Apple on Intel, Everyone Just Chill Out!

Since HP sells ipods, maybe they will start selling HP PC's running OSX?

REJOICE: Finally everyone will be pleased with a Mac at home, cheaper prices, High performance chips (Do you think that Apple will get still, putting any crapy Intel chip on their gorgeous machines, ABSOLUTELY NOT!!) That's why they developed the G5 with IBM. Now is time for Apple/Intel to sit down and creat the next big thing in computing processors and I can assure you WINTEL computers will be extint in no time (or may I say LONGTEL?)

REJOICE: Finally everyone will be pleased with a Mac at home, cheaper prices, High performance chips (Do you think that Apple will get still, putting any crapy Intel chip on their gorgeous machines, ABSOLUTELY NOT!!) That's why they developed the G5 with IBM. Now is time for Apple/Intel to sit down and creat the next big thing in computing processors and I can assure you WINTEL computers will be extint in no time (or may I say LONGTEL?)

Going Intel has been a curse. Look what happened to Next & SGI when they switched over. Jobs is doing this to kill off the Mac, as he said he might, and turn Apple into a software/entertainment company. I recommend reading Paul Murphy's thoughts at: http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=316&part=rss&tag=feed&subj=zdblog

I don't know why... but I have been putting off buying my next Apple for a while now. I think I can see a pattern developing: Computer #1 --- Apple IIe (6502) [Still in use... because of one single custom written Applesoft Basic programme that never has been ported or upgraded because it does just what it is suppose to do... even have it connected to a dot matrix printer.] Computer #2 --- Mac LC (68020) [a real workhorse for me in its day] Computer #3 --- iMac SE (Power PC G3) Computer #4 --- Mactel???? So I will wait until the mid-range Mactel's show up before I get my next machine. Looks like I am only buying one machine per era anyways.

Vanitas - Clarification Yes, I read the biz page and front page. I was rushing out the door this AM before posting and should have clarified my thoughts with additional detail. Business leaders of Fortune 1000 companies that make huge business mistakes typically get ousted (either legally, i.e. Enron, or by pressure or direct request from the board/shareholders, i.e. HP or Gil in the last decade at Apple). Jobs has done great things since coming back to Apple and I think that this will be another great thing for the future of Mac. And yes, business leaders make mistakes all the time. Some big, some small. Some illegal, some unethical. Some guess the direction of the market and lose (i.e. Novell or Apple in the past). Some take their companies into the annals of history with their careers. But with Jobs tracking high on the Forbes CEO Approval charts, I have faith that he's making a good decision. Sorry about the lack of clarification :)

Okay, everybody seems to have their own opinion about this, so I wanted to share my two cents. It's too long to post here, but I discuss it on my blog. You can read it here: http://www.scott-o-rama.com/2005/06...s_blog_entry.html Leave a comment to let me know if you agree, disagree, or have another insight. Thanks!

RE: Steve "I don't know how many of you have ever worked close to senior leadership in large corporations, but these guys rarely, if ever, make huge mistakes. " I'm really not sure whether to laugh or cry. Do you even look at the business page? Or the front page for that matter?

Considering the PPC Mac base is going to be many times larger than Intel Macs for many years to come, any developer not willing to make universal binaries is brain dead. These companies are around to make money, and not supporting PPC users is throwing said money in the toilet.

Defer buying because a G4/G5 machine is obsolete? Because resale value is going to plummet? This is *always* true and the switch to Intel doesn't make it any different. I bought my alBook three weeks before Apple speedbumped them and Apple speedbumped the G5 desktops just 8 days after I bought. In both cases my computers' resale value dropped. In both cases I knew Apple would be releasing new machines that would trump my new computers. It happens and it is something I've come to expect and accept. The only twist Intel brings to the equation is how long developers (including Apple) will continue to support the PowerPC. Conservatively we can expect one upgrade from each developer after Apple completely switches. So at the earliest, sometime in mid to late 2008 software will start being Intel only. In other words, we can expect our newly purchased Macs to be fully supported for the next three years. That is just about how long I keep a machine as my main production machine. So Intel changes everything - and it changes nothing. The value of new computers will drop - just like the value of new cars. Old computers eventually stop being supported. That is life. But that doesn't mean old computers become valueless nor does that mean a new PowerBook is suddenly without value and totally obsolete because Apple is switching to Intel.