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Slots For Everybody (6/27/98)
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It would appear that Don Crabb has finally received the last word (for now, at least) on Apple's plans for the number of PCI slots to include in its upcoming high-end G3 Power Macs. In short, don't hold your breath waiting for a six-slot box. Apple has no plans to deliver one at all. Since Apple's trying to simplify their product line and reduce the number of motherboards on which they base their products, a six-slot board that caters only to the teensy-weensy number of Mac users who use high-end multi-card video editing systems wouldn't make sense. We at AtAT can get behind that logic; what percentage of Mac users actually use more than three slots? Probably fewer than one percent. Why design a whole logic board to cater to that crowd?
Why? Because that crowd, consisting of digital media professionals, is incredibly important to Apple's future, that's why. Heck, we've even heard Steve Jobs himself state that "content creators" are one of Apple's two core markets (the other being education). So why are they now almost daring one of their core markets to switch over to six-slot Wintel solutions? Lack of communication, mostly. (From Apple? Naaahhh...) While the industry has been scratching its big collective head about what Apple's going to do about the slot problem, Apple had apparently decided on a solution: it would work with third-party companies who make PCI expansion chassis and help them ensure 100% compatibility with Apple's upcoming Pro systems, which will feature a fourth 64-bit PCI slot to use as a bridge to the expansion chassis. Problem solved; people who need more than four slots buy the chassis, and nobody else pays for slots they don't need. Sounds just dandy to us-- especially if Apple sells some configurations of the Pro G3's with a third-party PCI chassis included.
The thing that kills us is that Apple has kept mum on this issue for so long, while one of their core markets looked towards Wintel since there were no six-slot Macs available for purchase. We would have guessed it should have been simple enough to issue a brief statement of available options for those customers who need six-slot systems. But that wouldn't have been nearly as exciting, would it?
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SceneLink (811)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 6/27/98 episode: June 27, 1998: Canadian Mac buyers haven't had the "benefit" of ubiquitous CompUSA's and the Apple salon stores within, but the Computer City buyout may change all that in time. Meanwhile, the ongoing drama of Apple's slot-deficient computers may be reaching a satisfying end, and there's less time to wait for an iMac than you might think...
Other scenes from that episode: 810: Great White North (6/27/98) Apple's slow climb back into the consumer market should accelerate quickly once the cute and lumpy iMac makes its debut on store shelves this August. Unfortunately, since Apple pulled out of a significant portion of the retail space a few months ago when it yanked Macs out of all national retail chains except for CompUSA, there are fewer shelves on which to display the iMac when it's ready to sell... 812: Waiting For iMac (6/27/98) It seems like the whole Mac-using world is holding its breath awaiting the arrival of the iMac. We at AtAT are so used to hearing release dates of "ninety days" that we often forget that time marches forward; the iMac isn't due in ninety days anymore-- it's due in forty-four!...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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