[geeks] Replacing a Mac Pro 2006

[J. Alexander Jacocks]

On Monday, December 3, 2012, Mark Benson wrote:

> On 3 Dec 2012, at 13:24, Lionel Peterson <lionel4287 at gmail.com<javascript:;>>
> wrote:
>
> > Wow, I didn't realize it was 'crap all over Lionel day' ;^)
>
> It's hard to be too light-hearted when making a point... in a text
> medium...
> at 7am : D
>
> > You've convinced me, the fact that HP was able to place a Turion CPU in
> small volume chassis with certain attributes (dual slots, 4 Hot-Swap bays,
> internal
> > PS) *proves* that Apple can certainly shove an i7 desktop with all the
> usual
> > desktop trimmings and accommodate a high-end discrete graphics card in a
> > chassis of the same volume.
>
> I've seen enough evidence combining the physical architecture of a HP
> Microserver with what's available as far as mini i3/5/7 motherboards go and
> such that a talented and innovative design team like Apple's could pull
> that
> off.
>
> In fact, Silverstone do a DTX case that's 8" (w) x 7.6" (h) x 13.8"(d)
> with a
> 600W PSU. The only reason it's that log is to accommodate industry standard
> video cards that are that long. Apple could leverage manufacturer sway to
> have
> short cards made fora short system.
>
> > That was the original assertion you made, right?
>
> Yessir. Probably with less hard drive bays (2x 3.5" or 3x 2.5" or 1x 2.5"
> + 2x
> 3.5" or some whacky combo) and but more Horsepower and room for a decent
> gfx
> card ir a discrete onboard chip + VRAM. Also it'd be less tall as the
> Microserver has a big vacuous hole at the top for an optical drive... and
> Apple don't like them anymore, it seems.
>
> I figure given the classic 8-inch Cube design they'd pull it off no sweat.
>

 I think that you are all failing to understand why Apple has never made a
mid-tower "xMac", like many members of the community have asked.  The
answer is that the market has moved on, and home computers are going to be
laptops, tablets, and all-in-ones, whether or not geeks and enthusiasts
like it or not.  Apple has its share of flaws, but failure to read the
market correctly is not one of them.

I dislike this as much as you do, but nothing is going to change it.  It's
the same reason for the iOS-ification of Mac OS X.

I have been a Mac enthusiast since 1985, and I have been preparing myself
for the switch to Linux on my desktop, for a year, now, once I realized
that the geeky enthusiast-driven Apple was dead and gone.

- Alex