Found this on Quora.
I find Dave does an excellent job of answering tech questions. This one about Apple's transition from PowerPC to intel is no exception.
https://qr.ae/TeLMWe

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@agami

Quote:

there were a small number of people who regarded Intel and 80x86 as “The Enemy” or “inferior,” but by 2005 those were basically just religious arguments, nothing grounded in fact

And yet...

@agami

That bit on the consequences of Jobs' killing the Mac-compatibles is something I hadn't heard before, and is quite interesting.

I was under the impression that Apple remains more or less a bit player on the desktop market -- they may actually be the largest manufacturer of desktop computers, but their overall market share is still no more than 5%, if that. That was a few years ago, though; imagine my shock when the first link on DuckDuckGo for apple desktop market share told me that their share is now close to 15%. I'm not sure how much I should believe that, though, since Wikipedia says that iOS' overall share is also about 15%.

The strange thing is that, according to several stories I've read on the Internet ("and since I read it, it must be true"), Apple had neglected their desktops for several years, and Tim Cook even apologized for it at a WWDC if I recall correctly.

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@simplex

Apple have made themselves increasingly irrelevant in the desktop / laptop space after many years of gains. Dune Pro cases have the right idea. Take the flash aesthetics of the new Mac Pro cases and clone them for the PC market. That way you can build a machine worthy of the 'Pro' moniker!

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@BigD

How does an increasing market share translate to "increasingly irrelevant"? I guess I could see it if the overall market is shrinking, and desktop market size might be shrinking (I dunno) but I was wondering if you're saying that based on any objective metrics, or just because of your oft-aired frustrations with Apple's sudden dropping of support for old hardware (and not-so-old, too, sometimes).

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@BigD

Apples current desktop case design is extremely ugly but that clone is even worse, taking the worst parts and dropping the (hard to do) novelty part.

Last edited by megol on 05-Dec-2019 at 07:20 PM.

@simplex

My feeling is that Apple no longer cater for 'Pro' users, just rich corporate clients or hipsters who just want to look good in StarBucks. There is no middle ground for real tinkering, creative computer users. 'Think Different' is well and truly dead replaced with 'Accept What we Tell You'!

Their market share might be increasing but I really think that they've lost the 'Pro' market through ambivalence and bad decision making.

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@BigD

I understand your position, but I can assure you - a mac a heck lot more useful for tinkering than any Windows system ever has been - it is, after all, "just" another unix box, albeit with a rather tidy and functional graphical interface. Unless you mean "tinkering with Windows"

Back in the days, there was SGI, Sun, IBM, NeXT, HP, DEC and several others offering commercial UNIX systems - most of them have vanished. NeXT became Apple and macOS is a descendant of NeXTStep, the only easily available commercial UNIX around.

And old macs are perfectly usable, aside from a bunch of old PowerPC based macs, I have three generations of Intel mini macs, running DFBSD and whatever else. They are great for stacking

Last edited by kolla on 06-Dec-2019 at 12:21 PM.
Last edited by kolla on 06-Dec-2019 at 12:20 PM.

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@kolla

It kind funny they killed the 68k/PPC Mac clones, then tried to kill PPC, and now they have the same problem on x86, hackintosh x86 systems, that are way more powerful, and cheaper than real x86 macs. Kind of went full circle there..

And as you pointed out become a less interesting platform in the process. just another UNIX system, where did simplicity go…

Last edited by NutsAboutAmiga on 06-Dec-2019 at 08:13 PM.
Last edited by NutsAboutAmiga on 06-Dec-2019 at 08:12 PM.

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@simplex

Apple was sometimes listed as the biggest seller in the PC market, this meant they sold more than Dell.

Judging the market share might be difficult, because Macs are much more expensive then others, they might have a high market share measured in USD but not so much when measured in units.

---

BTW.:

iOS is not the OS used on a Mac

Quote:

NutsAboutAmiga wrote: It kind funny they killed the 68k/PPC Mac clones, then tried to kill PPC, ...

68k and PPC where just a collateral damage. Apple doesn't try to kill something as long as they are no competitors to them.

Quote:

Steve Jobs: “I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this.” https://9to5mac.com/2011/10/20/steve-jobs-im-going-to-destroy-android-because-its-a-stolen-product-im-willing-to-go-thermonuclear-war-on-this/

Last edited by OneTimer1 on 08-Dec-2019 at 07:32 PM.

@OneTimer1

Quote:

BTW.: iOS is not the OS used on a Mac

Yes, I know. That's why I'm a bit perplexed that both sources give the same market share. One of them is desktop OS, so almost certainly MacOS, and the other is overall OS. But macOS is not listed at all in overall OS, and the numbers match up. I'm not saying it can't be reconciled, just that I wonder if someone conflated iOS with MacOS.

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I've decided to follow an awful lot of people I respect and leave AmigaWorld. If for some reason you want to talk to me, it shouldn't take much effort to find me.

@simplex

The data has been combined. I think even Apple consider macOS a flavour of iOS. The proposed switch to ARM is an ideal opportunity to phase out macOS altogether. The lack of macOS games is being downplayed because iOS apps are now compatible?! Crazy way to try and keep Mac users interested! An iOS laptop does not interest me at all. The way Tim Cook's strategy caused Frontier to drop Elite Dangerous development on the Mac is unforgivable.

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"Art challenges technology. Technology inspires the art."
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