Why Apple Intel Macs are Coming in January
While we have no privilieged info, it's puzzling why
people would not believe the rumors - it seems very
logical.
First, Steve Jobs admited they'd
been building a x86 version of EVERYTHING Apple has been working on in the past
4-5 years so they were virtually ready to
go.
They simply had to come out and
explain everything publically so all the other developers could start working on
tweaking or completely re-writing their software code and of course, prepare us
for the coming change so people could make informed decisions - buy a Mac now
for the software you already own or be on the leading edge at the transition for
all the good & the bad.
Add one other
factor - over the holidays, it's gift buying season (for self or for others) and
not the time to explain the transition to 'average' shoppers. After using a PC
lo these many years, they just want something that works. It matters little what
chip is inside to iMac and iBook buyers - can I surf the net? do photos, video,
write some short notes, print and email?
It also makes perfect sense to announce
a target date and deliver BEFORE that day
arrives.
Some people also wonder why the
announcement after
holidays/December?
Nevermind that
MacWorld has been running for 20+ years in SF - almost always in January (one
year, it was moved to early Spring) and it works because there a PR/tech news
lull after the holidays ... and now, it slots in there with
CES.
Another reason January works because
unlike people working in a garage, you can't just announce a product before the
holidays and have it in the stores in mid-November. To manufactur and ship it -
unless it's real small, light and costly - you generally want to go by ship
adding another month to your timetable ... so when Apple wants to announce
something for the holidays, they might use their summer platforms like MacWorld
Tokyo/Paris or like the recent Photo show but when they want a clean slate PR
(new year! new toys!) after the frenzy of the holidays and not to squeeze it
into the artifical year-end buying season, January gives them and everyone a
whole new year to target, ship and sell.
Posted: Sat
- November 12, 2005 at 11:26 AM