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Why Apple should let HP build its workstations
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[John Heagy] “Re: Why Apple should let HP build its workstations”
With Thunderbolt your Video I/O, RAID can travel from any computer to any other computer. Having to tie Video I/O to card inside of each computer is not cost effecting in the era of declining budgets. Unless each computer in a facility is using Video I/O at the same time (possible but a declining situation) having portable attachments is easier on the budget.
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“”Not saying a Linux port wouldn’t be great, it might be, but it’s a really big effort and wouldn’t make a whole lot of business sense at this point for avid/adobe.
Does fairlight run on Linux? Why not?”
Fairlight runs on Win XP and Win 7. They make no attempt to be cross platform and don’t need the grunt – hardware or software. I would be happy if they ran their own GUI under DOS but there is no need to push for any change. WIN 7 OS is not a turkey and it handles more than enough RAM for a DAW.
Fairlight also developed their own processor based on FPGA which has so much grunt that the OS, CPU and graphics cards have almost nothing to do except draw the screen and do a bit of VST plugin processing. It is like RED Rocket on steroids for audio.
The rationale behind going Linux for AVID and Adobe would be the cheapest most reliable true grunt boxes would be able to run rings around overpriced and underperforming Mac hardware and graphics. So what’s in it for AVID & Adobe? An alternative super reliable OS with the gruntiest workstations at a much more affordable price. Best of both worlds.
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Well, at least Ron doesn’t think I’m nuts.
🙂
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[Michael Gissing] “Port it and they will come.”
We built a version of Premiere for SGI once and I think a version of Photoshop for Linux once. They didn’t come.
That idea does not make sense in a world economy with up to the minute information exchange and market studies. As I said recently in another post, anything is possible, but don’t hold your breath.
Like Ron and Tim, I have long thought very well of HP and agree that the Z800 is easily a better Mac in case design and overall execution than the current Mac Pro is. I have also thought that licensing OS X to a single vendor would make sense and HP would be on my short list. I also agree that it would be a win-win.
Dennis – Adobe guy
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[Jeremy Garchow] “But wouldn’t Apple have to open the OS to more graphics cards? OpenCL and Cuda? Potentially create and optimize new and specialized firmware? I’m asking because I don’t know, but do you think Apple would have any interest in this at all? They play their cards close to the chest, this would allow a peek at their hand.”
The Gamer community has just realized that the latest driver update on Nvidia’s site allows pretty much all Nvidia cards (even PC only versions) to work in a Mac. No EFI, so no Mac boot screen, but it works without any hacks at all. Apparently, there is greater support for high end cards in the Mountain Lion Developer Preview, as well.
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[David Roth Weiss] “why would Apple bother to remain in the high-end market segment at all? What’s really in it for them?”
What they do care about, David, is their iSales. They know that the Top 2% as you call them are often enterprise clients — clients that Inc. Magazine recently ran an article about because they are getting Macs into the enterprise by using iPhones and iPads to help get them there. Macs (read: iMacs) are getting into the corporate space because the ones with the power to get them there love their iPhones and their iPads.
While Apple may not care about enterprises with a hundred or two seats of FCP (based on 6/21/11), I will guarantee you that they do care about iSales.
With HP handling units for the highest end customers, Apple could keep all its highest end customers happy without lifting a finger, collecting money while keeping them on iPhones, iPads, iPods and AppleTV — all in a happy homogenized and integrated OSX/iOS world.
[David Roth Weiss] “Apple just rolled over on a vast portion of their user base at that end of spectrum, including many substantial enterprise customers.”
I think you may be exaggerating just a bit, David, calling the numbers a vast portion. It seems like that when you are swimming in the blood of the FCP fishbowl but the numbers Apple is building on with iSales has built the world’s most powerful technology juggernaut — one with its focus clearly on the “Apple Experience.”
Apple’s greatest achievement in the history of Apple is iOS, not the Mac, not OSX and not FCP. With the Mac, OSX and FCP, Apple was never anything more than a highly creative company with great products and ideas but a small — and I do mean small — market share. With iOS, they have become the most successful technology company in the world.
Apple is smart. I think they know that it is going to get tougher and tougher to make any real workstation that matters. It is clear they do not have the heart for it any longer. Working with a single quality vendor to build the kind of behemoth that this market demands, is something that makes sense to me.
But hey, I was saying that Apple should have bought Macromedia long before Adobe did, so what do I know???
Best regards,
Ronald Lindeboom
CEO, Creative COW LLC
Publisher, Creative COW Magazine
A 2011 FOLIO: 40 honoree as one of the 40 most influential publishers in America
http://www.creativecow.netCreativity is a process wherein the student and the teacher are located in the same individual.
“Incompetence has never prevented me from plunging in with enthusiasm.” – Woody Allen
“Be who you are and say what you feel because those that matter, don’t mind — and those that mind, don’t matter.” – Dr. Seuss
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Hi Craig,
With a deal in hand to be licensed to run OSX on its workstations, I think HP could have its arm twisted to change its position on Thunderbolt.
I know it would sure change mine if I were HP. ;o)
Best regards,
Ronald Lindeboom
CEO, Creative COW LLC
Publisher, Creative COW Magazine
A 2011 FOLIO: 40 honoree as one of the 40 most influential publishers in America
http://www.creativecow.netCreativity is a process wherein the student and the teacher are located in the same individual.
“Incompetence has never prevented me from plunging in with enthusiasm.” – Woody Allen
“Be who you are and say what you feel because those that matter, don’t mind — and those that mind, don’t matter.” – Dr. Seuss
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[Ronald Lindeboom] “I think HP could have its arm twisted to change its position on Thunderbolt.”
I think that would be viable. Apple would control what they need to control to minimize “hackenthosism.” They don’t want MacBookPro, iMacs or Airs cannibalized. An HP OSX device with Thunderbolt wouldn’t thwart Apple’s Thunderbolt computers that sell well. One would have what one needs in a workstation yet still be able to move certain peripherals back and forth. I’m not sure if HP would be concerned about potential customers choosing MBP or iMacs ver HP portables or all in ones.
Apple would probably have some concern over HP facilitating hackentoshes by minimizing the hacking needed for OSX to run on other HP computers.
If Apple can control certain elements and if HP were more interested in workstations then the rest of their line, it could be a symbiotic relationship. HP makes money on hardware workstations and Apple knows the computers they sell in significant numbers benefit by the halo (HP workstation users buying MBPs for their portable computer use) it might work.
Maybe calling it an HP running OSX might be a marketing concept that bothers people. If one looks at it as Apple outsourcing hardware/case development to a company that already has the supply chain to build it and they develop a mutual acceptable cross brand marketing strategy it might work.
I remember a time when people where concerned that when Apple moved to Intel chips, that a Mac would simply be a PC running OSX. Even Bootcamp cause some “odd” fear that if you could run Windows natively, who would use OSX. So the next step could be to go from “Intel Inside” to “HP Outside” for the workstation, so one could move from OSX portable to OSX all in one to OSX (HP) workstation, to keep Apple’s ecosystem intact and give HP an additional growth area in workstation.
And if there were a falling out with HP would Apple move to Lenovo to make workstations?
What would Microsoft do?
There’s a lot of “history” with Windows preinstalled on computers and the business practices behind that. -
[Andrew Richards] “Workstations have a lot more in common with servers than they do with consumer PCs nowadays. The PC might be dying, but the server market is growing.”
True, Andy.
When HP was momentarily on the chopping block last year, it was NOT because of its workstation division (which was growing around the world and was doing quite well). Servers and workstations are indeed doing well while other markets continue to tank.
Best regards,
Ronald Lindeboom
CEO, Creative COW LLC
Publisher, Creative COW Magazine
A 2011 FOLIO: 40 honoree as one of the 40 most influential publishers in America
http://www.creativecow.netCreativity is a process wherein the student and the teacher are located in the same individual.
“Incompetence has never prevented me from plunging in with enthusiasm.” – Woody Allen
“Be who you are and say what you feel because those that matter, don’t mind — and those that mind, don’t matter.” – Dr. Seuss
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I also don’t think Apple will ever licence its OS again. It’s just not in their DNA plus they’d have to modify OSX to really use all features of a z800.
There are guides out there of people who have turned a z800 into a hackintosh but some features don’t work (they also don’t work on a MacPro with Bootcamp).
I had a Umax clone back in the days, it was a much better machine than Apple’s own offerings. They wouldn’t want to repeat that negative perception again.I guess I am different from the rest here because, frankly, don’t care too much anymore about what Apple does and doesn’t do. Windows works more than just fine for me, it’s rock solid on the HPs, all the apps are there and running at their full potential so I wouldn’t even install it if X was an option for the HPs. Actually I have less fuss with the HPs than with my MacPros, and that’s on a machine with 2 video io cards, Raid card, 10GB Ethernet nic, different NLEs and a trial for Edius plus lots of other utilities, drivers, apps installed and hardware connected.
So, If Apple is in the post pc era I happily pursue my post Apple era.Windows 8 doesn’t bother me. Metro on a Desktop machine is stupid and I’d rather not have it but it’s one click on a tile and I am on the windows desktop as it used to be. Under the hood, there a are things that I actually like and welcome very much (new ribbon functionality in the explorer, new modern file system) plus early reports indicate no compatibility issues with apps and hardware that works with Win7. Plus I can always just continue using Win7 for years to come as I am not shut out by a hardware vendor to just use a specific OS version.
Avid/Adobe on Linux – unfortunately I can’t see that happening. Too much that would need to be tweaked to bring functionality on par with the other OSes, Apple would have to port Quicktime to Linux (and Quicktime is dead) etc. etc.
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