Rachael wrote:I agree there, but unfortunately Apple is never going to lose its core users. The Macs we have today are the most powerful they will ever be for the next 5-10 years, possibly longer, until either they decide to move to a CISC processor type once more, or the ARM processors become so overclocked that the performance difference finally becomes negligible. It's going to be interesting to see where this goes, none the less.
But I will say this - before the transition to NeXTSTEP and Intel processors, Apple was in the dump and nearly bankrupt. Let's see if Tim Cook learns his lesson before that happens again.
Until now it's all rumors and most from sources I'd call fishy at best. Reading Apple magazines makes it clear that their journalists have no clue what really goes on and they, just like Tim Cook, see Apple as a distinct product category that does not obey common laws of economy.
But I also see another side. Most of the times when there's user comments to Apple related articles it was from people that are 100% convinced about Apple's superiority and/or really get defensive about their great Apple products, but recently I have noticed a shift to sarcastic remarks and announcements to "switch", all in all strongly hinting at some widespread frustration among power users.
Connecting the dots I'd say there's some disaster in the making with nobody realizing that they are running full steam ahead into a concrete wall.
Apple's biggest problem is that everybody involved - management, journalists and entrenched users are denying that there is a problem in need of getting addressed.
Rachael wrote:My opinion (please don't take this as fact, it's speculation) - I think Apple's primary motivation to move to ARM processors is to decrease Mac OS piracy. That's like washing out the baby with the bath water - a good way to ensure no one will use something is make it as unappealing as possible! Smart forward thinking there, Tim Cook!
Nah. Yes, sure, piracy exists. But at what percentage? I don't know anybody running a Hackintosh because in general the Apple tax is not that high to make this worthwile.
Seriously, if they want to combat piracy, the best way to do this is to offer a decent portfolio of supported systems, but that's clearly not on Apple's agenda.
[quote="Rachael"]I agree there, but unfortunately Apple is never going to lose its core users. The Macs we have today are the most powerful they will ever be for the next 5-10 years, possibly longer, until either they decide to move to a CISC processor type once more, or the ARM processors become so overclocked that the performance difference finally becomes negligible. It's going to be interesting to see where this goes, none the less.
But I will say this - before the transition to NeXTSTEP and Intel processors, Apple was in the dump and nearly bankrupt. Let's see if Tim Cook learns his lesson before that happens again.
[/quote]
Until now it's all rumors and most from sources I'd call fishy at best. Reading Apple magazines makes it clear that their journalists have no clue what really goes on and they, just like Tim Cook, see Apple as a distinct product category that does not obey common laws of economy.
But I also see another side. Most of the times when there's user comments to Apple related articles it was from people that are 100% convinced about Apple's superiority and/or really get defensive about their great Apple products, but recently I have noticed a shift to sarcastic remarks and announcements to "switch", all in all strongly hinting at some widespread frustration among power users.
Connecting the dots I'd say there's some disaster in the making with nobody realizing that they are running full steam ahead into a concrete wall.
Apple's biggest problem is that everybody involved - management, journalists and entrenched users are denying that there is a problem in need of getting addressed.
[quote="Rachael"]My opinion (please don't take this as fact, it's speculation) - I think Apple's primary motivation to move to ARM processors is to decrease Mac OS piracy. That's like washing out the baby with the bath water - a good way to ensure no one will use something is make it as unappealing as possible! Smart forward thinking there, Tim Cook![/quote]
Nah. Yes, sure, piracy exists. But at what percentage? I don't know anybody running a Hackintosh because in general the Apple tax is not that high to make this worthwile.
Seriously, if they want to combat piracy, the best way to do this is to offer a decent portfolio of supported systems, but that's clearly not on Apple's agenda.