LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, iMac's, Apple Batteries and Apple A/C Adapters. Also Great prices on Used Apple Computers. Call 1-800-941-7654 Click Here.
OWC: Burn DVDs, DVD-DL, CDs, DVD-Ram - FAST! Superdrive upgrades from OWC starting from $31.99 with options for nearly every Mac. Models with Lightscribe, Blu-Ray too!
My Turn is Low End Mac's column for reader-submitted
articles. It's your turn to share your thoughts on all things
Mac (or iPhone, iPod, etc.) and write for the Mac web. Email your
submission to Dan Knight
.
We've thought long and hard before posting this one, because the
arguments the author makes are ones too many Macolytes will dismiss
out of hand. After all, we tend to see "Intel Inside" as a warning
label, not a good thing. Set your biases aside for a few minutes and
consider what Matt Schultz is proposing. He's far from the only one
who believes porting OS X to Intel makes sense. dk
Recently, both Korin
Hasegawa-John and Adam Robert
Guha published articles explaining why Apple should not
port OS X to Intel. I don't have three names like these authors
do, but I do know a good idea when I see it.
Both author's arguments were akin to, "Why it's not a good idea
for Bob to cut off his right hand." They basically said that cheap
hardware would ruin Apple's hardware sales and erode their base of
revenues.
While it's probably true that Apple would not wish to compete
component for component with Dell and others, porting OS X to
Intel just makes good business and technical sense. It would be great
for Apple's sales and would boost their market share by a factor of
three in less than two years.
Both these authors missed the whole point of porting OS X to
Intel. They both made huge assumptions that porting OS X to
Intel meant that Apple must abandon their hardware. This is not
necessary, and it makes no business sense whatsoever.
Porting OS X to Intel doesn't mean that OS X would be able to run
on any "Wintel" based machine (e.g., Dell, HP, Compaq, et al). Apple
could still hold their boot ROM code and other secret sauce and
elements of their system hostage for their own hardware platform.
Keep the family jewels sacred, as it were. This could be done in ASIC
form, as an example.
All porting to Intel would mean is that instead of being stuck
with dog butt slow Motorola processors, Mac users could be running
2.4 GHz machines today - and extremely fast graphics processors.
Intel is not the world's largest semiconductor vendor for no
reason: Their defect densities are by far the lowest on earth, and
their technology is unsurpassed. It's time Apple started leveraging
these processors for the benefit of Mac users everywhere and
for the betterment of the platform as a whole. The new 64-bit RISC
processor from Intel means a smoother transition path from the
Motorola RISC design, making the time right for Apple to make the
switch.
Apple could build all their own custom hardware in any color or
shape they like, only utilize an Intel or AMD processor rather than
the PowerPC.
Motorola has shown beyond a reasonable doubt that they are not up
to the challenge of keeping up with Intel - or AMD or Transmeta, for
that matter. It's time to drop this dead weight from the platform and
expand the technological horizons of the Macintosh.
Think about what this would actually mean for all Mac users.
Really fast machines and the possibility of running a
bazillion different games and apps.
There are much broader opportunities here, opportunities that make
great business sense and open the technology of the platform to
better products with higher levels of quality and engineering.
Think faster.
Share your perspective on the Mac by emailing with "My Turn" as your subject.
Recent My Turn articles
Using Low End Macs for Internet Radio, 08.18.
When the local public radio station moved classical music to HD radio, it was time to find another way to listen. An old iMac with iTunes solved the problem.
'That's Not a Computer', 07.30.
Salvaging a broken PowerBook by turning it into a desktop computer.
My 4 favorite PowerBooks, 05.28.
The PowerBook 150 has a big screen for a vintage PowerBook, the 165c has color, the 100 is diminutive, and Lombard has USB and a great keyboard.
Mac of the Day: iMac Core2, Sep. 2006 - Apple introduced the biggest screen ever in an iMac with a 24" Core2 Duo model at 2.16 GHz.
List of the Day: MacBook List for those using a MacBook or MacBook Pro.
September 6 in LEM history: 99: G4 vs. Pentium III - 00: Setting up a server - 02: Norton Utilities warning - 10 greatest computer annoyances - 06: iMac Core2 Duo - Mac mini Core Duo - The iMac Core2 value equation - 07: Apple seduction - Why I really want an iPod touch - iPod history, 2005 to present - Upgrading a Power Mac G - Apple intros iPod touch, classic, and video nano
Listen to Just the Music with the V-Moda Vibe Earbuds, Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh, 09.05.
Well built, the noise canceling earbuds will let you hear all the nuances of your music without letting through background noise.
Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.05.
Used 1.83 GHz Core Duo, $999; 2.16, $1,125; new, 2.2, $1,450 after rebate; refurb 2.4, $1,699; 2.5, $1,999; 2.6 Santa Rosa, $1,849; rebates on new.
Best iPod touch Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.05.
Refurb 8 GB, $199; new, $284; refurb 16 GB, $299; new, $370; refurb 32 GB, $399; new, $453.
Best iMac G4 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.05.
Used 15" 700 MHz CD-RW, $279; 800 Combo, $300; 1 GHz $390; 17" 800 MHz SD, $439; 1.25 GHz, $449; 20", $569.
Tomorrow's Solid State Drives and Notebooks, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 09.04.
Flash drives are great but have some shortcomings. Some thoughts on building better SSDs and notebooks to use them.
Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.04.
Used 867 MHz Combo, no APX, $490; 1 GHz, $550; SuperDrive, $625; 1.5 GHz w/o APX, $660; w/APX, $675.
Best Mac mini Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.04.
Used 1.25 GHz G4 SD, $549; 1.42 Combo, $409; new 1.83 Core2 Combo, $569 after rebate; 2.0 SD, $769 after rebate.
Best 17" PowerBook G4 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.04.
Used 1 GHz, $779; 1.33 GHz, $799; 1.5 GHz, $859; 1.67 GHz, $910.
11 Mac Browsers Compared, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 09.03.
The latest versions of Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari, Shiira, iCab, Radon, Firefox, Netscape Navigator, SeaMonkey, Flock, and Camino tested in Leopard.
Best eMac Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.03.
Used 700 MHz Combo, $120; 1.25 GHz SuperDrive, $150; 1.42 GHz, $349.
Best Mac OS X 10.5 'Leopard' Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.03.
Mac OS X 10.5, single user, $99; 5 users, $140; 10.5 Server, 10 users, $395; unlimited, $850.
Best MacBook Air Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.03.
Refurb 1.6 HD, $1,499; new, $1,690 after rebate; refurb 1.8, $1,699; new, $1,919 a/r; refurb 1.6 SSD, $2,099; new, $2,294 a/r; refurb 1.8, $2,299; new, $2,400 a/r.
Psystar Strikes Back, Countersues Apple, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 09.03.
Psystar is trying to paint Apple as a monopoly and force it to license the Mac OS.
All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For
price quotes and advertising information, please contact
at BackBeat Media
(646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.
Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer
5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We
recommend Firefox
for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more
secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox
than any other browser.
