Tweet
It seems that Mac and Volkswagon are targeting the same insufferably arrogant a$$hole demographic in their advertising. It doesn't match up to the Mac users I know in real life, but I guess they need the growth and don't care where it comes from.
-
He's got the Midas touch.
But he touched it too much!
Hey Goldmember, Hey Goldmember! -
Has Steve Jobs Lost his Magic?
Steve Jobs' keynote speech on Monday was the most uninspiring he's given in recent memory. It hints at the trouble Apple will be in marketing-wise if he ever steps down.
Steve Jobs usually gives his keynote speeches solo, but at Apple's annual developers conference here on Monday morning, he shared presenting duties with three of his lieutenants, leaving the stage whenever they took turns to get up and talk.
Jobs is so charismatic, his talks are usually mesmerizing. I've seen almost every one he's given in the last 10 years, and he effortlessly sucks the audience into his famous "reality distortion field," a state of suspended disbelief that makes even mundane products seem like miracles of technology.
In the past, I've found myself clapping wildly at the most mundane product features, or the tiniest increase in market share, despite trying to maintain a steely, Zen-like editorial impartiality.
But on Monday, the yo-yoing of alternating presenters utterly broke the spell. Mundane product details were revealed for what they were -- mundane product details.
Looking very thin, almost gaunt, Jobs used the 90-minute presentation to introduce a new desktop Mac and preview the next version of Apple's operating system, code-named Leopard.
The sneak preview of Leopard was underwhelming. For what seemed an interminable time, Jobs and Co. showed off one yawn after another. There's no way I can get excited about virtual desktops or a new service that turns highlighted text into a "to do" item. Oooo.
Granted, the system as a whole looks slick, and Jobs said he was keeping some new features "top secret" to stop Microsoft from copying them. But the sneak peek just confirmed what we already know: OS X is so mature and polished, major system upgrades are more about tweaks than big new functions. (Yeah, I know there's a lot of technical wizardry under the hood, but that's for the geeks).
The audience reacted like cinema-goers determined to have a good time at a bad movie, forcing cheers at unlikely points. When wild, over-the-top applause broke out for speed gains in new servers, the reporter sitting next to me burst out laughing.
"This is like a Monty Python sketch," she said, incredulous.
Worse, Jobs dispensed with his "one more thing" surprise finale. Jobs usually saves his biggest announcement for last. As he appears to be wrapping up, he says, 'oh, I nearly forgot' and ploughs into the big news of the day. It's a well-worn routine, but it builds excitement and suspense.
But he tossed off the day's big news -- the new Mac Pro desktop -- early in the show. Yeah, everyone knew it was coming, but why dispense with it early on? It's weird and puzzling.
I wondered if Jobs, who was treated for cancer last year, was sick. Was he sharing presentation duties to save energy? When I saw Jobs introducing the iPod Hi-Fi at Apple's headquarters in late February, about five months ago, it looked to me like he was tiring quickly and was glad to get it over.
But a couple of people I canvassed after Monday's keynote thought he looked fine.
I also wondered if he were testing -- or grooming -- possible successors if he should decide take a back seat, or step down, or worse.
Apple's head of marketing, Phil Schiller, is the most relaxed of the bunch and has his own cuddly charm. He has taken the reins before in Paris, where he got good reviews. But one thing's for sure -- he's not Steve Jobs.
This week's developer's conference is a big show for Mac nerds. More than 4,000 of them paid a pretty penny to be here this week, and Jobs' talk is the highlight of the show. For many of them, this is the only chance they get to see their hero in the flesh.
I don't think they got their money's worth."The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "Comment
-
IIRC the C2D isn't SMP-ready; i.e. while its dual-core you can't use two dies. Two Xeons otohBuild your own quad-core Core 2 Duo.
A quick look on the Dell website seems to show a similarly specced machine costing more.That's what they do. It's a stupid tax."I work in IT so I'd be buggered without a computer" - Words of wisdom from Provost Harrison
"You can be wrong AND jewish" - Wiglaf :love:Comment
-
Does Apple have same-day in-house service that comes with the equivalent Dell?
As I said before, the Dell workstations are a lot more than just the hardware. The fact that you can't get any less than 2GB on it is a hint, Apple's hilarious default is 1GB..."The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "Comment
-
The "similarly" specced Dells and HPs don't cheap out on graphics. GeForce 7300 on a workstation? Please.
Apple
THEY!!111 OMG WTF LOL LET DA NOMADS AND TEH S3D3NTARY PEOPLA BOTH MAEK BITER AXP3REINCES
AND TEH GRAAT SINS OF THERE [DOCTRINAL] INOVATIONS BQU3ATH3D SMAL
AND!!1!11!!! LOL JUST IN CAES A DISPUTANT CALS U 2 DISPUT3 ABOUT THEYRE CLAMES
DO NOT THAN DISPUT3 ON THEM 3XCAPT BY WAY OF AN 3XTARNAL DISPUTA!!!!11!! WTFComment
-
It looks like the Dell only costs more if you don't know what the hell you're doing.
Dell:
Dualcore Intel Xeon 5050 3GHz x 2
2GB DDR2 RAM
256MB PCIe x16 ATI FireGL V7200 [note: better workstation card than GeForce 7300]
16x "Superdrive"
250GB SATA HD
$3,394
Apple Mac Pro: http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL...riqJijR/1.?p=0
Dualcore Intel Xeon 5050 3GHz x 2
2GB DDR2 RAM
256MB Nvidia GeForce 7300 GT
16x "Superdrive"
250GB SATA HD
$3,599"The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "Comment
-
well it is upgradeable.The "similarly" specced Dells and HPs don't cheap out on graphics. GeForce 7300 on a workstation? Please.
the 1:20:00 mark or so is pretty amusing, when the fat guy loses it over his ability to set backgrounds in iChat.
its almost like they're selling a toy. : /
anyway Leopard seems weak but the mac pro's look nice.Comment
-
Wait till they unveil the new pastel color scheme...anyway Leopard seems weak
I agree, for now, Leopard sounds like an expensive service pack.Let us be lazy in everything, except in loving and drinking, except in being lazy – LessingComment
-
BTW, for an idea on the difference in quality of video cards:Originally posted by Asher
It looks like the Dell only costs more if you don't know what the hell you're doing.
Dell:
Dualcore Intel Xeon 5050 3GHz x 2
2GB DDR2 RAM
256MB PCIe x16 ATI FireGL V7200 [note: better workstation card than GeForce 7300]
16x "Superdrive"
250GB SATA HD
$3,394
Apple Mac Pro: http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL...riqJijR/1.?p=0
Dualcore Intel Xeon 5050 3GHz x 2
2GB DDR2 RAM
256MB Nvidia GeForce 7300 GT
16x "Superdrive"
250GB SATA HD
$3,599
The ATI Fire GL V7200 sells for $829.99 USD: http://www.superwarehouse.com/ATI_Fi...5121/p/1483885
The GeForce 7300 GT sells for $89.99 USD: http://www.superwarehouse.com/p.cfm?p=1484099"The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "Comment
-
why do macs have this reputation as "good for power users/graphic designers" ? i've never understood that.
it seems that their main market is and should be college-age or "hip/trendy" types who don't care about high-end hardware. just the high-end looking OS and design. (and who have the money of course.)Comment
-
Is 256MB Nvidia GeForce 7300 any good, btw?"Yay Apoc!!!!!!!" - bipolarbear
"At least there were some thoughts went into Apocalypse." - Urban Ranger
"Apocalype was a great game." - DrSpike
"In Apoc, I had one soldier who lasted through the entire game... was pretty cool. I like apoc for that reason, the soldiers are a bit more 'personal'." - General LuddComment
-
It's okay if you don't plan on doing anything 3D at all."The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "Comment
-
Well for gaming anyway...is it good?"Yay Apoc!!!!!!!" - bipolarbear
"At least there were some thoughts went into Apocalypse." - Urban Ranger
"Apocalype was a great game." - DrSpike
"In Apoc, I had one soldier who lasted through the entire game... was pretty cool. I like apoc for that reason, the soldiers are a bit more 'personal'." - General LuddComment
-
No."The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "Comment
-
that is debatable, isn't it? http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...Tab=11&NoMapp=
it's mediocre, not terrible. but yeah, a $64 card in a $3500 machine does not make sense.Comment
Comment