posting jokes about Mac mice having one button.
Edited 2010-08-01 00:15 UTC
Member since:2009-08-26
Look at an industry that does not need to run legacy x86 software: the PPC is at the heart of all three current generation game consoles.
Yea but that has more to do with reducing manufacturing costs with a custom in-order cpu than dropping x86 overhead.
- is just nonsense. PPC delivered in spades. Apple switched to Intel for two reasons: Intel gave them a better deal for processors, and it made it easier for Macs to play Windows games... and that second reason is probably more important than the first.
No they switched because the PPC couldn't deliver when it came to processing/power. Intel was leagues ahead when it came to power efficiency and Jobs couldn't wait for IBM to catch up.
Member since:2006-03-27
"
- is just nonsense. PPC delivered in spades. Apple switched to Intel for two reasons: Intel gave them a better deal for processors, and it made it easier for Macs to play Windows games... and that second reason is probably more important than the first.
- is just nonsense. PPC delivered in spades. Apple switched to Intel for two reasons: Intel gave them a better deal for processors, and it made it easier for Macs to play Windows games... and that second reason is probably more important than the first.
No they switched because the PPC couldn't deliver when it came to processing/power. Intel was leagues ahead when it came to power efficiency and Jobs couldn't wait for IBM to catch up. "
Yes, but the statement about Windows is correct. There are a lot of people who need Windows on their job. A lot more than those who need a Mac, and with an x86 chip Apple can serve both worlds. And Linux and everything else.
People loves Macs, and they're much more prone to buy them if they know they can always run Windows.
Member since:2010-07-31
PPC spades - upto a point.
IBM - Motorola - Apple had a joint development center in Austin. However, the direction each wanted to take with PPC differed.
I believe IBM wanted to focus more on high-end servers and did not see much value in throwing effort into PPC. Apple was interested in buying low-power client parts to fuel their cool Cube, iMac, and Laptop designs.
Motorola, the other company fabricating PPC, could not keep their fabs tooled for next gen processes. PPC was fairly low volume for them to justify investments I guess. They also had trouble delivering processors (G4 or G5) on time.
So yes PPC delivered in spades - but only certain markets. Desktops - yes in spades. Low-power laptop space - not so great.
Edited 2010-07-31 06:46 UTC
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/20/13 6:17 UTC, submitted by MOS6510
"In the first episode of Microsoft's new film series 'On the Whiteboard', Editor Pamela Woon chats with two-time Oscar winner Randy Thom about the (often underestimated) importance of sound in human-technology interactions. Thom, the lead sound designer at Skywalker Ranch who worked on films such as The Incredibles, Castaway and Forrest Gump, says that people rarely consider the significance of those signature sounds that come from their trusty devices, whether it be a cell phone, a computer or a tablet."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/19/13 23:02 UTC, submitted by M.Onty
"Microsoft has sensationally abandoned its controversial plans to restrict the sharing of XBox One games, and has also removed daily online authentication requirements for its forthcoming console", reports The Guardian. They had no choice. Still a good move.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/19/13 22:28 UTC
"A snippet of code in the Steam digital distribution platform has revealed that Valve may be planning to let users easily share their games with friends in the future. The Verge has verified the code's authenticity, which was originally spotted by a member of the NeoGAF gaming forum; the code references a 'shared game library' and a notification that would alert a user when their games are currently in use by a borrower." This would change the, uh, game.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 22:33 UTC
Official Apple statement on PRISM and privacy: "Regardless of the circumstances, our Legal team conducts an evaluation of each request and, only if appropriate, we retrieve and deliver the narrowest possible set of information to the authorities. In fact, from time to time when we see inconsistencies or inaccuracies in a request, we will refuse to fulfill it." This is basically Apple re-publishing their earlier statement in a more official manner. You either believe it, or you don't.
Linked by Anonymous on 06/18/13 22:26 UTC
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.More News »
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Member since:
2005-07-06
This. Anyone into hardware loves the Power/PPC architecture. No programmer I know "likes" the x86 architecture. The x86-64 is a LITTLE better, but not nearly as nice as any of the RISC processors. Look at an industry that does not need to run legacy x86 software: the PPC is at the heart of all three current generation game consoles.
That's why the comment in the article -
- is just nonsense. PPC delivered in spades. Apple switched to Intel for two reasons: Intel gave them a better deal for processors, and it made it easier for Macs to play Windows games... and that second reason is probably more important than the first.