[vladinecko]

it's less than a day till steve jobs delivers his keynote at this year's macworld in SF where he might announce the first intel-based macs. i don't know about other mac users here, but i'm pretty excited about this. too bad the powerbooks are not on the early schedule as probably iBooks and Mac minis are...

[jcoo085]

I thought the powerbooks were going to be the first to get it? I remember reading somewhere that the reason they were switching to Intel was that the powerpc manufacturer (IBM or Motorola???) was unable to produce a new chip that met Apple's heat, power, and size specs...

[vladinecko]

well, no, because the higher performance mobile intel chips, called yonah, will not be out for a bit but the lower performance ones are already out. that is why the rumor is that they would first release entry level macs, like ibooks or minis, and then go with the power- stuff.

[eleven24]

If it's any consolation, I did read a very strong rumor that Jobs will announce a Mac-Mini based home media center powered by an Intel chip. The media center is rumored to use Front Row, similar to the current iMac G5. Features COULD be (and this is only 'net speculation) that it will include TiVo-type DVR functionality and have an iPod dock built right in.

There is a lot of evidence to support a Mac Mini Media Center, and I believe it will have built in DVR functionality. Some of the rumors indicate one would be able to record a show off of cable/satellite TV via the DVR and then drop it to your video iPod. Sounds good, but I can't see Apple cannibalizing their iTunes $1.99 per episode show offerings.

The other alternative is an on-demand service provided through .Mac whereby one could "subscribe" to a TV show and have it delivered to their Mac Mini. There would still be a DVR, but the shows would not be able to be transferred to the iPod. Supporting evidence: all .Mac accounts were recently upgraded to include 1 TERABYTE of bandwidth use. Also, .Mac will be down for "service upgrades" tomorrow -- which coincidentally is when Steve delivers his keynote.

For Apple users, this is a big deal. Aside from having a far superior O/S, using an Apple is being a part of a community. PC users have no idea how big tomorrow's Keynote is going to be, although they'll be lining up for whatever new iPod is released. (Another rumor: Bluetooth iPod & updated shuffle)

Can't wait... unfortunately, Apple no longer streams the MW Keynote.

[northerncalguy]

Intel-based Mac Mini sounds hot. I'll replace my existing Mini with that one for sure!

[eleven24]

BTW - I just bought a new 17" Powerbook a month ago, even in the face of the new Intel based ones. I use it every day, so I don't need to suffer the growing pains associated with the new technology... and I'll wait until the software manufacturers start releasing OSX Intel apps. I really don't need Photoshop running through Rosetta, the 3rd party translator.

[vladinecko]

Originally Posted by eleven24

The other alternative is an on-demand service provided through .Mac whereby one could "subscribe" to a TV show and have it delivered to their Mac Mini. There would still be a DVR, but the shows would not be able to be transferred to the iPod. Supporting evidence: all .Mac accounts were recently upgraded to include 1 TERABYTE of bandwidth use. Also, .Mac will be down for "service upgrades" tomorrow -- which coincidentally is when Steve delivers his keynote.

i do agree with that. i also noticed the .Mac downtime note so i wouldn't be surprised if they introduced something like that.

i'm pretty sure some kind of DVR will be in the new Mac mini, hell, they've been talking about an iPod dock right in it for a long time now. so this would be the next natural step for them.

[vladinecko]

Originally Posted by eleven24

unfortunately, Apple no longer streams the MW Keynote.

well, they usually post a replay stream a few hours after the keynote so we're only missing the "freshness" of the news. by the way, i'll be at the WWDC in June so i hope to see some big announcements there as well.

[vladinecko]

Originally Posted by eleven24

I really don't need Photoshop running through Rosetta, the 3rd party translator.

adobe has a really good relationship with apple so i wouldn't be surprised if they released an intel version of their whole suite alongside the new macs. to convert the binaries to be dual-platform is not that big of a deal, if your app was done right, so i don't think it will be long before all major apps will be both intel and powerpc compatible.

[jflecha]

I hope I'm not the only thats a little worried about an intel version of our beloved OS X in the hands of folk getting it to run on any off the shelf PC, otherwise I am optomistic about the transition but I really hope it still feels like a mac when OS X is running on intel hardware.

[vladinecko]

Originally Posted by jflecha

I hope I'm not the only thats a little worried about an intel version of our beloved OS X in the hands of folk getting it to run on any off the shelf PC, otherwise I am optomistic about the transition but I really hope it still feels like a mac when OS X is running on intel hardware.

well, this is already the case. the intel mac os x has been out available to developers but there is always a leak. so, there already patches that will allow basically any pc run os x. that doesn't mean it will be supported though. apple prides itself in stability and reliability of its computers, so that would be a huge step back for them.

[eleven24]

Originally Posted by vladinecko

adobe has a really good relationship with apple so i wouldn't be surprised if they released an intel version of their whole suite alongside the new macs. to convert the binaries to be dual-platform is not that big of a deal, if your app was done right, so i don't think it will be long before all major apps will be both intel and powerpc compatible.

I'm sure the Apple Aperture development team isn't exactly thrilled with Adobe today. If you're not aware, Adobe released a beta of "Lightroom" which probably signals the death of Aperture, especially when you consider Lightbox will be tightly integrated with Photoshop.

Download Adobe Lightroom Beta (MAC only)

[vladinecko]

Originally Posted by eleven24

I'm sure the Apple Aperture development team isn't exactly thrilled with Adobe today. If you're not aware, Adobe released a beta of "Lightroom" which probably signals the death of Aperture, especially when you consider Lightbox will be tightly integrated with Photoshop.

yup, i was just reading about this and watched the video. aperture got really slapped in the face by critics because it turned out to be just an expensive photo viewer that still misses a lot of the functionality requested by professional photographers. hey, more power to whoever is better!

[txusa03]

I wonder how this new intel-based MAC is going to do to the Apple stock. I own some Apple stocks, yippie.

[vladinecko]

Originally Posted by txusa03

I wonder how this new intel-based MAC is going to do to the Apple stock. I own some Apple stocks, yippie.

i hope it initially lowers them because i wanna buy a bunch now, it at ~$72 and that is ridiculously high. especially considering they split the stock not even a year ago when it was still just over $30 a share.

[jflecha]

Originally Posted by vladinecko

well, this is already the case. the intel mac os x has been out available to developers but there is always a leak. so, there already patches that will allow basically any pc run os x. that doesn't mean it will be supported though. apple prides itself in stability and reliability of its computers, so that would be a huge step back for them.

I'm not worried about the developer version, its the retail one.
Apple sells alot of iPods but its still a computer company, if people think they can buy a cheap PC and run OS X on it mac sales go down the toilet. Remember the Power Computing days and how Apple had to put the clone makers out of buisness because they were hurting power mac sales.
Thats what I'm refering to, I hope Apple has some magic hardware key or something, or else a lot of people will be dual booting their PC's with XP & OS X.

[vladinecko]

Originally Posted by jflecha

I hope Apple has some magic hardware key or something, or else a lot of people will be dual booting their PC's with XP & OS X.

whatever they come up with, i'm pretty sure it's just a matter of time before it gets cracked and the hardware keys will be sold on ebay as "buy this optical mouse for $99 and we'll give you a free mac key" kind of deals.

i just can't wait for native windows support so that i can finally do all my software testing on only one machine in real time, my powerbook.

[jflecha]

Originally Posted by vladinecko

whatever they come up with, i'm pretty sure it's just a matter of time before it gets cracked and the hardware keys will be sold on ebay as "buy this optical mouse for $99 and we'll give you a free mac key" kind of deals.

i just can't wait for native windows support so that i can finally do all my software testing on only one machine in real time, my powerbook.

I'm looking forward to breaking the 3 Ghz barrier.

[jflecha]

Originally Posted by eleven24

I'm sure the Apple Aperture development team isn't exactly thrilled with Adobe today. If you're not aware, Adobe released a beta of "Lightroom" which probably signals the death of Aperture, especially when you consider Lightbox will be tightly integrated with Photoshop.

Download Adobe Lightroom Beta (MAC only)

Apple did the same thing to Adobe and Avid when they released Final Cut Pro for video editing.

[txusa03]

Originally Posted by vladinecko

i hope it initially lowers them because i wanna buy a bunch now, it at ~$72 and that is ridiculously high. especially considering they split the stock not even a year ago when it was still just over $30 a share.

High is good for those who bought them a while back. I think Apple stock will be very good in the future considering all the cool gadgets they came out with, ipod, the movie pod, the mac mini, ect...

[eleven24]

Buy the stock now if you're planning on holding it long term. If you look at Apple's financials (Morningstar.com) you'll see that the revenue & cash have steadily increased each year. Even better, they're spending more each year on R&D which means new cool products in the pipeline.

Consider this: One year ago I made the argument that a buddy of mine should jump in and buy Apple. He said that $35 (or whatever it was) was too expensive for Apple.

With so many innovative products, & the buzz Apple creates around them, I find it hard to believe AAPL is nothing but a winner. Plus, I like owning stock in a company I believe in.

[txusa03]

I agree, it is a very good company and has very reliable products. in 2005, many pc users have cross over to the apple arena. I forgot what the percentage was but it was not a huge number of cross over but it took a good bite out of pc market. Only thing I see people complaints about apple is their laptop and desktop are priced very high compare to PC. But you get a solid good product for the price. I like apple eventhough I use pc 80% and apple 20%. I don't know as much in apple but I know they don't crash or get hit with viruses.