reinharden's Profile

Apple will introduce a $799 laptop within the next three years. The original iBook was introduced at $1599 back in 1999. By October 2001, in the last recession, there as a version introduced at $1199. By November 2002, $999. The MacBook was originally introduced in May, 2006, at $1099 and held that price until the unibody revision ($1299) last October. But the previous MacBook is now available at $999 (and now with a Superdrive instead of the previous "combo drive"). You can be certain that Apple is carefully watching for signs of price sensitivity between the old-style MacBook and the unibody MacBook. Combine Apple's mostly downward price creep with a recession and mix in recollection of the iPod mini. Apple eats its own young *before* anyone else has a chance. LCD prices have dropped through the floor, memory prices dug a hole under the basement, and CPU prices for the entry level device are dirt cheap. 4 GB can be had at retail for $40; Apple could simply solder 4 GB in and be done with it, no memory slots, no need to allow access to the memory, simpler design. A 250 GB hard drive is under $50. If commodity prices continue in the current directions and if the market prices other laptops too ridiculously stupidly cheap, Apple will have a $799 produce sooner rather than later. While holding the line on their profit margin. Besides, Steve Jobs said they didn't know how to make a sub-$500 computer that wasn't a piece of junk -- he didn't say nothing about $501, $599, $699, or $799. ;-) I wouldn't even be surprised to see the original MacBook drop to $899 or $799 next week... Particularly if they did a version for school districts with a slower CPU, no optical drive, no hardware graphics, and a smaller hard drive... The kids might even call it the MacBook Slo. ;-) reinharden

To be a total pedant, June is Spring right up until June 21/22 which is technically the first day of Summer. ;-) All presupposing Mr. Jobs was speaking relative to the Northern Hemisphere. ;-) reinharden

While I've enjoyed lots of Macs, I've got to go with the Cube as the most inspired. The Cube was truly a work of art and yet was quite powerful for it's time. To this day I hate that Apple screwed up the price point. Granted, the flat screen iMacs are nice and all...but I'd love to buy a nice monitor and trade out new cubes every couple of years whether than having to get an entirely new setup. The Cube also pointed to Apple's assault on the rest of the house. No longer would computers be stuck just in the home office. After the Cube, I'd probably go to the SE/30 - similar form-factor to its precursors, but substantially more powerful. Giving the first indication that the Mac was really going to rock-n-roll over time...those hints of power were inspiring. Even the first PowerBooks were fabulous. And the Titanium/Aluminium Powerbooks were jaw-dropping (and live on in the current MacBook Pro). Of course, I can't wait for the next generation. Then the original iMac, the iMac G4, and the flatscreen iMac's. Each new form factor hinted that computing was on the cusp on a new era. Can the Apple flatscreen TV with built-in Mac be far behind? Somewhat ironically, one of my favorite form factors remains the 300 MHz G3 "pizza box". Powerful for its day, attractively priced, just the right size for my desk, and the monitor sat on top of it just right. And, as the first generation with a DVD player, it pointed towards the future convergence of computing and entertainment media. ##### Outside of Apple? Like you said, I've got to go back awhile. The first time I finished typing in pages of hexadecimal from a forgotten magazine into some forgotten vendor's "monitor" program and moved a sprite from one side of the screen to another, I knew what I was going to do for the rest of my life. The first time I played Alkabeth on an Apple II, I saw more of the future. I imagined that I felt the dampness of the dungeon and cobwebs clinging to my face. Of course, I've still found a gaming experience that's lived up to that, but I hold out hope. And with each generation of storage, I've had a thrill as the possibilities have seemed even more limitless. From typing in hex every single time I wanted to do something, to a paper strip reader, to a cassette tape, to the Commodore's 1541 floppy drive, to the Macintosh 400k 3.5" floppy, to my first 5 MB hard drive, to my first CD-ROM drive, the first 100 MB hard drive, 500 MB hard drive, DVD drive, 1 GB drive, 100 GB drive... Probably within 5 years, my portable computer will have a terabyte drive! Admittedly, I'm a computer geek and have been since the mid-to-late 1970's. But little has inspired me more than the continual technology revolution of the last 30 years. reinharden PS: And let's not get started on modems, networking, and wireless. I liked that field so much that it's been my career for the last 25 years!