Geektronics: August 2003 Archives
My fortnightly Apple eNews flopped - albeit metaphorically - through my inbox this morning, announcing the popular release of the G5 in the United States. It is released in the civilised world a little later in August, but that's pretty fair, as European and Japanese technology can be withheld from the Americas for suspiciously long periods - one-upmanship against the super-power? Who knows, but doubt it; the greater market economies are too complex for something that petty*.
In any case, if any of you wins the lottery and feels like buying someone less-well-off something really stunning, souped up and generally kickass, then buy them one of these. I really want one too, but am probably too proud to accept your charity. What? No! You've really offended me now. Take your sleekly designed powerhouse of data-crunching, metasexually-charged, ohmygoodness, stone-me-now-with-slaked-pigiron piece of voluptuousness-incarnate and go away!
Sigh. A 64-bit processor based on IBMs server-grade 64-bit POWER4 lies at the heart of this new desktop range; it's a first for the home user, the architecture of which allows for a tremendous leap in memory capacity, bus-speed, and sex appeal. I don't really care whether the machine is the fastest PC out there, as is claimed, though for it's price, it probably is - my 733 Mhz G4 is faster than a 3 GHz Pentium on some fronts, so I'd not be hard pressed to accept that the G5 is, in practice - the point is that Apple have finally come up with a new flagship range more in keeping with what people expect of them, and one which is more readily expandable.
Some saw the company's announcement of the G5 as a pyrrhic event, but not everything need be based on outdoing the competition; more deserved attention seems to be garnered by serving the needs of a faithful clientele, and I am more than happy with the quiet confidence that they impart through the development of a fine product range. Just release Panther already.
*Ack! The Germans and French didn't support our bid for a legitimate attack on Iraq - trade embargo! Trade embargo!
I was diverted by this example of a learning software; a programme which plays 20 questions, and which adapts its database to address inaccuracies in its guessing. It guessed my first item incorrectly, but came close, and got the second quite easily; don't try to be a smartass, or in fact, do.
I saw T3 on Sunday; this software doesn't worry me, but it's amusing to draw the comparison. The Vingean singularity (a theoretical point after which man's technology will outgrow the need for intervention by its creator, being able to exist and replicate itself independently) is probably a ways away, though who knows what the military are playing with...
