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#1 2005-06-06 3:41 pm
- pja
- Member
- From: Norwich
- Registered: 2004-08-17
- Posts: 80
Rapidly depreciating hardware
Despite all the assurance of easy transfer to Intel, I assume many like me will put off buying new hardware until we see the prices of the Intel powered kit (especially PowerMacs)
I assume there will be a less secondhand gear on the market as many users hold on to their Macs until the change but as soon as the Intel versions of each product come out, won't the seconhand value of that range will plummet?
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#2 2005-06-06 3:59 pm
- Pariah
- James Carville Fan..
- From: Belly Of The Beast, Oklahoma!
- Registered: 2001-05-24
- Posts: 18408
Re: Rapidly depreciating hardware
Absolutly.
In 2 years I figure on being able to pick up a dual 2.5ghz tower for about $500, maybe less.
"and it's not surprising that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
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#3 2005-06-06 4:25 pm
- rufio
- Let the funeral start, hear the casket close...
- From: texas/ohio
- Registered: 2003-10-26
- Posts: 2261
Re: Rapidly depreciating hardware
Pariah wrote:
Absolutly.
In 2 years I figure on being able to pick up a dual 2.5ghz tower for about $500, maybe less.
That's a sad thought.
"Outside of this forum
everything is second after first."
-pcguy
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#4 2005-06-06 4:26 pm
- Pixel Shader
- Intel® Pentium® 4
- Registered: 2004-05-23
- Posts: 1376
Re: Rapidly depreciating hardware
Pariah wrote:
Absolutely.
In 2 years I figure on being able to pick up a dual 2.5ghz tower for about $500, maybe less.
Exactly, b/c most likely there wont be as much software/hardware developed for those machines (?)
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#5 2005-06-06 4:37 pm
Re: Rapidly depreciating hardware
Except with "Universal" binaries, all software can be developed for both simultaneously. Prices can go either way since they may become thought of as "rare collector's items." I would personally hate to see the PowerMac's value drop like a stone since I just bought one a month ago...
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#6 2005-06-06 4:44 pm
- Pariah
- James Carville Fan..
- From: Belly Of The Beast, Oklahoma!
- Registered: 2001-05-24
- Posts: 18408
Re: Rapidly depreciating hardware
akb825 wrote:
Except with "Universal" binaries, all software can be developed for both simultaneously. Prices can go either way since they may become thought of as "rare collector's items." I would personally hate to see the PowerMac's value drop like a stone since I just bought one a month ago...
While all of us here will be aware that PPC Macs will be plenty usefull for many years I think the perception in the wider, less informed computer using community will be that PPC Macs are dead end technology and that will seriously impact their resale value.
Thats my opinion anyways.
The proof will be in how prices on Ebay and other auction sites go. Time will tell.
"and it's not surprising that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
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#7 2005-06-06 5:45 pm
Re: Rapidly depreciating hardware
Pariah wrote:
akb825 wrote:
Except with "Universal" binaries, all software can be developed for both simultaneously. Prices can go either way since they may become thought of as "rare collector's items." I would personally hate to see the PowerMac's value drop like a stone since I just bought one a month ago...
While all of us here will be aware that PPC Macs will be plenty usefull for many years I think the perception in the wider, less informed computer using community will be that PPC Macs are dead end technology and that will seriously impact their resale value.
Thats my opinion anyways.
The proof will be in how prices on Ebay and other auction sites go. Time will tell.
They'll be very useful, as long as your software does what you want it to do. There'll be a brief period with point updates for both the PPC and x86 versions of programs, but the PPC updates will dry up quickly within a year, just like updates for classic apps did.
"I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'"
-- Bob Newhart
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#8 2005-06-06 5:51 pm
Re: Rapidly depreciating hardware
There is still one major difference: it was possible to go out and buy a copy of Mac OS X for a relatively small price when Classic died, and it would run on most machines. Buying a whole new computer is a little more expensive. 
I'd imagine that we'll see FAT binaries for every major software package for maybe 3-4 years before they start drying up. At least with the system Apple is implementing, except with endian issues (which are relatively easy to avoid if you code with it in mind) and chip-specific optimizations, you simply need to select that you want to have a binary for Intel and PPC to compile a FAT binary.
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#9 2005-06-06 5:55 pm
- smd3
- Member
- Registered: 2002-10-24
- Posts: 385
Re: Rapidly depreciating hardware
This is all assuming developers don't completely jump ship. A lot of the developers have already seen a shift in architecture, they've already done the FAT binary thing. Do they really want to go through it again for a relatively small market share?
I love apple, but this will most likely be my last machine. We'll probably be able to buy OSX for our DELLs soon anyway.
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#10 2005-06-06 6:04 pm
- Gary Patterson
-     
- Registered: 2000-09-19
- Posts: 4732
Re: Rapidly depreciating hardware
Hey, my iBook's internal value-meter just dropped to AUS$1000!
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#11 2005-06-06 6:05 pm
- Gary Patterson
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- Registered: 2000-09-19
- Posts: 4732
Re: Rapidly depreciating hardware
$950
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#12 2005-06-06 6:10 pm
- Gary Patterson
-     
- Registered: 2000-09-19
- Posts: 4732
Re: Rapidly depreciating hardware
$900! Hey - is there some way to stop this?
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#14 2005-06-06 6:17 pm
- Pariah
- James Carville Fan..
- From: Belly Of The Beast, Oklahoma!
- Registered: 2001-05-24
- Posts: 18408
Re: Rapidly depreciating hardware
Gary Patterson wrote:
$900! Hey - is there some way to stop this?
No
"and it's not surprising that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
Barack Obama
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#15 2005-06-06 6:26 pm
- smd3
- Member
- Registered: 2002-10-24
- Posts: 385
Re: Rapidly depreciating hardware
gozer wrote:
plug the price hole with something!
It's too late for that, although maybe you can use your pretty hunk of metal for a door stop. I guess I'm going to start saving my pennies for a nice Intel laptop to run Linux on. 
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#16 2005-06-06 6:39 pm
- ABigSmall
- Member
- Registered: 2004-03-13
- Posts: 4245
Re: Rapidly depreciating hardware
Wow smd3, you're the real optimist. I applaud you.
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#17 2005-06-06 6:56 pm
- Pariah
- James Carville Fan..
- From: Belly Of The Beast, Oklahoma!
- Registered: 2001-05-24
- Posts: 18408
Re: Rapidly depreciating hardware
This brings to mind the Tom Petty song "Free Falling".
"and it's not surprising that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
Barack Obama
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#18 2005-06-06 6:57 pm
- smd3
- Member
- Registered: 2002-10-24
- Posts: 385
Re: Rapidly depreciating hardware
I'm sorry, this whole thing has really gotten me down. I hope I eat my words. I bought an Apple because I don't like having the same junk. I pretty much stopped using Windows in the mid 90's for Linux.
My next switch was to AMD from Intel. The lower cost and the near, if not superior, performance was just what I wanted.
I guess my biggest worry, really, is that there will be a very fine line between a Mac and a Windows box. If they're both running Intel hardware I doubt there will be much different.
Apple's unique hardware has been key in producing stable and productive hardware. They've had strict control of the peripherals and that control has given us better quality.
I don't think this is a good road for Apple. They're esentially throwing out what makes them unique. What's left, OSX? Once the Intel port is out I doubt it's long before we see OSX on a Dell.
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#19 2005-06-06 7:04 pm
Re: Rapidly depreciating hardware
smd3 wrote:
They're esentially throwing out what makes them unique. What's left, OSX? Once the Intel port is out I doubt it's long before we see OSX on a Dell.
That would be far better than a Dell with anything else running on it.
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#20 2005-06-06 8:58 pm
Re: Rapidly depreciating hardware
They still have all the control they want on hardware: the only thing that they're changing is the processor (and possibly tweak some of the other components to be more compatible)
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#21 2005-06-06 9:51 pm
- SpacemanSpiff
- Stupendous Man
- From: Transmogrifier
- Registered: 2001-07-31
- Posts: 5536
Re: Rapidly depreciating hardware
Pariah wrote:
This brings to mind the Tom Petty song "Free Falling".
Oh way too easy:
She's a good Mac, loves her Tiger.
Got a G5 running OS X.
She's a good Mac, crazy 'bout Classic.
Loves Freescale and IBM, too.
And it's a bad time down in Cupertino.
There's a pipeline, 64 bits wide.
And I'm a bad boy, cause I won't even miss it.
I'm a bad boy. I broke Altivec.
And I'm free, free fallin
Yeah I'm free, free fallin
All the night owls sifting through the program,
Move west down Rosetta Boulevard.
And all the bad boys are hacking up their Intels.
And the good Macs are home in broken parts.
Free fallin', I'm a-free fallin', I'm a
Free fallin', I'm a-free fallin'
I wanna drive home and start up my Macintosh
I'm going watch it light up my eyes.
I'm gonna use it, till it is worth nothing
Gonna use this Mac for a while
"The first time one sees natural beauty which is privately owned; oceans as people's back yards, confounds the senses. I didn't know God had a a toy store for the rich." -- Spanglish
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#22 2005-06-06 10:28 pm
- Cobalt60
- Member
- Registered: 2002-04-17
- Posts: 1388
Re: Rapidly depreciating hardware
Maybe its all about the mind anyway. One analyst said," Apple used to be 'Think Different'. Now they are just another computer vendor." So maybe the cachet is dead.
Last edited by Cobalt60 (2005-06-06 10:29 pm)
I'm not a doctor but I'll take a look!
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#23 2005-06-07 2:29 am
- ckm
- f/k/a captkevman
- From: over here!
- Registered: 2001-03-13
- Posts: 6884
Re: Rapidly depreciating hardware
pja wrote:
Despite all the assurance of easy transfer to Intel, I assume many like me will put off buying new hardware until we see the prices of the Intel powered kit (especially PowerMacs)
I assume there will be a less secondhand gear on the market as many users hold on to their Macs until the change but as soon as the Intel versions of each product come out, won't the seconhand value of that range will plummet?
Well, I know that I'll be holding off until the switch; I had planned on a G5 purchase next year, but now I'll just have to get by with my 5-year-old G4 Sawtooth and 2005 12" PowerBook until then.
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#24 2005-06-07 7:17 am
- lamewing
- Apparent Microsoft Astroturf Salesman
- From: Fort Worth, TX
- Registered: 2001-02-23
- Posts: 1521
Re: Rapidly depreciating hardware
smd3 wrote:
This is all assuming developers don't completely jump ship. A lot of the developers have already seen a shift in architecture, they've already done the FAT binary thing. Do they really want to go through it again for a relatively small market share?
I love apple, but this will most likely be my last machine. We'll probably be able to buy OSX for our DELLs soon anyway.
Oh dear God. NO NO NO. You won't be running OS X on your Dell PC. It has already been said that while Windows will run on the Mac, OS X will NOT run on a PC (hacks not included).
So, you are saying you will stop using Macintosh because it has an intel chip inside it? You are saying you will switch to Linux or Windows (from OS X) because of a cpu change? Jeez!!!
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#25 2005-06-07 7:20 am
- lamewing
- Apparent Microsoft Astroturf Salesman
- From: Fort Worth, TX
- Registered: 2001-02-23
- Posts: 1521
Re: Rapidly depreciating hardware
smd3 wrote:
gozer wrote:
plug the price hole with something!
It's too late for that, although maybe you can use your pretty hunk of metal for a door stop. I guess I'm going to start saving my pennies for a nice Intel laptop to run Linux on.
You too? So, it seems that the Apple supporters seem more interested in the cpu (hardware) versus the OS (software). And to think that so MANY Apple people stated (previously) that the hardware wasn't the big difference, but instead the OS was the true strength of the Mac. I really find it HARD TO BELIEVE that Apple customers will switch to Windows or Linux just due to a hardware change.
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