[Ti] Re: IBM introduces new PowerPC processors

[Henry Kalir]

Chris Olson wrote:

> On Jul 9, 2005, at 7:17 PM, Henry Kalir wrote:
>
>> I wonder if the Chinese would be willing to pay the $7K for a 970 CPU 
>> based machine..
>
>
> Today, you can't buy an Intel or AMD based server that competes with 
> the IBM BladeCenter/eServer line on any of price point, power, or 
> scalability.  Period.  And servers are what power industry - not 
> workstations and portables.  You own the server market, you'll 
> eventually own the desktop market.
>
I beg to differ. The desktops are a consumer commodity, sold based on 
price and application availability, among other factors. Something which 
has always been scoffed at by all the condescending 
"oh-we-are-so-superior" Apple sycophantic crowd, for whom the old Apple 
way could do no wrong. "Thank you" for your denial, for justifying 
Apple's ridiculously high hardware prices, which clearly was NOT that 
superior to the competition and for YEARS of excuses which netted Apple 
a marginal market <3% niche, and saw the migration of many users and 
developers OUT of the Mac OS. This resulted in us having way LESS 
applications to run on the so called "superior platform" of the past, 
and having to BEG former Apple Apps "flagship companies" such as Adobe 
etc to kindy continue and put out a Mac version too.

> Leveno is the cheap commodity champion.  And yes, the Chinese have the 
> money.  China's leaders have realized that for them to become an 
> industrial giant and a major world player they need computer 
> technology - good technology - and they need it cheap so that 
> education can be enhanced and they can stay with the forefront of 
> technology in other parts of the world.
>
Oh yeah? The Chinese need it cheap, huh??? CHEAP, Chris!!! Yet you said 
recently that it didn't matter to you if a 970-based Mac cost $7K. I can 
fish out your words, if you need a refresher. That's the trouble. If 
Apple had competed on the total price it would have done much better. If 
Dell can do it, so can Apple.

> Leveno is now the 3rd largest manufacturer of computers in the world, 
> trailing only Dell and HP.  They're bigger than Apple.  Way bigger.
>
Hah...Lenovo is "bigger than Apple"..., now there's a 
"challenge"...that's probably because their "crowd" does NOT accept 
overpriced hardware tauted to be "oh-so-superior".

> Take a look at the Mac x86 dev boxes.  I now have one to play with.  
> It's a commodity PC - Intel manufactured motherboard, chipsets, 
> graphics, ethernet, the whole 9 yards.  It boots Windows XP perfectly 
> fine.  Except for one little problem; I can buy the same thing from 
> Dell way cheaper than what Apple is going to charge extra for their 
> fancy case.  Same thing applies to PowerBooks.

How do YOU know what Apple is going to charge for their products? 
Marketing is not a linear process. Just look at the iPod's success.

>
> In the past the PowerBook was a good buy because you couldn't buy a 
> Unix-powered PowerPC-based machine anywhere else for the same price.  
> Once your PowerBook has nothing but an Intel Centrino in it, same as a 
> Dell, it better be able to compete on price point.  But you say, "oh, 
> the PowerBook comes with OS X".  Big deal.  The Dell will run linux 
> just fine, and modern desktop linux systems are every bit as good as 
> OS X.  It's still just Unix under the hood.
>
Somehow we're deviating here. People are still OVERWHELMINGLY using 
Windows. Has everyone migrated to Linux?

> Apple has done well selling a product you couldn't get anywhere else, 
> and charging a premium price for it.  

Chris...stop it! Apple has NOT done well. It has bled marketshare, yes - 
major hemorrhage!!! With the result that it has been relegated to a 
curiosity corner. Please wake up and smell the coffee. There's not a 
single application that I know of which the END USER can say exists on a 
Mac and not on a "PC". People like me feel like BEGGARS, yes, BEGGARS, 
trying to get developers to look at the Mac OS, and they ALL tell me - 
"why should I bother for 3% of the market". Do you even begin to 
understand that???

> They're a hardware company, not a software company.  Unfortunately, 
> Apple isn't very good at being the cheap commodity champion, and 
> computers aren't iPods.  If an Intel-based PowerBook is $100 more than 
> a Dell or ThinkPad with the same stuff in it, I'll buy the cheaper 
> one.  And so will millions of other consumers.  A fancy case with an 
> Apple logo on it isn't going to cut it in the commodity PC business.

Wrong! Apple is a software-in-a-specific-hardware-configuration company. 
And how do you know that Apple won't be able to compete with Dell on 
price?  I say HIP HIP HOORAY to Steve Jobs for finally seeing the light 
and doing the RIGHT thing. If IBM's processor turns out to be such a 
killer, that Dell and others will use it in their products - then so can 
Apple. Apple is FINALLY moving forward. It will use whatever is BEST out 
there and compete with others and SUCCEED. Don't like that? Well, then - 
just don't stumble on your way out.

Best,

Henry