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...But Not High Enough (1/24/98)
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Now that, by all reasonably believable accounts, Apple's PowerExpress project has been killed, folks are still waiting to see what G3-based systems will step in to stake their claim on the high end of the Mac lineup. If Mac the Knife is correct, we can expect to see the first heavy-duty configuration to stroll the catwalk on February 12th. Mark your calendars, because now you know what to get your sweetie for Valentine's Day-- provided he/she's a graphics maven with a need for speed, and you use hundred-dollar bills as kindling in your fireplace because "you can't beat the smell of burning money to set the mood."
According to that saucy edged implement of division, the new box will feature a 266 MHz G3 chip, 128 MB of RAM, 512 KB of backside cache (running at an unknown speed), 100-Mbit ethernet, and-- most importantly, perhaps?-- a Wide Ultra SCSI hard drive for the crowd who still turns up its collective nose when it comes to that wimpy IDE stuff. Cost? A paltry $3700. (Reserve two for us.)
Keep in mind that this is a Gossamer-based Powermac G3, so it inherits the expansion restrictions that hobble its punier siblings. First of all, it can't take more than 384 MB of RAM. Sounds like plenty to you and me, but the folks who sling pixels around for a living might find that as binding as red leather pants that are two sizes too small. (We've heard rumors that Apple may be selling some really expensive DIMMs that'll let the G3 systems go to 768MB-- better, but still less than many tower systems will take.) Secondly, it has only three PCI slots; that's plenty for most people, but the digital-video studs/studettes are screaming bloody murder, because some professional video editing systems start with four cards to install-- that fact locks out a whole high-end market segment. For an Apple that's supposedly refocused on retaining its core market of content creators, this next G3 system seems a wee bit less "focused" than it should be.
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SceneLink (387)
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 1/24/98 episode: January 24, 1998: After the mysterious disappearance of Apple's high-end PowerExpress, the world awaits its powerful replacement with bated breath. Meanwhile, the starving masses trample women and children underfoot as they scramble to grab any G3 systems they can scrounge, while Netscape exits the stressful Java-development business amid much consternation and gnashing of teeth...
Other scenes from that episode: 388: My Kingdom for a G3 (1/24/98) Of course, if you actually want to buy a G3 system instead of just drooling over its specs, you might have a harder time than you bargained for. MacInTouch says that many readers are reporting "availability problems" that are making Powermac G3's the "Sing 'n' Snore Ernie" of the computer world... 389: Netscape Goes Decaf (1/24/98) Hands up, who here remembers Netscape? They used to be pretty well known for their web browser, you know, before Microsoft's Internet Explorer got up to speed. Well, anyway, apparently a few people still use their browser, so it may interest you to know that Netscape is drastically reducing their Java development in an effort to reduce costs, following their recent shambles of a financial quarter...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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