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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.
Mac of the Day: Centris 650, Feb. 1993 - The replacement for the Quadra 700 has room for an internal CD-ROM.
List of the Day: Old Mac MP covers 604-based multiprocessor Macs and clones.
September 7 in LEM history: 98: Banner exchanges - 00: Tips from the Mac manager - Getting a Mac job - 01: Apple and the gray market - Repositioning the 'Books - 04: Tray loading iMac a good choice for OS X? - Pismo CPU upgrades - 06: Mac mini value equation - Setting up a Mac Classic II - Putting the Intel transition in perspective - 07: Region free DVD viewing, - My Newton - Solving Mac disk and hardware problems - 2 apps every MacBook should have
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11 Mac Browsers Compared, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 09.03.
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Psystar Strikes Back, Countersues Apple, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 09.03.
Psystar is trying to paint Apple as a monopoly and force it to license the Mac OS.
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