Comments on: Mac OS X: The original PC's revival

By: prabeesh

prabeesh — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 05:58:13 +0000

i want know more about it

By: Kim

Kim — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 10:51:01 +0000

Are you sure driver support is the big missing link for Apple? (Sarcasm intended but good natured) I think inertia, pesonal to a large extent and corporate to a huge extent, is the main obstacle for Apple, and releasing OSX for generic x86 boxes wont fix that. Not least since most customers don’t know or care what processor sits in their machine, and have litte care for the name on the box. Unless that name is Apple.

Also, Apple is not a software company NOR a hardware company. Apple is a “the whole widget” company. Without this it wouldn’t be Apple. So my bet is that Apple will never, ever stop making hardware. Look at these last years. What have Apple done? Made EVEN MORE hardware. There is talk of a phone, of a TiVo-like thingy. All of which in my opinion would be spot on. Ive-designed Apple hardware and Apple software in perfect harmony. People aren’t buying iPods (primarily) for the software. Nor are they primarily drawn to the iMac because of OSX. Don’t get me wrong. Some are, and it definitely matters as a selling point, especially from a security standpont.

How much more software (Tiger at 129 apiece) would Apple have to sell to equal the hardware (iMac at 1699 apiece) sales? As it is now, they don’t compete directly against Microsoft, only tangentially. If Apple released OSX for generic x86, it would be a totally different ballgame. And IT managers and livelong windows-ites would STILL not change ships overnight.

I like the idea of an even more successful Apple. And I, like you, think we will see that. But i don’t think (and I surely hope not, since I want my Ive-designed Mac!) it will come about as a result of Apple leaving the hardware business. It will come precisely because Apple controls the whole widget and are far and away the best player around making this whole widget a compelling and thoroughly enjoyable experience.

Plus, what is this OS market share hysteria about anyway?

By: Alex Chekholko

Alex Chekholko — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 04:36:27 +0000

I wrote about this topic on my website yesterday. To sum it up: Apple does not want to go mainstream. Apple will not sell OS X by itself. It would destroy their profits.

More here: http://yalb.net/wp/?p=25

By: Eddie

Eddie — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 18:27:07 +0000

James Dixon,

Thanks for the correction.

By: James Dixon

James Dixon — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 18:14:41 +0000

> Apple gave us the first PC in the 1980s…

Apple gave us ONE of the first PC’s in 1977,
which is when they release the Apple II. It
was released at almost the same time as the
Tandy Model I, which should share the title
as the First PC. The Apple I was only available
in kit form from what I understand.

By: Rob Drimmie

Rob Drimmie — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 12:45:31 +0000

I don’t think Apple will stop selling hardware. I do think it’s likely that they’ll make OS X available on other manufacturers’ hardware in the coming years (by the end of ’08 is my prediction), but I think they’ve proven that they understand hardware and industrial design in a way that almost no other manufacturer does.

It’s possible they may spin their hardware division into a separate company, but I think that Apple’s hardware brand has significant value and letting Dell handle that level of interaction will weaken Apple’s offerings.

What is great about modern Apple systems isn’t just OS X (which is great, don’t get me wrong). What is great is that a tremendous amount of thought has gone into almost every aspect of interaction with the hardware, from when you first lay eyes on it to hours and hours later while you’re still working with it.