It looks like Apple is taking a huge dive, speculation over many things is cauing a uproar in the mac community. Topics such as the following.....Mac
Every since Apple started it, it is going down all over as the worst thing Apple has every done, even worse than those Performas'! (firewire 
) Apple has reportedly been hit hard by lack of .Mac subscribers. A few hours ago Steve Jobs was heard talking about a possible monthly service costing an estimated $10 a month. The service will be the same as the existing yearly service.
According to SpyMac, Apple have been madly deleting forum threads commenting on the pricing of .Mac. We, like SpyMac, tested this out, and found that our comments were deleted in less than a minute.
This is one of the biggest misconceptions about .Mac, and we thought we might go into it in a little more detail. First, it is not free to do ths - each email only account costs $10 per year. Second, you must have a full .Mac paying member buy the email only account, you cannot do it alone. So don't bother trying - you will only find yourself more stuck and confused than you currently are.
Mac Production
Steve Jobs has mysteriously told Reuters that after the end of this year, they may be looking to use Pentium processors to replace Motorolla and IBM. He said that after the transition to OS X, at the end of the year that they will "have options, and we like to have options." Very mysterious...
Steve Jobs: "The roadmap on the PowerPC actually looks pretty good and there are some advantages to it. As an example, the PowerPC has something in it called AltiVec, we call the Velocity Engine -- it's a vector engine -- it dramatically accelerates media, much better than, as an example, the Intel processors or the AMD processors... so we actually eek out a fair amount of performance from these things when all is said and done. And the roadmap looks pretty good. Now, as you point out, once our transition to Mac OS 10 is complete, which I expect will be around the end of this year or sometime early next year and we get the top 20% of our installed base running 10, and I think the next 20 will come very rapidly after that. Then we'll have options, then we'll have options and we like to have options. But right now, between Motorola and IBM, the roadmap looks pretty decent. "
After considerable thought, we have analysed the PowerMac situation and feel that the release date is very close to the tenth of August. The new PowerMacs should have processors starting at around 1.2 Ghz and finishing with a dual 1.4 Ghz. Pricing will be similar to current PowerMacs.
CRT iMacs are to be faded out during August, if anyone has noticed they where upgraded, but to most of us the "upgrade" was more of a "downgrade" because now all the CRT iMacs at the Apple Store have only CD ROM drives, and just come with more memory.
Software
David Hyatt has been hired by Apple. This is significant because David is the creator of Chimera and a significant part of Mozilla, both amazing new internet browsers. What does Apple want with him? Obviously with the introduction of .Mac, Apple will be looking for new internet tools and content. But maybe an Apple browser is on the way?
Apple hopes to become to the number 1 pro software creator in the digital arts field. At a press conference in a few weeks, where the new PowerMac is expected to be unveiled, an Apple exec. (probably Jobs) is expected to make significant product announcements on the pro front. These announcements will generally be on products aquired from other companies in Apple's "buying spree". Apple are also concentrating on consumer software. iCal heralds a new set of applications to be released over the coming months to work in conjunction with .Mac. These applications will include a new AppleWorks type app and an internet browser, which will both harness the immense power possible with the new service.
Steve Jobs, and the rest of the Apple crew are on the verge of changing Jaguar to a free update. Those on the Apple-Up-To-Date program are currently telling callers that the pricing of Jaguar is not 100% fixed, and Apple are looking for comment regarding their decision.
Even though we all hate Microsoft they do provide us with Internet Explorer, and the Office Suite. Gates was quoted on saying that mac sales of Office v.X have been low and if continue to be that it will be cut from production. The same was said on future developes of Internet Explorer. There has been quite a group of Mac users expressing concern that Steve Jobs may be "going too far" with his open criticism of Microsoft, and that this could well spell the end of Microsoft's development for the Mac platform. I've even heard Mac users say that we "owe" Microsoft the courtesy of respect for the many years that they have invested in supporting our chosen computer platform.
I find the idea that Apple should fear Microsoft not only nonsensical, but mildly humorous. To my mind, the exact opposite is true. And, if you will tolerate me making ten preliminary points, I'll tell you why I believe this to be true.
1. Microsoft and Apple are natural, head to head competitors. They are not "friends."
2. The two companies are both earning their living by selling different operating systems to the same market.
3. Apple is actually serious about making dramatic expansion of their market share. How do you think they will do that without taking business away from Microsoft? Don't mistake Steve's cute little, "There's enough business for everybody" comments for anything other than smoke. There is not enough business for everybody. There is a finite number of potential buyers for personal computers.
4. Apple obviously believes that the road map for OS X involves developing their modern environment until it is vastly superior to Windows. If they are right, then what is Apple supposed to do after it is universally agreed they have reached that point? Lay down quietly and not make a fuss about their one substantial competitor?
5. Over the past week, I've nagged my e-mail Housewife into contacting her whole mailing list of other e-mail Housewives to find out how many of them own Microsoft Office. Out of around 40 people she's dragged answers from, only one has it installed, and she doesn't know how to use it. She says she uses something called "WordPad" to write letters (she thinks...). These people may draw your elitist disdain, but they are computer owners, and they are consumers, and they are legitimate targets for Apple's Switch campaign. Without Microsoft Office.
6. I checked with nine local schools this afternoon. None of them have school-supplied Office installed in their classrooms. They use either Works 6.0, Works Suite 2002, or AppleWorks. One school reported having bought one group of Dell's that had Office pre-loaded, but that they removed it to maintain conformity with their existing systems.
7. I haven't checked with anyone on this one: But, how many graphic artists, pro-video folks, pro-audio folks, or print design folks have on their required feature list the ability to run Microsoft Office? None, I'm betting.
8. So, let's see: that's home users, educational users, and creative industry users. I wonder just how many people that is, in total, who DO NOT NEED MS Office?
9. What if Apple released or endorsed an inexpensive office suite that was 100 per cent file compatible with MS Office up to today's version?... I wonder how many people would refuse to buy Macs then, based on the "necessity" of MS Office? I'm betting that very few from these three groups would even notice.
10. My point from the preceding is this: There is no way for Apple to grow market share without taking it from Microsoft. My estimate is that the above groups of potential buyers represent as many as 40 per cent of all personal computer sales, who do not need and do not buy MS Office. They also represent the overwhelming majority of Apple's current buyer types.
Think about this: The vast majority of people who are within Apple's present buyer groups do not need and do not buy MS Office. But, that group may represent a large percentage of Microsoft's customer base.
Who should be afraid here? Apple, in case Microsoft eliminates software development on a handful of products that the majority of Apple's customers do not need and do not buy? Or Microsoft, who faces a potentially superior OS that could take away as much as 40% of its user base? No wonder Bill's minions are starting to make public noises about "the Apple relationship."
I just thought this would be a interested piece of information for you guys, food for thought. 
Jeremy
"I'll see you on the Dark Side Of The Moon" - Pink Floyd
Covert Ops
68k Hacks General 
Macs Liberated:19
ENTER THROUGH THE GATES
Edited by - TiMacLover on 18 Jul 2002 22:34:07
Us Mac users might be trouble...
Posted - 18 Jul 2002 : 22:30:19
68k of the Week: kastegir's PowerBook 180.