mikepass's Profile

  • Nov 27, 2008
  • 4
  • 0

Latest comments made by: mikepass

  • I'm one of those late comers. I bought my first Mac two years ago; a MBP. I've known many Mac owners over the last twenty years and have played with many of their machines (no idea of the models). The thing, however, that stopped me from buying one earlier was the OS. It was just plain clunky. I started my computing life on the Amiga; a computer that had a pre-emptive multitasking OS that was so tightly tied to the hardware that it could do things that still blow me away today. So to move to a machine that could only do one thing at a time was not an option. I had to buy a wintel machine, as they could kind of multi-task. (I still call it my Dark Ages). It wasn't until I saw OS 10.3 on a friends G5 iMac that I was comfortable to switch. So when my wintel machine, running win2000 (Redmond's best effort to date), finally succumbed to the weight of multiple virus and malware protection programs and ground to a halt, I was in like Flynn. I haven't looked back, haven't used windows in two years, and haven't missed it. So, thank you to those die-hards who stuck by the Apple platform during its Dark Ages so that it could become what it is today. I just wish the same could've happened for the Amiga die-hards (now, there were a bunch of fanatics). An Amiga with continued development over he last 20 years would've been an awesome machine.
    Korea (South)mikepass had this to say on Nov 21, 2008 Posts: 4
    Stromatolites and the Death of the Die Hard Mac Fan
  • "mikepass, no business in their right minds walk the ropes blindfolded, OK? SJ can say whatever he wants on TV for marketing glitz but no doubt, Apple does extensive researches to position its next strategies. Sometimes, do not believe what you hear from SJ. He has lied many times in the past only to swallow his own words. “We do no market research” right! The MB Air and the TV Take 2 sure needs more market research." Your right, I should have qualified the the quote with "make up your own mind." Mind you, the original TV smacks of a lack of market research. It just didn't fill any niche at all. The only research needed to say it had to be improved was in the balance sheets. That said, I do believe some research is done, but even a million people said they liked something one way and SJ liked it the, I do wonder what he would do. Sometimes arrogance can overshadow good business decisions. "No, I mean a decent configuration the size of 2-3 stacked minis with upgradeable GPU card, HD or two, RAM capability to 4-8 GB, and a replaceable CPU daughterboard for future-proofing your investment." As I said, I doubt SJ wants people to future proof their investment. That just doesn't sell enough machines. I agree that the "one size fits all" is not a good argument for the iMac, but for the average business and user it's not a bad choice. I use one at work in an elementary school and have done some whiz bang Keynote displays for the kids and teachers and also some great little video projects using iMovie '06. There is plenty of power for that. And, you would be surprised how many people say what great design, or where's the computer or I want one or just WOW. Both teachers and students. So I just don't agree that the iMac is aimed at a teen crowd. I'm no teen (no offence taken) That said, I do believe Apple should make a machine that fits in with that semi/pro crowd. But they won't for the reason below. I'm in a country (South Korea) where 99% of computer users use Windows. To break through in a country like this Apple needs to be visible. I am seeing many Apple notebooks and iMac's in TV advertisements and programs. This sort of visibility can't be achieved when your product is under a desk or doesn't look remarkably different. I definitely believe the iMac is sacred (for better or worse) and I doubt SJ will risk it, no matter what market research may tell him. There again, I have been very wrong before and Apple will probably release one of these mythical machines next Tuesday.
    Korea (South)mikepass had this to say on Apr 20, 2008 Posts: 4
    The Non Existent Glaring Hole in the Mac Lineup
  • Why didn't the $1400 G5 tower sell? It wasn't in a big enough market. That market has now changed with Apple using Intel. Anyone can now buy an Apple and run Windows on it and thus the games. But, these are people that are used to buying machines and upgrading them. They don't wait for a new computer to come out before they upgrade, they wait for the latest and greatest processors and graphics cards to come out then buy them. As an example of how long a michine can last, many years ago I had an Amiga 1200 that I bought around '91. As Commodore had gone broke I couldn't upgrade the machine so I just kept upgrading the parts. I added a faster cpu, a combo 68060/PPC 603e with 10 meg of fastRAM on board (huge), A Blizzard graphics card, I bought a mini tower and added a cd drive and a 10gig SCSI drive and of course gained a beefier power supply. It worked well for me until around 2000 until I was forced to move (due to compatibility issues) to a PC. The Amiga was still faster, except for processor intensive tasks, than the PIII PC, even though it base technology was 10 years old. On a side note I sold it 18 months ago for $150, not bad for a 15 year old machine. 9 years plus out of a machine, not bad. So what has this got to do with anything. Well first, the market for the headless Mac has increased a 100 fold. But, when people buy a configurable tower how long do they keep it as compared to and iMac. Remember, Apple wants to sell machines to people and probably every 3-4 years, not 5-6-7. And, as was mentioned earlier, the sales will bite into Apple's stunningly visual iMac range. Apple needs to be seen, not kept under a desk. Mind you, if they priced the cinema displays a bit more competitively they could have the best of both worlds. At this stage though, the iMac has too much of a WOW factor for Apple to risk it as they finds their feet in a new ocean sized market. Also, for those that say Apple do heaps of market research, here's a direct quote from Steve Jobs: “We do no market research. We don’t hire consultants. The only consultants I’ve ever hired in my 10 years is one firm to analyze Gateway’s retail strategy so I would not make some of the same mistakes they made [when launching Apple’s retail stores]. But we never hire consultants, per se. We just want to make great products.” http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fortune/0803/gallery.jobsqna.fortune/index.html
    Korea (South)mikepass had this to say on Apr 20, 2008 Posts: 4
    The Non Existent Glaring Hole in the Mac Lineup
  • I agree with jobberwacky. If Apple really want the Mac to take off in Asia, then they need to accommodate the languages in the dictionary. All I want though, is an English dictionary not an American dictionary. Can anyone tell me how to achieve this on a Mac. Preferably without paying money. Cheers
    Korea (South)mikepass had this to say on Feb 15, 2008 Posts: 4
    7 Reasons Why Mac OSX Is the Best OS for Writers