> > > >Hmm? Is there really a demand? Mac market share is below 10 percent in > > >total (worldwide). > > > > > By this arguement, there is also no reason to build Java3D for Linux > > either! Mac OSX is the most popular desktop *nix by far -- and much > > I disagree. Linux is used much wider in the science comunity than any > MacOS. And Linux is free no one forces blackdown to bring Java3D to Linux. > And there of course there is no license problem as on Mac.
Regardless of popularity, the G4 with it's "Altivec" component, is a very compelling platform for scientific computing and visualization. This is now doubly so now that they have the "Xserv" form factor, allowing more G4s/ft^2. Here's a white paper Apple published on the applicability of the G4 for engineering, science, and education: http://a1872.g.akamai.net/7/1872/51/fc3f3a53a0c596/www.apple.com/powermac/pd f/PowerPC-G4velocityengine.pdf Given that this market is clearly on that Apple purports to embrace, it seems stupid not to support Java3D, which is probably used mostly by scientists and engineers (currently). I know I'm preaching to the choir here... For those of you who comment "we've been through this before" or "no matter what you do they won't listen", etc. etc. you must remember that there are newbies out there, like me, who weren't a part of the community when the original battle took place. I've been there before (in other contexts), where one gets so frustrated, angry, and jaded that you end up believing the effort is futile. You throw your hands up and utter some obscenity, and do your best not to think about how much time you've burned on the issue. If this is indeed the current mindset of many "old-timers" out there, then perhaps it means that you need to symbolically "pass the baton" and let those of us who aren't frustrated, and are naive enough to think we can get anywhere with it fight the battle for a while. All I would ask of you is some historical context (simply in the form of archive links) to bring us up to speed with what has happened to date. Certainly can't hurt the situation. So, my original question still stands: *Who* should one write (or call) at Apple to voice advocacy for Java3D on the OS X platform (other than Steve Jobs)?? Thanks, Simeon PS: Incidentally, I once got really fed up about the state of a Bug Parade issue (two years old, huge number of votes) that I wrote an email to Scott McNealy about it. I quickly got a very detailed message from a project manager at JavaSoft explaining the plans for addressing the bug, and the dilemma they were in over it (compatibility between win32 platforms). Anyway, I posted the response I got, and all of us who had been pulling out our hair over the issue felt much better having some confirmation that our issue acknowledged. And the bug was fixed in 1.4 :-) =========================================================================== To unsubscribe, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and include in the body of the message "signoff JAVA3D-INTEREST". For general help, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and include in the body of the message "help".
