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Re: A2Central News
Paul Schlyter wrote:
And it's most likely just a matter of time before Linux gets ported
to the Mac as well.
Done.
In the future, someone will probably make OS-X run on PC's as well,
it's just a matter of rewriting the lowest layer (the layer closest
to the hardware) of the OS.
Already done. Not legally of course, and only on specific hardware.
And when all this has happened, an interesting semantic problem
will pop up: exactly what is a "Mac"? Is it the Mac hardware?
Or is it OS-X?
Probably OS X makes most of the difference to the end user. It's the
user interface experience that counts, and the "just works" hardware second.
And when a Mac (the hardware) runs Win-XP (or Vista) natively, is
it still a Mac? Or is it a WinTel machine?
It already does and it's just another Wintel at that point - a fact
conceded by most Mac users already.
Perhaps the Mac will end up as a PC brand among other brands, such
as Dell, HP, etc?
Not likely anytime soon. I bought my MacBook because I prefer OS X, not
because I'm a hip Apple fanboy (far from it). It's a simple personal
preference that many people make.
I hear the "you can't build a Mac" argument a lot. It's a good point,
but take into account only a tiny minority of PC users build their own
machines, or bother with expanding them beyond more RAM and an
additional drive of some kind.
<things I'll say for the benefit of anyone else following the thread>
As you know, there are two kinds of PC's out there - clones and
compatibles. Clones are interchangeable, with off the shelf parts. Mobos
are meant to be tweaked, swapped in and out of a standardized chassis
(ATX for example) and easily serviceable.
Compatibles are proprietary, but operate like just about any other PC
out there but servicing or upgrade options are a lot more constrained.
The overwhelming majority of PCs sold today are compatibles, not clones,
and Apple running XP is just another compatible - and is a snapshot of
the technology available at that given point in time. The professional
level Macs are expandable to some degree with slots but are otherwise
constrained like their PC compatible cousins.
Computers are commodities now and most people, corporations etc plan on
replacing a machine every 3-5 years because the software keeps getting
bigger, more features are added and technology marches on. It's how the
industry propels itself - through obsolescence (I guess I could have
substituted "progress" for "obsolescence" but I was feeling pessimistic).
We are anomalies in that we we treasure older equipment (out of
nostalgia for most of us) whereas other people would consider an older
computer to be an inconvenience or undesirable appliance - most people
want the latest and greatest.