Mac NetBook Ping!
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Posted on 12/06/2008 9:47:04 PM PST by SunkenCiv
The sudden explosion in the popularity of netbooks -- portables with 10-inch or smaller screens that are often based around low-power processors and meant for basic Internet use -- has pushed the price of a notebook to as little as $300. Apple can't ignore this, Gottheil claims. But while the Mac maker's chief Steve Jobs has argued that the iPhone is netbook-like in fulfilling many of the same online roles, the researcher believes that the desire for a keyboard ultimately the usefulness of the iPhone for certain software and that something more is necessary. Instead, he and TBR are confident that Apple will release a computer in the netbook class within the first half of next year, but one that doesn't obey many of the rules dictated by the industry... Crucially, he also takes to heart Jobs' assertion that $500 systems are typically "junk" and believes that Apple will price the system at $599. The figure would be just low enough to draw customers who would pass over the plastic MacBook but high enough to avoid the risk Apple's co-founder perceives in dropping the price particularly low.
(Excerpt) Read more at appleinsider.com ...
Steve Jobs on Apple's cash, NetBooks, Apple TV, and cheap PCsAsked about PC prices in the current economy and the new netbook category that is "getting a lot of hype", Jobs said "well, again, this particular downturn is not creating a market of cheaper computers. That market has existed for some time. And there are parts of that market that we choose not to play in. I think that when people want a product of the class that we make, over and over again people have done the price comparisons and we're actually quite competitive. So we choose to be in some segments of the market and we choose not to be in certain segments of the market. So the question is, 'is the downturn going to drive some of our customers to those lower segments of the market place to buy lesser products.' I will be surprised if that happens in large numbers... You know, one of our entrants into that category if you will is the iPhone, for browsing the Internet, and doing email and all the other things that a netbook lets you do. And being connected via the cellular network wherever you are, an iPhone is a pretty good solution for that, and it fits in your pocket..." Jobs said... Asked whether users will be likely to see a cheaper computer from Apple, Jobs answered, "I think what we want to do is deliver an increasing level of value to these customers... We've seen great success by focusing on certain segments of the market and not trying to be everything to everybody. So I think you can expect us to stick with that winning strategy and continue to try to add more and more value to those products in those customer bases we choose to serve."
by Prince McLean
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Okay I still have a 3+ year old eMac running around as a backup in a guest room for people to use when visiting or some bizarre emergency where my iMac goes down (Knock on wood.) and the thing can barely handle the current version of Safari, iTunes and the old 10.4.x version of Office.
I can bring the thing to a standstill with even simple applications like Keynote and Pages. I can totally crash it by watching anything even remotely approaching full screen DVD streaming.
Apple is notoriously cheap on RAM and makes few and sometimes NO graphics card options available on hardware. Why would they enter a market where internet applications like streaming video would show their machine is a POS?
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Have you considered spending the $60 to max out its RAM, perhaps? :P
eMacs were intended for school lab use.
Add in the 8 hour run time and the ability to charge your phone via USB, and I have 80% of a laptop in a much more portable, much longer lasting form factor. I can do all my e-mail (including long replies), web browsing, banking, read Word documents/PDFs, Excel spreadsheets, read e-Books, etc. with this setup.
Seriously, smartphones have the power for just about anything you'd want a netbook for, they just have too small of a screen and keyboard for anything beyond VERY casual/short term UI work. Adding a Redfly-like device is a massive leap forward.
Strange. If your eMac is only 3+ years old, it is either a 1.25Ghz or 1.42GHz G4 model, both of which were discontinued in mid 2005. Those processors are well within the minimum specs to run OSX.5 Leopard. How much RAM does it contain?
I have a similar older backup computer only it is a 500MHz dual processor G4 that was discontinued in January 2001, three months before the release of OSX.0. It was never intended to run OSX but it is currently running OSX.4.11 Tiger in only 640MB of RAM. It handles Pages, Keynote, iTunes, Safari 3.2, and Office X for Mac... all at reasonable speed and without crashing. It handles streaming video quite nicely... while running other applications at the same time.
I have two G3 laptops, a 500MHz (Discontinued October 2001) and a 700MHz (Discontinued November 2002), that are running OSX.3.9 quite nicely with just 512M of RAM. Both of them handle multitasking ALL of the programs you mentioned at the same time except Pages (which won't run on OSX.3). They do not crash, or even slow down appreciably.
A charity that I volunteer for has four 700MHz G4 Flat panel iMacs (discontinued February 2003—almost six years old) with only 256 MB of RAM that are running on OSX.3.9 and regularly run Microsoft Word while also running a virtualized OS9 installation running Filemaker3.0 on a network... and experience few crashes (all of which are in the virtualized OS9 without crashing OSX). The speed of these machines is quite acceptable for browsing and/or running iTunes.
I have also had clients with eMac machines that were slower than yours that run OSX adequately to do the tasks you say "crash" and/or All of these have far slower processors than your 3+ year old eMAc and do not behave like POS computers.
In actual fact, modern OSX Macs can easily handle full 1080p streaming HD... and will not be POS machines. Even the AppleTV can do that right now. Many people are using MacMinis for that very purpose.
Your experience simply does NOT agree with my extensive experiences with Macs over the years... including eMacs. I smell FUD in the air.
By the way, if what you say is actually true, then there is something seriously wrong with your eMac... probably a flaky RAM stick.
I’ve got a Powerbook G4 1.0 GHZ 17” from 2003 running as a server in my house. 10.5.5 is installed and runs fine. In fact, it is still very competitive for day to day computing when I compare it with my Macbook Pro.
We also have a 1.25 GHZ iMac from 2004. That runs Leopard just fine as well.
I too have older Macs around here and they run these apps pretty well. I wonder if you might have an overstuffed HD. Have you run software update on the OS and make sure you have the latest media player.
Streaming can be tricky. If it is Windows Media video streams they can be a real problem in some cases. I have found that some web developers make their websites such that Macs just can’t access them - typically this is either forms work or playing back content. Some of these sites will work with FireFox but a lot just require Windows. This is one of my two bitches about Macs.
The netbooks are pretty spiffy. I’m considering one for my husband after my daughter purchased one as a backup for her laptop. It weighs about 2 pounds, does basic functions, such as notetaking and web surfing well, and it reduces the wear and tear on my laptop in that the laptop stays in place and the netbook travels.
Apple would do well to consider this market - streamlined, minimal apps, easy to use. Not everyone wants the bells and whistles.
:’) I think perhaps Jobs is correct, for the basics, and for portability (rather than as a primary machine) the various handhelds do the job. My guess is, there will be something from Apple next year. One suggestion I’ve seen has been a merger of the MacMini with AppleTV. The former has been a good-sized hit for Apple but needs updating, the latter not so much. It won’t be too many more years before CPUs with more pop than we’re using now will be the size of a networking dongle.
But anyway, regarding iPod Touch/iPhone vs a webbook, I don’t think I’d go either way, because my hands and fingers are too big (and my eyesight for closeups isn’t what it once was) to use the interfaces, even with the Asus and Acer etc. But I do play with the webbooks when I’m at a warehouse club or big box stores.
Sometime last month there was a thread by someone (hmm, was it you?) that needed to get a daughter a machine for school, and these webbooks were one suggestion (heh, by me). If the machine is going to have to be lugged around, for example, to class, smaller is better, provided the durability is there. Then a cheap USB keyboard and mouse can be left in the dorm room for ease of use. :’)
Looks like a sort of a dock for the cell, seems like a very good idea. I’ve seen those landline home units with Bluetooth which permit users to answer and make calls using their cell phone, obviating the need for any landline, but not preventing it either.
I’d be surprised if no one has been working on a driver as you suggest.
:’) Thanks again for telling me about the Asus about a year and a half ago. :’D
Okay I still have a 3+ year old eMac running around as a backup in a guest room for people to use when visiting or some bizarre emergency where my iMac goes down (Knock on wood.) and the thing can barely handle the current version of Safari, iTunes and the old 10.4.x version of Office. I can bring the thing to a standstill with even simple applications like Keynote and Pages. I can totally crash it by watching anything even remotely approaching full screen DVD streaming.I agree with Swordmaker (et al?), it needs a RAM upgrade, then *shut off* virtual memory, it slows down the machine, and they're not that fast anyway.
Apple is notoriously cheap on RAM and makes few and sometimes NO graphics card options available on hardware. Why would they enter a market where internet applications like streaming video would show their machine is a POS?The eMac was for the educational market, and teachers (present company excepted of course) are cheap bastards with an entitlement mentality. I mean that in the nicest way of course. Anyway, I use an eMac pretty regularly (my late dad's still runs) but I run it in OS 9.2.2 rather than the 10.2.6 or whatever (he bought it early in 2003). I haven't been a fan of OS X (sorry, Swordmaker).
Technology that is *not quite there yet* vis a vis portable computing:
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/virtual-reality4.htm
http://www.globalsources.com/manufacturers/Virtual-Reality-Headset.html
re: Redfly, iPhone not listed:
http://www.celiocorp.com/smartphone/
Y’know, for the money, it would make much more sense to just get one of these webbooks, as it appears that they cost about the same or just a touch more than Redfly. :’)
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