“By the time of my next deadline for this column, Steve Jobs will have already addressed the crowds at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco, and all the rumor and speculation about what Apple Computer has up its sleeve will subside to its usual dull roar,” Arik Hesseldahl writes for BusinessWeek. “This fact — plus the beginning of the new year — makes for a perfect time to look back on 2005, but more importantly look ahead to what I want from Apple in 2006. If ever there was a tough act to follow for Apple, 2005 was it. Consider where the company was at this time last year. The iPod shuffle hadn’t happened yet. Nor had the Mac mini or the fifth-generation iPod known popularly as the iPod video. Apple’s 2005 product-release schedule was nothing short of extraordinary.”
“Apple’s 2005 numbers say it all… Those who went long on Apple during its crisis days in mid-1997 found their faith rewarded in spades this year,” Hesseldahl writes. ” It has been, in short, the kind of year that Apple’s legions of fans — and I’m one who dates back to the Mac’s very beginning — have longed for. And that’s going to raise the bar for success in 2006 rather high… The big news for 2006 will be the shift to Intel-based machines. It could be challenging — or the start of a major upgrade cycle… I hope the new PowerMac is a super-box. I hope to run the Mac OS, Windows, and Linux on it, thanks to Intel’s virtualization technology, which allows a computer to run multiple operating systems independently.”
Hesseldahl writes that Ultra-Wideband (UWB) wireless data technology “could make it very easy to push digital video and music from a computer to any TV or set of speakers in the house. I think UWB should start showing up in products by the second half of the year. I’m eager to see how Apple might implement it.”
“In short, I want the very firmament of the personal computing world to rattle and shake when the next PowerMac enters the scene. After years of unceasing debate about the perceived performance gap between x86 chips like Intel’s and PowerPC chips like those from IBM (IBM) and Freescale Semiconductor (FSL) — an apple/orange comparison if ever there was one — I want those geeks who favor Microsoft’s Windows platform to look upon the Mac and feel a combination of envy and remorse. I want them all to take note of the Mac OS and the computers that run it, and in large numbers say at once: Now that’s the way personal computing should be,” Hesseldahl writes. “This would indeed, in the annals of Apple history, make 2006 a suitable follow-up to what has been the greatest year in its history.”
Full article with much more (check out Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Alsaud’s return on the $115 million he invested in Apple in April, 1997) here.
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Related MacDailyNews articles:
Is Steve Jobs prepping ‘The Cupertino Project’ – Intel-based Macs that will run Windows apps, too? – December 27, 2005
Defending Windows over Mac a sign of mental illness – December 20, 2003
Amen, brother!
Well said.
MW: dark. The computing masses are coming out of the dark.
I already feel remorse! And envy! Which is why I will say and do the things I will say and do in 2006!
it would be great if the shaking and rattling of the firmament would happen directly over redmond; with the little geek in charge forced to run to his mommy for comfort. directly afterwards, Local Leader Steve J will take charge of everything; all will then be as it should.
They may not know enough about Apple computers to feel envy, but EVERY Windows user feels remorse at lease several times a day whenever they need to reboot, remove spyware, get a virus from an email, etc.
“Will Windows geeks look upon Mac and feel a combination of envy and remorse in 2006?”
-yes. yes they will.
6th post! yay!
I have faith in Apple…
One little, two little, three little endians . . .
Close the software gap whining permanently with one version for Windows and Macintosh. Save developers lots of time and money. Make more money all around. More peripherals. No more complaints about Adobe and Macromedia having Windows-only features or programs. No more b#%^&ing; about the lack of games or CAD software or proprietary, vertical business apps on the Mac. No more complaints about browser incompatibilities with banks, etc. Continue to build on and bundle the iLife suite just for Macs. Safari for Windows might be a good P.R. move too and open more eyes like iTunes did. I’ve heard the crap vs. quality defense many times. I’m sure my Mac brethren and sistren will always be able to discern among the good and bad software. One look at many of the crap RealBasic “programs” (share and free) available now for the Mac is a good measure (and occasionally entertaining in their putridness as well).
</soapbox rant>
My 6 cents worth. But maybe not sixth sense worthy.
His wishes are my expectations.
Get a life-get a mac.
ron
get a new slogan, you have repeated it at least 50 times.
Randi:
I like Ron’s slogan. Simple and straightforward! So, should he mix it up with something different like, “get a life – get randi?”
Or maybe, “Get iLife – get a Mac!”
On the same Apple stock chart (at link above) click on the “insider trading” button and see how many Apple insiders have been massively selling the last two years and none buying.
Amazing how Apple insiders did not even believe their own stock would rise further.
Get a life – turn off your computer.
Another reason to switch:
“Tyger Tyger, burning bright” . . . until Leopard, of course. (Maybe it should be renamed Inteloper?)
Any blake stares from anyone on that? Just singing from experience.
I disagree. I think 2005 isn’t going to be that hard for them to beat. There is still a lot of things left for Apple to have up their sleeves. This time next year this guy will be writing about how he never thought Apple could top 2005 but they did it with ease.
I think ron’s slogan is somewhat condescending to non Mac users, which isn’t really the way to go.
How about:
If it’s not a Mac, it’s just a PC.
And quezzie. Thats what stock options are for. In most companies, if your company stock doubles you sell NOW not later. Geesh. Why does everyone think this is such a sign of a lack of faith. Maybe they just wanted to buy a house. I mean nice houses cost a lot out there dood.
I like MacDailyNews’ slogan better:
“Macintosh. Because life’s too short.”
The main theme for Apple in 2006 should be “year of the hardware”. No more antiquated G4s in laptops, no more manufacturers struggling to release faster processors. No more 32MB video cards when 128MB was the standard. No more onboard memory (especially 128MB onboard).
With Apple pairing up with Intel, we should see some great new technology that the PC industry has been waiting to release, but couldn’t, thanks to MS and its ancient Windows platform. Vista will be a joke, as the only users upgrading will be home and new PC buyers, the corporate world is still trying to settle into XP. OS X is the next ubiquitous platform that can easily be modified to handle anything the hardware companies can throw at Apple.
I am sure Intel has wanted to partner with Apple for quite a while now. Why would anyone want to pass up that guaranteed business? Why would anyone want to pass up having a partner as aggressive and as nimble as Apple. Intel will now be able to really show off what it can do when teamed up with Apple. I bet we see developments coming from Intel that will blow away the PC industry now that they don’t have MS holding them back. IBM blew their chance to fill the same role.
I’m a huge Mac fan and an Apple shareholder. BUT I have to use a PC every day all day. Windows2000. I don’t have to reboot because I shut the computer down every night. Something I don’t do at home on my Mac. I don’t get spyware and or viruses. Now, I would get malware if I were not smart enough to protect myself. So stating that all Windows users are plagued by malware and have to reboot all the time is just a stupid myth.
The same sort of myth that says Macs are more expensive and have no software.
However, no AutoCAD 3dStudio etc. = No Macs at work. And that goes for other industries. IBM/Microsoft got the business market and Apple never had it so…
So, again, some of you should just speak less and grow up more.
The Mafiasoft crowd is eagerly awaiting “Stillborn” a.k.a. “Pasta” for Windows Pasta will be the answer to all their problems.
Mafiasoft knowing this is all a lie, will continue to drag out the launch (already delayed by 2 years) for as long as possible.
Expect pandemonium when Pasta is finally released and the unwashed masses discover they are still being virused, phished, wormed, etc. not to mention unproductive. The I.T. minions will put up a good fight but “heads will role”®.
tHE dUDE said: ” I don’t get spyware and or viruses. “
For your info your windows boxes were taken over by my associates back in 2003. Since then, your windows boxes have been my bitch. And I’ve been pimpin’ them out to the highest bidda for DOS and shit. That you didn’t know only only show what a sucker you are.
I’m telling you this openly, ’cause we know there’s nothin you can do ’bout it.
“Will Windows geeks look upon Mac and feel a combination of envy and remorse in 2006?”
Envy, remorse, then anger, acceptance, and then strong denial. Then back to remorse. And then a little hungry and weak. More anger. Then sleepy. Then strangely thirsty, agitated and cold. Suddenly lustful and proud and then numb and delirious. Slightly nauseated. Then hungry and sleepy again. This will all be documented in the December, 2006 issue of Psychology Today.
I see only a few things to make cautionary mention of:
How well will MacOSX perfom on an Intel platform (after all, even though it’s been coded to work on Intel, that doesn’t mean its as fast as Windows on Intel, as Intel and Windows have been evolving together for much longer). If all that extra eye candy makes it suffer in a task-per-GHz comparison to Windows, Apple won’t be much better off than before.
Will it really be easier for developers to port programs to an Intel-based platform? Or is it still the OS that affects coding more?
If Apple’s computers remain higher-priced (and they will, I assure you) than Dells with the same processor speed, elegant design may not be enough to compete for the ignorant consumer. Especially if MacOSX produces lower benchmarks than Windows on the same machine.
And yes, I know its the overall experience (and TCO) that counts – to those that already have the experience to know it. But for the average computer buyer?
I guess we’ll learn some answers in about 2 weeks.
hey go to the drudge report and read about the girl who bought an ipod from walmart. in the box, no ipod but a raw piece of meat! funny.
http://www.local6.com/news/5710517/detail.html
Grrrilla
I can tell you hat OS X on Intel runs fast. Seemingly faster than OS X on PPC (any one to date) and these are just the Developer Transition boxes
Check out the presentation Steve did at MacWorld and watch. He’s demoing everythhing on one of those machines. And that’s an old build of OS X
MW – expect
As in “expect to be totally amazed”