reesesWeb

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!

Insanely, less than three months after a majorish (in terms of screen resolution) upgrade to the PowerBook, usually a sign that not much is going to happen for a while, Apple drops this.

Not only do they drop this, but they've annihilated any foregoing utility of the PowerBook (in a display of remarkable hubris, these are still sold on the Apple site and promoted as "all-out performance") I bought right after the last announcement¹. I've complained often about the performance penalty that PowerBook users suffer -- we pay as much as the users of the Quad-G5 for our machines (and yes, the information is on the table), but we get a fraction of the performance.

Unfortunately, developers use dual or quad G5s. They test on those same G5s. By the time the apps get to the G4, they're dog slow. We have to go to ridiculous lengths to make these machines usable.

Now it's only going to get worse. There is no reason to keep a G4 (or a G5) if you plan on running new software. It's going to be written on machines 10x faster than the most recent (and I assume last) PowerBooks. It's going to be tested on MacBook Pro systems that are at least twice as fast (the claimed 4x divided by the assumed 200% BS factor) as this machine. I can't even carry my 2 gigs of RAM forward to a new machine.

I'm torn. I'm pissed that Apple demonstrated their continued disregard for their customer base by "duping" people into buying the Star Wars Special Edition Gold Master VHS tapes right before the DVD set was released; less than completely outraged that they at least didn't produce an iBook at a third the price of my PowerBook that would completely spank its butt; and somewhat pleased that a reasonable Macintosh portable has finally been produced.

Sure, I'll end up buying one, probably tonight, right after I hit "Save" on this post. I have no idea what I'll do with this machine since it can't run Linux (no Airport Express support) and isn't fast enough to be an HTPC. I might donate it, I might frisbee it into the bay. I'm rather sick of it right now, and annoyed that, had Apple not chosen substandard drives with known problems in the last PowerBook I bought, I'd be gleefully looking forward to a substantial upgrade, instead of feeling forced into it.

1.

From:     do_not_reply_up@sapei2.corp.apple.com
Subject:        Your Apple invoice # xxxxxxxxxx
Date:         November 1, 2005 7:27:28 AM PST
To:       reeses@astrogoth.com
Reply-To:         do_not_reply_up@sapei2.corp.apple.com

                                       INVOICE RECEIPT

 Dear Apple Customer,

 Thank you for shopping at the Apple Store!

 If you have already paid for your purchase, please retain this invoice receipt
 for your records.

 If you need to send payment to Apple, please reference Apple's Invoice Number on
 your remittance. After remitting payment, please retain this invoice receipt for
 your records.

 Invoice Number:          xxxxxxxxxx
 Invoice Date:            11/01/05
 Web Order Number:        Wxxxxxxxx
 Reference Date:          11/01/05
 Amount Due:              .00
 Customer P.O. Number:    xxxxxxxxxx
 Sales Order Number:      xxxxxxxxxx
 Customer Number:         xxxxxx
 Terms:                   Credit Card

 Sold To:                                 Ship To:
 Monkey Butt                              Monkey Butt
 XXXX Cordell Ave #XXX                    XXXX Cordell Ave #XXX
 BETHESDA MD  XXXXX                       BETHESDA MD  XXXXX
 USA                                                   USA


 

 Item Product   Product Description       Total   Total   Unit       Extended
      Number                              Ordered Shipped Price      Price
 001  S2304Z/A  APP FOR POWERBOOK - IND A 1       1       xxx.xx     xxx.xx
 002  Z0C96LL/A PBG4 15/1.67/2GB/100/SD-D 1       1       x,xxx.xx   x,xxx.xx
                SerialNo.: ( xxxxxxxxxxx )
                Original ordered material was Z0C9

                The unit above contains the following options:

                Memory                    065-6059  2GB PC2-4200DDR2- 2x1GB SO-DIM
                Hard Drive                065-6060  100GB Ultra ATA Drive@7200rpm
                Optical Drive             065-5824  SuperDrive DL (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
                Apple Software Solutions  065-4683  None
                Keyboard/Mac OS Language  065-5821  BkLit Keyboard/Mac OS
                Country Kit/AEX           065-6043  Airport Extreme Card & BT


 Subtotal              x,xxx.xx
 Tax                     xxx.xx
 Shipping Charges
 TOTAL  USD            x,xxx.xx

 Questions? Call 800-676-2775 Mon-Fri 7am-10pm, Sat-Sun 9am-6pm CT

 Salesperson  Contact Entry Date Ship Date Routing
              BD      10/30/05   11/01/05  FEDERAL EXPRESS

                  Your American Express XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX has been charged $
 x,xxx.xx
                  For a total of $  x,xxx.xx