This article was supposed to be about what you can do with
first-generation Power Macs, but after the reaction to last week's
Expo, I decided to postpone that.
After much thinking and researching, I realized something - this
Expo may have seemed disappointing, but was it really?
After reading various grumblings on the Web and watching the
Stevenote on QuickTime TV, it seems Apple's role in the Macworld Expo
was a bit disappointing. People were complaining that the new G4 was
just the old one with some modifications to the case. Others were
complaining that the iMacs were just speed bumped instead of being
redesigned. Others were complaining that most of the Stevenote was
wasted on OS X. Should these people be complaining? Yes - and
no.
Here's the thing: Apple's been releasing new computers at least once
a year for each product line for the last few years. Right now they
have pretty good designs for each line, so why change anything? Well,
consumers (especially people on the Mac Web) have more or less been
demanding new stuff, but maybe Apple's reverting to its old self
(a.k.a. Apple from the early 1990s - see later in this article ).
People are complaining now about the G4 using the same basic case as
its predecessor and the Blue and White G3. What's wrong with that?
Apple had the IIcx back in 1989,
reintroduced the same case with the IIci six months later, and then
reintroduced it with the Quadra
700 two years after that. The lifetime of this case design (which
wasn't perfect, either) was over three years.
The compact Mac case lasted for a
good eight years, from 1984 through 1992. Did the fact that the
SE used the same basic case
design as the earlier Macs hurt the SE's sales? No. It actually helped
its sales, since people saw the compact case as a symbol that
represented the Mac. I think that Apple may be trying to do that again
with keeping the iMac case and the G3/G4 drawbridge case.
The fact that Apple didn't release any really "new" computers at
this Expo also shows that Apple may be slowing down. Now that the
company's out of the red, it can keep designs longer instead of keep
trying to impress people with new computers.
Also, Apple had to spend a lot of time showing off OS X
at the Expo. OS X still isn't as popular as Apple wants - they
want everyone to use it instead of 9.x and below. They want to show
everyone that their favorite software will run on OS X now or in
the near future.
I hate to say this, but it looks like OS X will be the only
game in town in a few years. I'm guessing Classic (OS 9.x) is going to
go the way of the Apple IIgs.
Another thing someone pointed out that I have to agree with - Apple
has a niche market with DV, but they need to branch out. In the late
1980s Commodore had a niche market in video production with their
Amigas, and look at the Amiga now - a very small share of the market.
Do we want the Mac to become the next Amiga?
On the other hand, people should be complaining. Apple's New York
expos have always been about new products. Apple has tended to ignore
the calls for a flat-panel iMac or a very cheap Mac or some tweaks to
the TiBook. Or maybe they're going to release them between Expos like
they did the iceBook.
I'd like to sum up with this - Apple's Expo was okay. It could've
been better, but they don't have to have new products at every
expo. Just think back to when the older Macs were being produced - a
design lasted a couple years without any changes.
