--- Begin Message ---
Eric
Jeschke [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Tue, 14 May 2002 13:05:12 -1000 (HST)
Apple hardware is impressive. They have great engineers. The stuff is
solidly built and will last a long time. The ergonomics are awesome.
If it wasn't for the PowerPC CPU, it would be worth buying their
boxes/laptops just to put Linux on it. Like any luxury item, you pay
more for the great hardware and engineering.
Eric-
First, it's sad to know that another good young professor is leaving the
state of Hawaii. Realistically, however, unless you have strong local ties
(or unless our politicians allow us to change things), it would be insane
for any talented professional with any kind of ambition to stay on the islands.
:-(
On the hardware part, if you're willing to shop around, for the same price
you are paying for a PPC, you can probably get a better PC (power is never
the question, but I am talking about a better designed PC). Recently I upgraded
my PC to an 1800+ Athlon XP with 512 MB PC2100 DDR RAM for a grand total
of less than $400. Performance-wise, it beats any iMac that I tried at CompUSA.
Imagine what kind of iMac you can get with $400?
However, we should also not lose sight that Apple controls both the OS and
the hardware; whereas, Microsoft never lets PC designers fully know what's
going on. As a result, most PCs are extremely dull compared to the Macs.
There is another reason why PCs are inherently inferior to the Macs.
A few years ago, I was consulting VIA on their patent fights against Intel
and began paying attention to CPU patch logs. Many are probably not aware
that AMD CPUs (both the K6's and more particularly the Athlons) are actually
more conforming to the Windows specs's than the Pentiums. Sometimes, because
Intel was so insistent on not making the required modifications, Microsoft
had to modify its code. However, this screws up everyone else who followed
Microsoft's published spec. Both Microsoft and Intel seem to greatly enjoy
the confusion caused by their apparent (but probably conspiring) disagreement.
Without the fear and uncertainty factors, Microsoft and Intel would quickly
lose their dominance.
Hopefully, the transparency of the Linux OS will change the situation. In
the future, the Linux PCs will be not only more powerful, but better designed.
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