I’ve long said it: Apple is a software company. They also make hardware customized to run their software.
In the article (linked below), it’s predicted that iOS and Apple OS X will eventually merge. Apple hardware will eventually change so that your iPhone, iPad, and Mac computers will all run the same operating system. I’m not happy with that.
There is a philosophical difference between a computer and a mobile device. The first creates information, the second consumes it. If it’s Apple’s intent to turn all their hardware into information consuming devices, then Apple has lost me as a customer.
I enjoy using Apple hardware, mostly because it’s Unix but Apple makes good hardware. If Apple turns my powerful desktop workstation (currently a Core 7 iMac) into a large iPad, then I’m done. I’ll set up a Linux or FreeBSD box to sate my Unix lusts, but otherwise I’ll have to surrender to Microsoft and Windows if I want to continue to use a real computer.
I think it’ll be the other way around. Instead of turning your iMac into a big iPad, I think they’ll turn your iPad into a mini iMac. And to me that’s a really dumb idea. Nobody wants a full desktop OS running on their little mobile device.
Comment by gamerguy473 — August 4, 2011 @ 10:35 am
Perhaps you’re correct. It’s my observation, however, that Steve Jobs is obsessed with mobile computing. I don’t think he appreciates the desktop for how it’s used. Witness his earlier desire for the first Mac not to have a keyboard. That’s what concerns me.
Comment by admin — August 4, 2011 @ 11:02 am
>Admin wrote:
>Witness his earlier desire for the first Mac not to have a keyboard.
PCs for Dummies, 5th edition. Chapter 14, page 193:
Rumor has it that Apple founder Steve Jobs didn’t even want the first Macintosh model to have a keyboard. Apparently, he believed everything could be done by using a mouse. (Yeah: “Click 20 times to type an A, 21 times to type a B . . . .”)
Comment by linuxlove — August 4, 2011 @ 8:00 pm
C’est vrai. That’s probably one reason Jobs was so giddy when he first demoed the iPad. It was finally the interface he wanted.
Just finished watching The Pirates of Silicon Valley. Well-done flick about the early days of Apple and Microsoft. My son said he enjoyed it better than The Social Network.
Comment by admin — August 4, 2011 @ 8:04 pm
Of course, if Apple does move to an ARM-only platform, there’s one positive and one negative I can think of right off the bat:
Positive:
* No more OSx86
Negative:
* Unless Microsoft plans to port Windows 8 to Apple’s ARM platform, no more Windows on your MacBook.
Comment by linuxlove — August 4, 2011 @ 8:11 pm
That “Negative” item may haunt them. I know a lot of Mac users who use Boot Camp. I’ve never done so (because I also have a PC). Then again, there is Parallels…
Comment by admin — August 4, 2011 @ 8:14 pm
…but since AFAIK Parallels is virtualization software, and if Apple moves to ARM-only, then they’ll be right back to where they were in the PowerPC days: Emulation.
Emulating a PC wasn’t fast in the PowerPC days and to emulate an x86 PC at a decent enough speed to run something like Windows 7 at a decent speed, I’m guessing it’s going to be more than that little ARM chip can handle.
Comment by linuxlove — August 4, 2011 @ 8:18 pm
Good point. At least this nightmare — if true — won’t happen for several years yet. But I believe it will happen.
Comment by admin — August 4, 2011 @ 8:24 pm
Dan- have you upgraded to Lion? If so, what do you think of it. People are saying its Apple’s Vista
Comment by BradC — August 7, 2011 @ 1:01 pm
I’m refusing to upgrade to Lion. It has features I don’t want and don’t need, plus it’s one step closer to making the Mac desktop into the iGizmo.
I do have an older Mac AirBook I could upgrade. But I’d need to buy Snow Leopard for it first, then upgrade to Lion. That’s too convoluted for me to devote any energy to the product. I will not be upgrading my iMac to Lion.
Comment by admin — August 7, 2011 @ 1:17 pm