THIS JUST IN! The iPhone Is Good! Back to You Bob for Traffic and Weather.
I get it. I do. The iPhone is nice. Really nice. It scrolls, it rolls, it slices, it dices. It even makes Julienne fries! It is glossy and sleek and you can touch it in the dark and not feel guilty. And if you own one, are thinking of owning one, or thinking of mugging someone who owns one, let me just say I am very happy for you. But can we please cut down on the iPhone stories? I keep seeing stories of record crowds at the various iPhone releases or hear thrilling accounts of how they can be used to do amazing things. And thats really great news and all, but we seem to be losing our focus a bit. Can I tell you a secret?
Apple makes computers too.
*GASP*
I know, it is kind of crazy. Computers you say?
O RLY?
YA RLY.
Nice computers too. In fact, they recently increased the speeds of both the MacBooks and the MacBook Pros. The iMac recently got an upgrade but the Mac Mini is stuck in limbo and the Mac Pro is still…there.
Speaking of the Mac Pro, am I the only one who thinks it is desperately waiting for an overhaul? The basic design is four and a half years old and there have been virtually no significant changes in that period. I am discounting the recent change of its internals because while that is a worthwhile change, I expect much more from Apple. I am quite disappointed if, in four years, the best they can do is squeeze in another disk dive and one or two more hard drives. Sorry, you can produce something as amazing as the iPhone and then complain that you can’t figure out how to make the Mac Pro any better. Try harder.
In fact, in addition to a structural redesign, when are we going to get the option of having a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD drive in our Mac Pro? Apple came down clearly on the side of Blu-Ray and that is the drive one might expect to eventually appear in their high end machines. However, since dual media drives are currently being made, I see no reason why Apple (and the rest of the industry) wouldn’t eventually move to that type. And while I understand that they are expensive, this is Apple’s highest end machine we are talking about here. After all, they’ve had the ability to edit in Hi-def for a while now, wouldn’t it be great if we could actually transfer all those wonderful movies to a disc of some type?
See where I’m going with this? Apple has devoted a lot of resources lately on the iPhone and on Leopard. These are commendable projects which definitely needed lots of work and attention and I am thrilled beyond imagining that things are going so well on both those fronts. However, the only news we seem to hear about Apple’s computer business lately (and there isn’t much news to begin with) has concerned their laptops. I get that they are doing great on that side of the house. Students everywhere seem quite impressed with Apple’s offerings and that has driven impressive sales. But what about the Mac Pro? Once again we see it left out.
I have long since given up hope that Apple will make a smaller, cheaper tower (a pipe dream if ever there was one) so any chance of improvements on that front must come in the form of a modified Mac Pro. When will that happen? Who knows. I have yet to hear even a rumor that the Mac Pro will get an upgrade. Oh, there are plenty of iPhone rumors. And of course iTablet rumors. And even a few laptop rumors. But nothing about the Mac Pro. I realize it isn’t the most popular Mac on the market, but it still has a devoted base of professionals who depend on it daily. Maybe it is finally time for Apple to invest a little on the pro side. One can only hope.
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Slashdot
StumbleUpon
Comments
ps. Whilst I may have appeared overly-rude to Beeb, if this thread was taken in isolation; time and again, I’ve seen him do the same thing to me and others - twist, contort and exaggerate things people say to fulfil his own agenda.
@hitchhiker
It’s good that you are calling for greater quality control, and that folks have been frustrated with our writing lately.
That shows that we had set the bar higher in the past and that our readers do have faith that we can provide high quality work, and that we’d earned some respect in the blogosphere.
As you would have noticed, we have had a high turnover of writers in the last year or so, which obviously doesn’t help.
Ditto editors.
Speaking personally, I do listen when folks complain and try harder. (My biggest challenge is, afer two years, finding something new to say.)
Of course, I also believe we can get back to that higher standard and earn back the respect we had.
Regards James’ piece, I think the biggest problem was the headline was irrelevant to the story. The story was Apple is neglecting the Mac Pro.
So the headline coulda said “THIS JUST IN! The iPhone Is Good! But what about the Mac Pro?”
I think then you’d have been happier.
I do think it was a valid point James raised, but maybe what you wanted was him to be a bit more challenging to Apple - as you said: “articles like this… well, they don’t say anything.”
So maybe it should have been a “Come on Apple, you’re killing the pro users, get off your butts before the Mac Pro gets creamed by high end PCs” type piece.