|
In
Defense of iMac DV: Response to Critical [Mac?] Reader!
- 22 Nov 99.
A particular reader of the Architosh site recently wrote in about our
recent article "Apple
gets mishandled by the popular press on announcements". This
reader opined that the new enhancements to iMac DV, in his words,"
just aren't that impressive." Here's the full quote (response in
blue quotes):
1. Airport - Wireless connectivity has been available for the PC for
quite a while. The only thing Apple brings to the table is a base station
to make wireless networking useful if you only have one computer. The
base station adds considerable value paired with a portable but I have
to question the wisdom of wireless connectivity in a computer that by
design needs to be connected to a power outlet.
"Airport is forward thinking technology
in that it is the first technology that makes wireless both easy and
fun. Yes, you may be right in suggesting that portables can more easily
take full advantage of Airport technology, but just because you need
a power outlet to plug in to with your iMac doesn't mean that wireless
is pointless for iMacs and G4's. How many people have Ethernet running
around their houses to allow for fast DSL or cable access? Or a home
Ethernet LAN, for that matter? Airport helps make setting up these network
components easier and cheaper, in both the home and office environment.
Airport is great facilitating technology."
2. Harman Kardon sound system - This is a nice speaker system but offering
the (under powered) subwoofer as an "extra" makes this a ho-hum offering.
To be honest, even with the addition of the subwoofer, these speakers
are OK (I have heard them in RL). It brings the iMac up to the level
of your average PC. By way of comparison, the Altec Lansing speakers
(ACS 48) I have attached to my computer have a wider dynamic range with
twice the power and they are considered "excellent speakers at their
price point", not best of class. The thing Apple doesn't see is that
speakers are not the answer. Apple needs to implement A3D or EAX if
they want people to think their sound is anything but a joke.
"Apple is working on software technologies
to enhance 3D sound abilities; it is an area where they need to improve.
While there will always be better speakers to attach to a PC, the Harmon
Kardon speakers -- with or without the subwoofer -- bring much better
sound to the iMac DV then the previous iMacs. The tough job for Apple
is getting great sound to come out of a small form-factor device. The
iMac's small size and form-factor is one of its strengths and Apple
may never be able to offer "best-of-class" sound in an integrated
product. But the sound they are getting out of the new iMac DV's speakers
is pretty darn good, considering the size and costs constraints. And
if you need better sound you can add audiophile level equipment via
the built-in audio ports and USB."
3. The RAGE 128 graphics card - Again, about what you would expect
in a decent PC. This card has not made any serious inroad in the PC
world because it just isn't impressive. The TNT2 has better image quality
(at roughly the same speed) The Matrox G400 has hardware bump-mapping
and the Voodoo3 has much more raw speed.
"It is true the RAGE 128 card has disappointed
some power users, and maybe some at Apple. There are currently some
graphics cards on the market that smoke the ATI RAGE 128 card, such
as Formac's Pro Formance
3, yet this card is just now getting OpenGL driver support, while
ATI has had it for awhile. If I look around at the big boys in the PC
world in this price category ($999-1499), I tend to see lesser cards
than ATI's RAGE 128. For instance, the Compaq Presario 5700N-500 ($1099)
only has 64-bit graphics, as well as the new Dell Dimension L400C ($899).
At the $1429 price range you can get 16 MB 3DFX Voodoo3 AGP graphics
on the Dell Dimension XPS T450. But the TNT2 graphics card you speak
of comes on PC's costing above the iMac's price range, as in the Dell
Dimension XPS T700r ($2399).
The point is, 128-bit graphics at this price
point is better than top brands in the PC world. Sure you can find other
PC's with better graphics than the iMac DV, but not in the same brand
class -- and that matters, because with Apple you are getting top tier
manufacturing, tech support, ease-of-use, simplicity, and the best website
on the planet from a computer company. If we are making iMac comparisons
then we are talking Apple to Apple-like comparisons only. And that means
brand-class matters."
4. FireWire - Few people actually need this option and most that do
will buy a G4 (which are actually quite affordable) or (if they own
a PC) just buy a FireWire PCI card.
"Again, this is forward looking technology
leadership. Sure, you can get FireWire on PC's by adding a card, but
for the "first-time" buyer they don't want to install things
like PCI cards (which can range in difficulty to install depending on
computer). Yet, grandpa and grandma go out and buy VCR's and camcorders
all the time. And if you haven't noticed lately, these new machines
are now all coming with IEEE 1394 ports (FireWire). With the iMac DV
and its included iMovie software, anyone with half a brain can now use
that camcorder they just bought to make some really neat family movies,
write them back to tape, and share them with family. All of this without
opening up a case, installing software drivers, and configuring system
settings. Plug & Play desktop video is the next big thing.
If you don't believe it now, just wait until Xmas 2000!"
"It's hard to 'need' something that nobody
has every offered before in so convenient a package. Just look at the
history of cell phones. People just can't live without them now."
5. Slot DVD - PCs have already done it, didn't like it, dropped it
like a hot potato. It may work out on the Mac since the CD icon appears
on the desktop. The reason PCs don't use them is because people were
trying to load one CD on top of another. As a "computer professional"
I don't care for them. It is possible to get a CD out of a dead tray
loader without scratching it, a slot loader will be much more difficult
without spending some time taking it apart.
"A slot loading CD tray is no big deal in
the Mac world because all drives and cartridges show up on the desktop.
Plus, it's one of the first things you learn as a Mac user: drag items
like CD's to the trash to eject them. My two year-old son had this technique
down pat when he was just 18 months old. Yet, at over two now, he still
gets dangerously careless with placing CD's on a tray that in itself
is another item to snag, bump and break. The new slot-loading DVD iMac's
will mean one less item to break and one less worry for Mac users with
little kids. As for what would happen if one tried to load a second
CD on accident? Not sure? That's a good question for Apple."
In Summary
Why PC users continue to disbelieve why Apple's new products are cool
is sometimes beyond comprehension, especially since some of the very features
which Apple introduces (or brings to market in a way such that they take
off) end up being the very new cool features on next year's PC's.
Let's make a prediction. While some say Apple's new iMac DV offers items
like built-in FireWire with integrated iMovie software and nobody has
real need for them, I say: next
year this time PC's will offer the same (exactly) -- proclaiming simple
video desktop production and integration with digital camcorders and DVD
set-top players. Real turnkey solutions.
Prediction two. While some say there is no need for "wireless"
Airport technologies in non-mobile products, I say:
this time next year the entire consumer PC world
will be consumed with home LAN's with shared fast Internet connections
and multi-player gaming, multi-email, etc. How does this happen today
on the new iMac DV? With simple built-in Ethernet, superior networking
software (from the ease-of-use view) and today's simple Airport technology
-- plug & play wireless. Go figure.
As for sound and graphics performance, for the iMac's target audience
and price point, in an integrated product category, Apple's technologies
are quite capable. Sound improvements are forthcoming with new sound software
and Apple's graphics will only get better with improved OpenGL support
and with Apple's recent
acquisition of Raycer Graphics
(a graphics firm serving the workstation market) and its patent portfolio,
Apple may be a able to place workstation level graphics on future iMacs.
But again, Apple's 128-bit graphics on the iMac are definitely contenders,
no doubt about it -- and they don't need to be the best in the market
to make or break the product.
| Because achieving gestalt-like
levels of quality means that the product reaches its highest level
of appreciation only through experience means that PC users can never
fully understand why Mac users seem so zealot like. |
Apple's iMac DV is a Gestalt Product
What people fail to understand about Apple is that the company offers
products with a strong gestalt -- the German word for integration of experiences,
patterns or structures, where, in particular, the total experience cannot
be equated to the sum of the parts. To say, "strong gestalt"
in this case is to apply an adjective about the iMac as an art object
and art experience.
Yes! I did say "art experience", which is what Steve Jobs has
always talked about at Apple. It's what they do, turn raw silicon into
art -- the blending of [computer] science and art. Apple's products resonate
with a sense of completeness, wholeness and integration which is akin
to experiencing a great piece of architecture, sculpture, or music. Being
the purveyors of the most highly refined operating system and integrated
hardware gives Apple a huge advantage over common PC manufactures -- which
nowadays are more like assemblers -- when it comes to achieving this sense
of gestalt in a product.
| And they have no idea
how immensely useful it is to have your CD's appear on your desktop
-- something that DOESN'T exists for PC users because their entire
computing experience is strictly based on the sum of its parts. |
Because achieving gestalt-like levels of quality means that the product
reaches its highest level of appreciation only through experience means
that PC users can never fully understand why Mac users seem so zealot
like. And it also means that they can never understand what they are missing
by comparing computers in terms of MHz, graphics speeds, and other technical
specifications, including things like Plug & Play -- which serve a
dual role in defining quantitative and experience-based assessments of
computers. In fact, Mac users don't tend to think
about assessing individual computers at all, since for them it's always
about the whole experience of the integration between Mac hardware and
the Mac OS. When they do upgrade to new and better equipment
their comparisons seem always to be OS-centered. For example, as in "when
I close my PowerBook G3's lid the OS goes to sleep automatically and awakes
when I open it." Or, "with my PowerBook's media drive bays I
can hot-swap my battery for a zip drive and the zip appears on the desktop
automatically ready for identification and use."
What non-Mac users don't understand about products like the iMac DV is
that the entire computing experience is integrated by one company, willing
to take full responsibility for when that experience breaks down or doesn't
quite live up. Longtime Mac users are so ingrained in this level of integration
that they really don't have any idea at all what it is like to be a PC
user. They have no idea what it is like to call Microsoft's tech support
and only be told that they should call Dell instead, or Gateway, or whatever.
And PC users, on the otherhand, have no idea how immensely useful it
is to have your CD's appear on your desktop -- something that DOESN'T
exists for PC users because their entire computing experience is strictly
based on the sum of its parts. Like most things in life, the sum of its
parts rarely exceeds the whole, much less approximates it. Which is why
anyone who knows the "gestalt computing" of the Macintosh will
always tend to prefer it.
Other Architosh News
and Reports
The G4 processor and
QuickDraw 3D: Speed Shootout - [nov 23]
Harvard's GSD and the Macintosh
- [nov 18]
Farallon CardBus Driver, New Starlet
Hub and Mac OS 9 - [17]
Apple's Raycer buy: Advanced 3D Market
Targeted Next? - [4]
Special Architosh Feature: Diehl Graphsoft's
VectorWorks and Macintosh CAD - [4]
|
The Apple Store now sells a selection of leading,
third-party Macintosh software!
The Ultimate Macintosh CAD machine: Power Mac G4/500,
custom configured. starts
at $2,199
Essential for your design or engineering business,
FileMaker Pro 5 handles all your data business needs.
$249
click on our screen grab to go
there now!
|
|
|
|
Help support Architosh by shopping at our Associate
Apple Store. Thanks!
|
|
|
|
