At 7:21 AM -0700 01/13/2006, Bruce Johnson wrote:
On Jan 12, 2006, at 10:38 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
5 years ago... just before OS X 10.0 shipped... I was still
meandering around, bumping into door frames, wondering what Jobs
was smoking. Unix is the OS I fooled around with in HS and learned
to write drivers for in college. Unix is the OS that my Systems
prof often used as an example of how how not to do things.
I don't know why...the fundamental underlying design of Unix as an
OS is still quite elegant: it is the bit that allows programs to run
on a computer without colliding with each other. He may well have
had issues with various *programs* run under Unix,
His issues were with the individual algorithms used to implement the
various components of the OS itself. At the time Unix was hacked
together, and during the 10 years following, there were stacks and
stacks of books that showed better algorithms -- yet the "developers"
chose to ignore them. As time goes on, some of those modules have
been re-implemented, but it still has a long way to go.
A full POWER processor, for example.
A nice chip for $15K servers with industrial blower fans, waaaaay
too hot and expensive for a desktop personal computer.
eh. What's a little heat? :)
Or a Cell.
A game systems specialty chip, it doesn't even have all the
functionality of a general purpose CPU.
The Cell is a PowerPC core with 8 FPUs. Gaming is only one of its
markets. There are sweet desktop graphics systems being built, as
well as massive rentable general-purpose and signal-processing server
grids.
To reiterate:
1) Laptop shipments surpassed desktop shipments last year, a trend
that is accelerating, meaning that powerful, low power consumption
CPU's are needed.
2) Neither Apple or IBM could figure a way to put a G5 into a laptop.
3) Motorola, er, "Freescale" simply couldn't get their dual-core G4
design out the door after over two years of trying.
4) Neither Motorola or IBM are really all that interested in making
CPU's for personal computers. Moto would rather make cellphones,
Freescale embedded processors for Ford, and IBM is out of the PC
business *entirely*.
Yup * 4.
5) Obviously Intel wanted Apple's business more than AMD did.
That's what it would seem, but then again we don't know. Could be
that Intel strong-armed Apple over ancialliary chip prices. Or many
other factors...
- Dan.
--
G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and...
Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives |
-- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! |
Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html>
G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml>
--> AOL users, remove "mailto:";
Send list messages to: <mailto:[email protected]>
To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/>
iPod Accessories for Less
at 1-800-iPOD.COM
Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal
www.1800ipod.com
