calyxman said:
That's just the modus operandi of Apple, namely Steve Jobs. Skim the market as much as you can and wring out every drop in profits with the existing line before you introduce an improved product. I think it's a shame that Apple holds back their information without giving us a roadmap of what to expect in the future.
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Just browse any mac forum after a new iPod, iBook, Powerbook or what have you is released. It's like one big massive orgy and people are whipping out their plastic on an impulse; you hardly see many people talking about what they plan to buy and when they're buying it. Where's the excitement in that?
And what's worse is many mac heads are fine with this.
Wow, that's quite a rant. To bad none of it takes into account that pesky thing called reality.
Apple is not in the same position as other vendors. They don't have the volumes. Athlon 3400+ chips will continue to sell even if everyone knows that a new Athlon is about to be released. Powermac Towers WON'T sell if people know, definiatively, that new Towers are coming out in two weeks. That leaves Apple with a lot of extra inventory that they need to mark down below cost to dump. The bigger the improvement in a line, the less likely people will be to buy new hardware. Do you think ANYONE would buy a dual 2.5 today if Apple said "Oh yea, we'll have dual dual-core machines running faster for the same price in a month"?
Maybe, just maybe, many of those "mac heads" realize that Apple's a freaking business and not a cult leader (like the windows fan boys like to believe). Maybe, just maybe, we know that Apple occasionally has to do what's best for Apple so that they can keep innovating and designing hardware and software that Microsoft can emulate. I mean, seriously, Microsoft is a HUGE company. Without Apple showing them what they sould be doing, microsofts fall could have a serious impact on economies around the world.
The bottom line is.. if you need a mac, buy it. If you don't NEED it right now and you feel like playing the rumor game, wait till the next hardware revision. This isn't really any different than waiting for PCI-E support for Athlons or Dual-Core P4EE chips. Sure, they give you a better idea when those will be coming but god forbid a PC company blow a ship date.