ten-oak-druid
Apr 6, 07:14 AM
Just because you know how to design a computer user interface doesn't mean that you also know how to design a car. Cars are much more complex than computers -- all cars have computers built in, but no computer has a car built in.
Also, most of Apple's products look better than they are user friendly or work well. Their keyboards and mice are horrible, for example - every Microsoft or Logitech keyboard or mice blows the Apple competition out of the water when it comes to ergonomics. And ergonomics is something that's VERY important in a car. Apple very obviously sucks at that.
If you want a car that looks and feels like something that could have been designed by Apple, buy a Smart (Diesel). They're great and affordable city and short distance cars, I love them. The only difference is that if Apple would have designed the Smart, it would cost as much as BMW.
Well I don't quite agree that Apple, if tasked with designing a car, couldn't add to the industry. You say a car has a computer in it but that does not mean Toyota knows how to make a good looking GUI for an OS. They tried and it looks horrible. But they didn't have to create the OS to try. Same thing for Apple in this hypothetical. I'm not talking about Apple designing brake systems etc. I'm talking about what it would be like if Apple had the chance to take control of the design elements with feedback from engineers in the field of course.
Apple brought design elements to desktops and delivered us from the tan box tower. That has been the appeal of Apple for a while now. So what would the people at Apple do if tasked with modifying car design? A better job that toyota did with iOS I''m sure.
Also, most of Apple's products look better than they are user friendly or work well. Their keyboards and mice are horrible, for example - every Microsoft or Logitech keyboard or mice blows the Apple competition out of the water when it comes to ergonomics. And ergonomics is something that's VERY important in a car. Apple very obviously sucks at that.
If you want a car that looks and feels like something that could have been designed by Apple, buy a Smart (Diesel). They're great and affordable city and short distance cars, I love them. The only difference is that if Apple would have designed the Smart, it would cost as much as BMW.
Well I don't quite agree that Apple, if tasked with designing a car, couldn't add to the industry. You say a car has a computer in it but that does not mean Toyota knows how to make a good looking GUI for an OS. They tried and it looks horrible. But they didn't have to create the OS to try. Same thing for Apple in this hypothetical. I'm not talking about Apple designing brake systems etc. I'm talking about what it would be like if Apple had the chance to take control of the design elements with feedback from engineers in the field of course.
Apple brought design elements to desktops and delivered us from the tan box tower. That has been the appeal of Apple for a while now. So what would the people at Apple do if tasked with modifying car design? A better job that toyota did with iOS I''m sure.
dhunt
Aug 11, 06:20 PM
I'm guessing they will be available the 17th. (that's when the major in mac promo ends) a.k.a. get people to buy our old macs by throwing a free nano at them so we can ship our new ones!
Thunderbird
Apr 23, 04:30 PM
Seeing as how the iPad 2 didn't get retina display, I doubt iMacs will.
Imagine the cost of that!!
Imagine the cost of that!!
Butthead
Sep 16, 01:05 PM
2.16 and 2.33 Merom options
Magnetic latch
MacBook style keyboard
New video card (Nvidia?)
160GB hard drive option
IMO, these are the least that Apple can do to keep up with other high performance notebooks in the market. I think new MBP's will arrive one the same day as Photokina although they may not be highlighted at the event.
Dreaming really (note 1920 res. hack for PB thread here has over 100k views, Apple get a clue!), but hopefully the delay has more to do with better upgrades, vid chip (Nvidia GeForce Go 7900 GTX, 512 MB please), a true HD screen (WQUXGA (http://www.videotechnology.com/0904/formats.html) would be even nicer, 4k res, yeah baby, just the ticket for Leopard and the 17in model), etc. ; than limited supply of Merom's...why put them in the iMac 1st when the profit margin is higher on the MBP's- which are in more need of an early upgrade than the iMac?
Dell already has these features in one of it's expensive laptops (though almost twice as thick, which makes it much easier to implement):
http://www.mobilityguru.com/2006/08/28/see_eurocom_emperor_fly_with_nvidia_sli/page2.html
Magnetic latch
MacBook style keyboard
New video card (Nvidia?)
160GB hard drive option
IMO, these are the least that Apple can do to keep up with other high performance notebooks in the market. I think new MBP's will arrive one the same day as Photokina although they may not be highlighted at the event.
Dreaming really (note 1920 res. hack for PB thread here has over 100k views, Apple get a clue!), but hopefully the delay has more to do with better upgrades, vid chip (Nvidia GeForce Go 7900 GTX, 512 MB please), a true HD screen (WQUXGA (http://www.videotechnology.com/0904/formats.html) would be even nicer, 4k res, yeah baby, just the ticket for Leopard and the 17in model), etc. ; than limited supply of Merom's...why put them in the iMac 1st when the profit margin is higher on the MBP's- which are in more need of an early upgrade than the iMac?
Dell already has these features in one of it's expensive laptops (though almost twice as thick, which makes it much easier to implement):
http://www.mobilityguru.com/2006/08/28/see_eurocom_emperor_fly_with_nvidia_sli/page2.html
iFanboy
Mar 30, 05:41 PM
Dear Apple
PLEASE can we have a UI update, even if it's a minor one (for instance, iTunes 10 scrollbars rather than the blue aqua ones). Just some extra polish really.
Signed
iFanboy
PLEASE can we have a UI update, even if it's a minor one (for instance, iTunes 10 scrollbars rather than the blue aqua ones). Just some extra polish really.
Signed
iFanboy
Don't panic
May 5, 05:03 PM
I feel for you, lass.
nothin' a good meaty soup can't fix.
when properly prepared, goblin taste just like chicken.
nothin' a good meaty soup can't fix.
when properly prepared, goblin taste just like chicken.
beg_ne
Mar 29, 09:37 AM
I wonder which genius at Amazon thought it was a good idea to make their cloud service work in the US only.
If you don't have a US based IP address you are locked out of the system. Can't even sign up and see what it looks like. Also you can't purchase either mp3's or video from Amazon if you originate from a non-US IP address. Even if you have proper payment/billing information in the US.
IMO their informational video is outright lying when they say you can access your files anytime and anywhere.
Apparently in Amazonland anywhere = The US and ONLY the US.
So if you get this setup in the US and travel to a foreign country your amazing, anywhere & anytime "cloud" storage magically goes away.
Looks like Apple will have to step in and show these morons how it's done yet again.
If you don't have a US based IP address you are locked out of the system. Can't even sign up and see what it looks like. Also you can't purchase either mp3's or video from Amazon if you originate from a non-US IP address. Even if you have proper payment/billing information in the US.
IMO their informational video is outright lying when they say you can access your files anytime and anywhere.
Apparently in Amazonland anywhere = The US and ONLY the US.
So if you get this setup in the US and travel to a foreign country your amazing, anywhere & anytime "cloud" storage magically goes away.
Looks like Apple will have to step in and show these morons how it's done yet again.
Eidorian
Jul 21, 04:04 PM
wow, most importantly on slide 3 they say that they launched the 965 chipset. that means they can switch to the 965 integrated GPU across the board for consumer macs. that would certainly help the heat issues, make the macs cheaper and less complicated to design for apple. standard parts and boards allow for even faster updates. good news.Only one problem though. The scheduling for that release is quite messy. Santa Rosa is based on the G965 and won't launch until Q2 2007.
hexor
Apr 26, 03:17 PM
It's not *that" deceptive... they did include "US smartphone usage" in the headline.
I'll bet you money they include Android tablets in the same chart if an Android tablet ever actually sells significant numbers. And it IS deceptive because they did not point out that the chart is completely different if you included all Apple iOS devices, whereas if you included all other Android devices besides phones the chart wouldn't change.
I'll bet you money they include Android tablets in the same chart if an Android tablet ever actually sells significant numbers. And it IS deceptive because they did not point out that the chart is completely different if you included all Apple iOS devices, whereas if you included all other Android devices besides phones the chart wouldn't change.
Lollypop
Aug 3, 02:28 AM
Meron and battery life aside, I will be very very happy if Leopard RULES! Been playing with vista and while the bling is a bit fake it does come across as very smooth at the same time. So here is what im hoping:
Good Apple finances
Excellent intel transition
Update on UB pro apps, maybe a quick chat with MS or Adobe about their progress
Long demo of Leopard and its technologies
> btw< the macbook pro im using runs at 2.33Ghz
Intro of new version of XCode that helps game developers port games and effectively make bootcamp useless for the bulk of people :D
Good Apple finances
Excellent intel transition
Update on UB pro apps, maybe a quick chat with MS or Adobe about their progress
Long demo of Leopard and its technologies
> btw< the macbook pro im using runs at 2.33Ghz
Intro of new version of XCode that helps game developers port games and effectively make bootcamp useless for the bulk of people :D
toddybody
Apr 7, 09:37 AM
Ehh, purposeful or not (as a sabotage)...not good news for iPad competition:( Which isnt good news for us iPad users...Apple needs constant pressure to release revolutionary products.
Makosuke
May 6, 05:10 AM
I'm not so much joining in the discussion as publicly recording what I think is going to happen in a few years based not really on this prediction, but the way things are going in general, so that I can point to this post in a few years and either say "I told you so" or "look how clueless I was."
I think this prediction is right, at least in general terms, and while to hardcore geeks it may sound like a terrible idea, I doubt it is, and it makes a great deal of sense to Apple. That said, I expect Apple will continue to sell "pro" systems of some sort based on Intel chips for the foreseeable future, to cover the developer/Photoshop-jockey/video-editor market. They're just not going to sell all that many of them.
This is why the ARM transition will not be like the Intel transition (and remember we're not talking about something happening tomorrow):
For one thing, two years is a lot of time at the rate the ARM architecture has been advancing. Predicting anything about how fast the chips will be in 2013 (or how much Intel will have advanced by then) is difficult.
In the quarter the G5 Power Mac first shipped, back in Apple earned $44M on $1.7B in sales, and shipped 787K Macs. In the quarter the first Intel iMacs shipped, in Apple earned $410M on $4.36B, and sold 1.1M Macs.
In the most recent quarter, Apple's profit was $6B--more than their gross in and almost as much as the entire company's gross for all of 2003--on gross income of close to $25B. They sold 3.76M Macs, and more notably 4.69M iPads and well over 20M small-screen iOS devices. They also have something like $65 billion sitting in the bank, which is ridiculous.
Contrast this with Intel, which in the last quarter was doing extremely well, with gross of $12.8B and net of $3.16B. Or, for that matter, IBM, which had revenue of $24B and earnings of $2.9B.
In Apple was a relatively small-time player that got IBM to design a wicked-fast custom desktop CPU. In 2006 they were a somewhat larger company mostly on account of selling a lot of iPods, and weren't in a strong enough position to get IBM to do what they needed with the PPC architecture to the point it could compete with Intel's upcoming Core architecture. Today their Mac business alone is three times what it was then, it's the only segment of the PC industry actually expanding, and the company is HUGE--twice the size of Intel, in terms of financials. Heck, they could buy a controlling stake in Intel based purely on that company's market cap with cash on hand.
Further, of all those 25M+ iOS devices last quarter, every single one was running an ARM processor. While nearly 4 million Macs is nothing to sneeze at, Apple's bread and butter is iOS and ARM-based systems. They know them, they control the whole package, and they have an in-house CPU team for the architecture. One that, based on performance comparisons with the Xoom, is doing its job quite well. They've also managed to sell these devices at prices so low other companies are having serious trouble matching them, while maintaing very healthy profit margins.
As far as Apple is concerned--and with good reason--iOS on ARM is their future. There's no reason to stop selling Macs, but the market for console-style computers is not likely limited to handhelds and tablets--there's almost certainly a lot of demand in the bigger-laptop-with-a-keyboard space as well as large-screen desktops. With the rate of CPU power increase in ARM chips, within a couple of years they're likely to be powerful enough to comfortably handle desktop tasks, particularly considering that the average user really doesn't have any use for anything more than a basic dual-core system--everything else is for pros and bragging rights.
So, by way of prediction, I'd assume that Apple will continue to beef up its in-house ARM team, and once the desktop-grade chips are in place leverage that to replace what we currently think of as consumer Macs with beefier, larger-screen iOS based devices (or perhaps some iOS/MacOS hybrid thing to better handle indirect input, since pointing at a 27" touchscreen is ridiculous for more than a few minutes).
After all, Apple could--and very will might--dump a few billion dollars of their hoard into advancing the ARM architecture in some way that competitors can't match, and/or building out chip fab capabilities to keep prices low and availability high. Intel's entire R&D budget for 2010 was in the range of $6B, AMD's wasn't much over $1B, and Apple likes to control their own destiny, so it's not out of the question if they can hire good enough people.
I also bet that they will keep some "pro" machines--perhaps even those that'll keep the "Mac" moniker--in the lineup, for people who want more traditional workstation software, since there's still a lucrative market for that. These will presumably use Intel chips, but then who knows--even Microsoft is working on a version of Windows for ARM.
And outside the gamer market or the relatively small number of people who need or want a virtualized Windows environment, I seriously doubt most people will care. After all, it hasn't stopped them from lining up to buy iPads, and I have NEVER heard even the most ardent Windows fanboy rant about Windows with the same fervor as a half-dozen non-technical people I know personally who love their iPad.
Geeks and old-school Macheads like myself will wail and moan, and Apple won't care. If they did, the iPad would have run the MacOS.
In related news, Microsoft is in trouble.
I think this prediction is right, at least in general terms, and while to hardcore geeks it may sound like a terrible idea, I doubt it is, and it makes a great deal of sense to Apple. That said, I expect Apple will continue to sell "pro" systems of some sort based on Intel chips for the foreseeable future, to cover the developer/Photoshop-jockey/video-editor market. They're just not going to sell all that many of them.
This is why the ARM transition will not be like the Intel transition (and remember we're not talking about something happening tomorrow):
For one thing, two years is a lot of time at the rate the ARM architecture has been advancing. Predicting anything about how fast the chips will be in 2013 (or how much Intel will have advanced by then) is difficult.
In the quarter the G5 Power Mac first shipped, back in Apple earned $44M on $1.7B in sales, and shipped 787K Macs. In the quarter the first Intel iMacs shipped, in Apple earned $410M on $4.36B, and sold 1.1M Macs.
In the most recent quarter, Apple's profit was $6B--more than their gross in and almost as much as the entire company's gross for all of 2003--on gross income of close to $25B. They sold 3.76M Macs, and more notably 4.69M iPads and well over 20M small-screen iOS devices. They also have something like $65 billion sitting in the bank, which is ridiculous.
Contrast this with Intel, which in the last quarter was doing extremely well, with gross of $12.8B and net of $3.16B. Or, for that matter, IBM, which had revenue of $24B and earnings of $2.9B.
In Apple was a relatively small-time player that got IBM to design a wicked-fast custom desktop CPU. In 2006 they were a somewhat larger company mostly on account of selling a lot of iPods, and weren't in a strong enough position to get IBM to do what they needed with the PPC architecture to the point it could compete with Intel's upcoming Core architecture. Today their Mac business alone is three times what it was then, it's the only segment of the PC industry actually expanding, and the company is HUGE--twice the size of Intel, in terms of financials. Heck, they could buy a controlling stake in Intel based purely on that company's market cap with cash on hand.
Further, of all those 25M+ iOS devices last quarter, every single one was running an ARM processor. While nearly 4 million Macs is nothing to sneeze at, Apple's bread and butter is iOS and ARM-based systems. They know them, they control the whole package, and they have an in-house CPU team for the architecture. One that, based on performance comparisons with the Xoom, is doing its job quite well. They've also managed to sell these devices at prices so low other companies are having serious trouble matching them, while maintaing very healthy profit margins.
As far as Apple is concerned--and with good reason--iOS on ARM is their future. There's no reason to stop selling Macs, but the market for console-style computers is not likely limited to handhelds and tablets--there's almost certainly a lot of demand in the bigger-laptop-with-a-keyboard space as well as large-screen desktops. With the rate of CPU power increase in ARM chips, within a couple of years they're likely to be powerful enough to comfortably handle desktop tasks, particularly considering that the average user really doesn't have any use for anything more than a basic dual-core system--everything else is for pros and bragging rights.
So, by way of prediction, I'd assume that Apple will continue to beef up its in-house ARM team, and once the desktop-grade chips are in place leverage that to replace what we currently think of as consumer Macs with beefier, larger-screen iOS based devices (or perhaps some iOS/MacOS hybrid thing to better handle indirect input, since pointing at a 27" touchscreen is ridiculous for more than a few minutes).
After all, Apple could--and very will might--dump a few billion dollars of their hoard into advancing the ARM architecture in some way that competitors can't match, and/or building out chip fab capabilities to keep prices low and availability high. Intel's entire R&D budget for 2010 was in the range of $6B, AMD's wasn't much over $1B, and Apple likes to control their own destiny, so it's not out of the question if they can hire good enough people.
I also bet that they will keep some "pro" machines--perhaps even those that'll keep the "Mac" moniker--in the lineup, for people who want more traditional workstation software, since there's still a lucrative market for that. These will presumably use Intel chips, but then who knows--even Microsoft is working on a version of Windows for ARM.
And outside the gamer market or the relatively small number of people who need or want a virtualized Windows environment, I seriously doubt most people will care. After all, it hasn't stopped them from lining up to buy iPads, and I have NEVER heard even the most ardent Windows fanboy rant about Windows with the same fervor as a half-dozen non-technical people I know personally who love their iPad.
Geeks and old-school Macheads like myself will wail and moan, and Apple won't care. If they did, the iPad would have run the MacOS.
In related news, Microsoft is in trouble.
Guitar geek
Aug 4, 12:01 AM
This is great and bad at the same time for me. I'm so happy that they'll finally move to Merom. However, I've been holding off an MBP since mid-April. I was really hoping to get one after WWDC. If it's true that they may launch it in September, I may not be able to get it in time for school, and the ipod rebate may be over.
gerrycurl
Aug 7, 05:01 PM
And still..... nobody knows if you can just buy a random off the shelf nvidia 7800 and plop it into this sucker.
my powermac g4 died, but can SOMEONE, just ANYONE go into their 'system profiler' and see if they have a list of all the compatible video cards? i seem to remember you could get some information like that in the profiler or some other such app. or if you're an elite hacker, open up terminal and go to /usr/x.org or wahtever it is and see if the nvidia drivers are there.
overall excited. definitely buying a 2ghz mac pro as soon as it's in the stores.
my powermac g4 died, but can SOMEONE, just ANYONE go into their 'system profiler' and see if they have a list of all the compatible video cards? i seem to remember you could get some information like that in the profiler or some other such app. or if you're an elite hacker, open up terminal and go to /usr/x.org or wahtever it is and see if the nvidia drivers are there.
overall excited. definitely buying a 2ghz mac pro as soon as it's in the stores.
cdembek
Mar 27, 07:10 AM
The problem with the cloud based approach is the current limits on data usage. If your not on wifi I can see a good amount of folks going through 2GB of data quick.
Mgkwho
Aug 11, 03:24 PM
So what is there to expect before MWSF?
Well, new iPods, for one:
Full Screen Video iPod, possibly with accompanying new iTunes service.
Redesigned-nano + upgraded
Updated shuffle (finally)
Also, new hardware:
New chips for MBP + possible case redesign
New chips for iMac too
---
Does anyone think that this is a bit much to announce at Paris?
But all of it, I think everyone would agree, has to come out before the Christmas shopping season.
So lets break it down into two events, presuming that its too much for Paris.
Paris will either see hardware (i hope) or iPod upgrades.
Then, in late October I'm guessing, in time for the holidays, the new iPods will be released. They will also therefore beat Zune to the market.
---
The reason I think hardware will come first is because its been almost 10 months since the MBP and iMac were revised/came out. (17" and iMac for education doesn't count). the iPods typically wait a whole year for a refresh, usually around September.
Mother#39;s Day Crafts middot; Mother#39;s
This 3-step Mother#39;s Day gift
Well, new iPods, for one:
Full Screen Video iPod, possibly with accompanying new iTunes service.
Redesigned-nano + upgraded
Updated shuffle (finally)
Also, new hardware:
New chips for MBP + possible case redesign
New chips for iMac too
---
Does anyone think that this is a bit much to announce at Paris?
But all of it, I think everyone would agree, has to come out before the Christmas shopping season.
So lets break it down into two events, presuming that its too much for Paris.
Paris will either see hardware (i hope) or iPod upgrades.
Then, in late October I'm guessing, in time for the holidays, the new iPods will be released. They will also therefore beat Zune to the market.
---
The reason I think hardware will come first is because its been almost 10 months since the MBP and iMac were revised/came out. (17" and iMac for education doesn't count). the iPods typically wait a whole year for a refresh, usually around September.
UmaThurman
Aug 7, 02:56 PM
SO in the Paris expo is where we'll most likely see updated MBP? :confused:
amols
Aug 4, 01:34 PM
1 - I don't know what overheating you talk about, apart from some cases that have been dealt with under AppleCare;
2 - Apple has probably the best battery life of the industry for such a notebook range...and no, don't tell me about 10" microbooks;
3 - the SD thing is due to the thin enclosure, a clear design paradigm at Apple...nothing else.
1. If you check Apple's knowledge database or the manual that come with MBP, it actually says not to put this laptop on top of your lap, or it'll cause discomfort and potentially a burn with prolonged use. Now that's a new thing for a Powerbook or iBook user. Almost all the reviews of MBP state one con throughout, and thats the heat it dissipates. I own a MBP 2.16 Ghz and let me tell you it is very uncomforting to keep this on lap even through the clothing. Forget about using it in shorts unless you are in Alaska.
2. Less than three hours is not outstanding when you compare MBP to its predecessor and not PC notebooks.
3. The 17" MBP is as thin as 15.4". Why does it have faster D/L SD ??
Mothers Day Crafts for Kids
2 - Apple has probably the best battery life of the industry for such a notebook range...and no, don't tell me about 10" microbooks;
3 - the SD thing is due to the thin enclosure, a clear design paradigm at Apple...nothing else.
1. If you check Apple's knowledge database or the manual that come with MBP, it actually says not to put this laptop on top of your lap, or it'll cause discomfort and potentially a burn with prolonged use. Now that's a new thing for a Powerbook or iBook user. Almost all the reviews of MBP state one con throughout, and thats the heat it dissipates. I own a MBP 2.16 Ghz and let me tell you it is very uncomforting to keep this on lap even through the clothing. Forget about using it in shorts unless you are in Alaska.
2. Less than three hours is not outstanding when you compare MBP to its predecessor and not PC notebooks.
3. The 17" MBP is as thin as 15.4". Why does it have faster D/L SD ??
Raidersmojo
Jul 30, 05:48 AM
one problem, that will never happen. Alltel does not own their network or even remotly have any form of cash to set it up. they just rent their network. Second, you can offer as much as of a cool device as you want, but its not going to cause millions of people to just dump their plans, break their contracts and switch. Mac cool-aid, down, now!
going to have to say you're wrong on that one
my dad has said if apple comes out with a cell phone hes canceling all of our cell phone plans and getting apples. he has a verizon treo my step mom brother and sister have nextel phones
going to have to say you're wrong on that one
my dad has said if apple comes out with a cell phone hes canceling all of our cell phone plans and getting apples. he has a verizon treo my step mom brother and sister have nextel phones
paradox00
May 4, 03:42 PM
what makes you think that you can copy it to a USB drive or disc? I have disc for Tiger, Leopard, and Snow Leopard. None of those disc can be copied, some of them can only be used on their original machine (or the exact model). the past 3 OSes can't be copied, and so far there's nothing to suggest we can just make backup copies of Lion.
Oh really? (http://www.walterjessen.com/make-a-bootable-backup-snow-leopard-install-disc/)
As an aside: The disks that only work with one computer are the ones that ship with new macs. No upgrade* disks sold in the Apple Store have that restriction, and there's no reason to assume the mac app store would be any different.
*The "upgrade" disks are full installs, but since the only legal way to install OSX is to install it on a mac that already came with a version of OSX, all standalone disks are technically upgrades.
Oh really? (http://www.walterjessen.com/make-a-bootable-backup-snow-leopard-install-disc/)
As an aside: The disks that only work with one computer are the ones that ship with new macs. No upgrade* disks sold in the Apple Store have that restriction, and there's no reason to assume the mac app store would be any different.
*The "upgrade" disks are full installs, but since the only legal way to install OSX is to install it on a mac that already came with a version of OSX, all standalone disks are technically upgrades.
snberk103
May 4, 10:33 AM
So then you can't speak to whether or not it would actually be cost effective for the country to switch.
....
Switching to metric is short-term pain for long-term gain. Older people will need have both measures used for a few years. Some Engineers etc will need to hit the books again (but let's face it - if they can learn the formula's once, they can look up the "translation". It's not like they forget how the principles work).
The long-term advantages are:
1) Less freaking-out of kids who are weak in math. "If you have a stick that is 3' 7 13/16" and need to divide it into 3 equal sections, what is the length of the each section to the nearest 1/64 inch?" as opposed to "If you have a stick that 1233 mm long....." - and no, I didn't check to see if they are the same -
2) Same idea as above.... "If you have a tank filled with 450 cubic yards of water, and it is flowing out at a rate of 3 gallons a minute, how long does it take to empty?" as opposed to the metric system where 1000 litres of water is 1 cubic meter which is 1 tonne (approximately - since altitudes and temperatures affect the density of water).... but it's close enough for horseshoes....
3) Manufacturing. As the last industrialized country in the world still non-metric, do people really believe that there isn't a cost when a US factory has to retool to provide a product for export? Or understand that the cost of goods being imported from off-shore includes the cost of retooling for an non-metric customer? Do people not think that some small factories in the US have lost contracts to off-shore customers because they couldn't afford to switch to a metric size? And that some US factories have probably been forced to retool anyway when the sole supplier of a component wouldn't make a special run of non-metric fasteners?
Just asking. The days when the USA was top of the heap in manufacturing are past. The USA is now competing head to head with the rest of the world that has left behind bolts that are 3/16 diameter and 1 7/8 long and 12tpi.
....
Switching to metric is short-term pain for long-term gain. Older people will need have both measures used for a few years. Some Engineers etc will need to hit the books again (but let's face it - if they can learn the formula's once, they can look up the "translation". It's not like they forget how the principles work).
The long-term advantages are:
1) Less freaking-out of kids who are weak in math. "If you have a stick that is 3' 7 13/16" and need to divide it into 3 equal sections, what is the length of the each section to the nearest 1/64 inch?" as opposed to "If you have a stick that 1233 mm long....." - and no, I didn't check to see if they are the same -
2) Same idea as above.... "If you have a tank filled with 450 cubic yards of water, and it is flowing out at a rate of 3 gallons a minute, how long does it take to empty?" as opposed to the metric system where 1000 litres of water is 1 cubic meter which is 1 tonne (approximately - since altitudes and temperatures affect the density of water).... but it's close enough for horseshoes....
3) Manufacturing. As the last industrialized country in the world still non-metric, do people really believe that there isn't a cost when a US factory has to retool to provide a product for export? Or understand that the cost of goods being imported from off-shore includes the cost of retooling for an non-metric customer? Do people not think that some small factories in the US have lost contracts to off-shore customers because they couldn't afford to switch to a metric size? And that some US factories have probably been forced to retool anyway when the sole supplier of a component wouldn't make a special run of non-metric fasteners?
Just asking. The days when the USA was top of the heap in manufacturing are past. The USA is now competing head to head with the rest of the world that has left behind bolts that are 3/16 diameter and 1 7/8 long and 12tpi.
seek3r
May 6, 12:36 AM
Very true. Listen to the man.
There's many analysts that believe ARM will supersede Intel.
Well, first of all, don't confuse *x86* with Intel. Intel has made ARM chips in the past (XScale, StrongARM), and might in the future (including a recent rumor about apple moving to using Intel's foundries for the A5 later in the year, and the A6 or whatever the next chip will be called). For that matter, there are other x86 designers and foundries (AMD and Global Foundries & VIA) and Intel has had several other arches of its own. Intel is the largest chipmaker in the world, ARM is a chip design corp that does excellent work and licenses their work to foundries and other design houses - they're not remotely similar companies except in the sense that they both work on CPUs.
The ARM arch *may* one day supersede x86, but *Intel* isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
In the short term I don't see that happening quite yet, ARM usually focuses on low power first, not performance, and while there is a convergence in the netbook/phone/tablet areas, an iMac, MP, or MBP based on any current ARM designs for example would be woefully underpowered compared to an x86 design.
Apple licensing Mac OS X to Dell.
If it were done well I can think of plenty of people that would like OSX Server on Poweredge blades
There's many analysts that believe ARM will supersede Intel.
Well, first of all, don't confuse *x86* with Intel. Intel has made ARM chips in the past (XScale, StrongARM), and might in the future (including a recent rumor about apple moving to using Intel's foundries for the A5 later in the year, and the A6 or whatever the next chip will be called). For that matter, there are other x86 designers and foundries (AMD and Global Foundries & VIA) and Intel has had several other arches of its own. Intel is the largest chipmaker in the world, ARM is a chip design corp that does excellent work and licenses their work to foundries and other design houses - they're not remotely similar companies except in the sense that they both work on CPUs.
The ARM arch *may* one day supersede x86, but *Intel* isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
In the short term I don't see that happening quite yet, ARM usually focuses on low power first, not performance, and while there is a convergence in the netbook/phone/tablet areas, an iMac, MP, or MBP based on any current ARM designs for example would be woefully underpowered compared to an x86 design.
Apple licensing Mac OS X to Dell.
If it were done well I can think of plenty of people that would like OSX Server on Poweredge blades
extraextra
Sep 15, 04:49 PM
Please don't mess with the keyboard. The Macbook keyboard wouldn't suit the Macbook Pro.
Agreed. It's a nice keyboard, but the Macbook keyboard wouldn't look nice in the MBP at all.
I'm thinking it's just going to be a processor upgrade. Maybe larger HD capacities and a magnetic latch if we're lucky.
Agreed. It's a nice keyboard, but the Macbook keyboard wouldn't look nice in the MBP at all.
I'm thinking it's just going to be a processor upgrade. Maybe larger HD capacities and a magnetic latch if we're lucky.
snberk103
May 4, 05:33 PM
"If you have a stick that is 3' 7 13/16" and need to divide it into 3 equal sections, ... -I'd use a calculator in either example, so it's a moot point.
So what is a third of 13/16th of an inch? :)
I've never seen a tank meant for holding liquid that wasn't rated in gallons - and I'm talking about up to 5 million gallons. But still, I'd be using a calculator in either event. But to illustrate my earlier point, 1 cubic yard = 27 cubic feet, 1 cubic foot = 7.48 gallons. Simple math.
See attached image.... more flow stuff than storage stuff, but it makes the head boggle. And yes, of course you'd use a calculator to be sure - but if you could approximate it in your head, at least you'd have a sense of whether you were correct or not.
Seriously snberk103. Let us Americans use what we want. We find the imperial easier than the scientific metric.
'scuze moi!
Tomorrow put up a good point, we can use conversion factors too. ;)
This may be a reason why American kids are falling behind in global math competencies. It would be interesting to track which countries surged on math competencies, and when they switched to metric.
So, as a citizen of a country that competes with the USA in manufacturing.... please keep on being the only industrialized country that hasn't switched. Or at least has only partially switched since many exporting companies have switched. :D
So what is a third of 13/16th of an inch? :)
I've never seen a tank meant for holding liquid that wasn't rated in gallons - and I'm talking about up to 5 million gallons. But still, I'd be using a calculator in either event. But to illustrate my earlier point, 1 cubic yard = 27 cubic feet, 1 cubic foot = 7.48 gallons. Simple math.
See attached image.... more flow stuff than storage stuff, but it makes the head boggle. And yes, of course you'd use a calculator to be sure - but if you could approximate it in your head, at least you'd have a sense of whether you were correct or not.
Seriously snberk103. Let us Americans use what we want. We find the imperial easier than the scientific metric.
'scuze moi!
Tomorrow put up a good point, we can use conversion factors too. ;)
This may be a reason why American kids are falling behind in global math competencies. It would be interesting to track which countries surged on math competencies, and when they switched to metric.
So, as a citizen of a country that competes with the USA in manufacturing.... please keep on being the only industrialized country that hasn't switched. Or at least has only partially switched since many exporting companies have switched. :D