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Ch-ch-ch-changes
Jun. 7th, 2005 08:27 amNow that Apple wants to move to Intel for its processors I may hold off on securing a new laptop later this year as I was thinking. I'm not totally convinced that this move is the best thing for Apple, not a bad thing, but I'm not convinced that they couldn't do better. Why not AMD who has a better 64-bit chip?
I understand the whole idea of availability, and being able to compete toe-to-toe with other manufactures on the chip speed factor. That's been a long running marketing problem that they thought was being fixed with the introduction of the G5 chip, but the speed of that chip didn't move as fast as they had hoped. IBM hasn't shown much enthusiasm for development for the chip, despite the specialty Power PC chips that will be made for the new Xbox and PS3.
Of course Apple will suffer for the next year as people like me fail to upgrade, waiting for the latest thing.
Steve Jobs showed developers that the software comparability problems Apple suffered with the moves to the Power PC chip several years ago, and again with the move to OSX will be minimized, but still the move to Intel will change several processes that will take a recompiling of programs and some emulation. Can Apple survive yet another port?
So was the move to Power PC ultimately a mistake or a good thing at the time? Will the need for better chip availability ultimately hurt the company's small userbase when they really need more switchers? It seems a tough time for Apple to do this. Certainly only Apple's strong look and feel and design quotient can save them on this one, but will it be enough, or will they become the iPod company.
My 2001 laptop's getting a little old.
I understand the whole idea of availability, and being able to compete toe-to-toe with other manufactures on the chip speed factor. That's been a long running marketing problem that they thought was being fixed with the introduction of the G5 chip, but the speed of that chip didn't move as fast as they had hoped. IBM hasn't shown much enthusiasm for development for the chip, despite the specialty Power PC chips that will be made for the new Xbox and PS3.
Of course Apple will suffer for the next year as people like me fail to upgrade, waiting for the latest thing.
Steve Jobs showed developers that the software comparability problems Apple suffered with the moves to the Power PC chip several years ago, and again with the move to OSX will be minimized, but still the move to Intel will change several processes that will take a recompiling of programs and some emulation. Can Apple survive yet another port?
So was the move to Power PC ultimately a mistake or a good thing at the time? Will the need for better chip availability ultimately hurt the company's small userbase when they really need more switchers? It seems a tough time for Apple to do this. Certainly only Apple's strong look and feel and design quotient can save them on this one, but will it be enough, or will they become the iPod company.
My 2001 laptop's getting a little old.
