« Loans, Wisdom, Juris Novis, Free Donuts, and... | Main | Cheap Laptops? »
Will Your Dell Run OS X?
Everybody's talkin' about the rumor started by Cnet that Apple plans to ditch IBM and switch to Intel chips. The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) has what seems to be a pretty typical discussion of the news and Mac Rumors has another. Some are saying “no way, never ever,” while some are coming up with fairly plausible reasons why this might happen. For example, what if Intel is planning to start making PowerPC chips for Apple? That would make the rumor true—Apple would be using Intel chips—but that wouldn't mean OS X would run on any old Intel machine.
Dave Winer has a podcast about this and links to several interesting perspectives, including one from Robert Scoble, a Microsoft employee who claims the rumor is definitely true and asks some good questions about what will happen if it is. The Wall Street Journal has supposedly confirmed the Apple/Intel story, and AppleInsider is talking about rumors of 2GB iPod Shuffles with screens. Cnet is also reporting that an Apple/Intel deal will help pave the way to streaming online movies and all sorts of things.
I'm thinking this is all starting to look more and more like the typical hype-fest that always surrounds anything like the upcoming World Wide Developer Conference that starts tomorrow. I guess we'll see.
Meanwhile, Apple's got other problems. It just settled a class action lawsuit filed by iPod owners who claimed Apple oversold the iPod's battery life. Full details here. In Apple's other big legal battle, Blogcritics is reporting that “the Court of Appeals in California appears ready to overturn an order forcing bloggers to turn over confidential sources.” This would be a good thing.
Posted June 5, 2005 06:15 AM | mac geek
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://mowabb.com/mt32/mt-tb.cgi/3837
Ha, I am actually part of that class. I read that one of the requirements is that you have your receipt which really sucks because I have no idea where said receipt is! And my battery life sux!
Posted by: DG at June 5, 2005 07:51 AM
I wish I could hop on the Apple bandwagon. Really. I think they're sexy. But my iPod, probably the most expensive thing I own aside from my 3 yr old laptop, died after only 5 months. Hard drive - gone. I'm glad there's a one year warranty, but I can't say that I have much faith in Apple products between my own iPod issues and the iPod battery issues.
Posted by: womanofthelaw at June 5, 2005 10:43 AM
Yeah, this story caused some consternation in my cabeza. There's many pros and cons, so much so that I think any talk before Monday and Steve's actual announcement is pure speculation. But it's so damn fun to try and guess what goes on inside the Reality Distortion Field. So lemme speculate: I do think it's telling though that Apple refused comment, which is kinda surprising as when word of an exclusive deal with ATI leaked before Steve's announcement of it at Macworld San Francisco a couple of years back (?) he pretty much threw a hissy fit and the deal went sour. Hence both ATI and nVida graphics cards for Apple. It would be nice too if there weren't supply problems every time Apple announces a new model and demand proves to great for the chips they have on hand. With 82% of the market for processors, I don't think supply would be an issue for Intel. Speaking of which, any of you law types have any good links to info on why the Gov't anti-trust case against Intel went south?
ai, I have to say the new design is wearing well on me. Two things: is it possible to put a date on the peeps speak thing so you know when the comments were made? Other than that, I think it a great feature. I've also noticed that when I mouse over the image for "ambivalent images" I get a little grey block at the bottom of it. I don't know if you noticed this.
Posted by: Famous P. at June 5, 2005 11:41 AM
Yeah, so far, there's a ton of hype and not much substance. Although one of the mac rumors sites pointed out that Apple may indeed be partnering with Intel--but only for the Wi-Max chipset, which would make a lot of sense... blazing wi-fi speeds, same ol' processor. Anyway, I guess we all have to wait until the WWDC.
I'll be glued to coverage though, as someone planning to purchase a new PowerBook very soon, I'm dying here! :)
Posted by: Dave! at June 5, 2005 01:33 PM
Yeah, I'm part of the iPod class action class, too, I think, but I don't know if I'm going to do anything about it. It's always a bummer to hear about Apple products bombing (like WotL's iPod), and I sort of fear that such reports would be more frequent if OS X was running on Intel's chips. The Wi-Max thing seems more plausible. Tomorrow we should know...
Famous P: Good idea to try to date the comments in the "peeps speak" sidebar. I'll keep it on the to-do list. I can also remove the gray bar on the mouseover of amb. images but it will have to wait. I sort of put myself behind the 8-ball (so to speak) by spending so much time last weekend on this stupid blog at the expense of other things I"m supposed to do. Again I wonder: How do people get anything done when they work 40 hours/week and commute 10? Ugh.
Posted by: ambimb at June 5, 2005 08:26 PM
also affected by the iPod class action settlement ... now to dig up that receipt (although you can sign a line to say your credit card receipt indicates an iPod purchase) and get mine fixed. very sick of the crap battery life.
second apple product of mine that has needed battery fixes ... wish apple would get things working better ... my thinkpad has never had a problem like this. none of them have ... and i've owned five or so.
Posted by: jose at June 6, 2005 08:01 AM
