Mac fanatics were shocked last June when Apple announced that it would discontinue its line of computers with Motorola’s Power PC processor chip and switch to Intel chips. Intel manufactures chips for computers running Apple’s rival, Microsoft Windows. To loyal Apple users, this seemed like the equivalent of the Bears and Packers deciding to share players.For those who are not Mac loyalists, changing computer chips seems like a small thing for people to get worked up over. It is certainly not a reason to write headlines containing “rotten Apple core” puns. Oh, those crazy bloggers!
Many Mac users consider themselves a part of an elite subculture of the computer world. They are proud that their computers and software are not only better designed, but also aesthetically pleasing. In an industry where most computers are square and gray, Apple creates pearly white and titanium computers with artistic shape and curves. In a world where simply logging onto the internet to get a spy ware remover can infect your computer with viruses, Apple’s operating system, Mac OS X, has no known viruses.
As a Mac user, I understand those concerns. I always breathe a big sigh of relief when I can leave the fussy Windows systems in the computer labs and get back to my friendly little iBook.
In spite of the differences, we can’t let nostalgia or xenophobia keep Apple from continuing to make great computers.
Motorola had nearly reached the limit of what the Power PC chip could do for Apple. Cutting edge Macs often had half the megahertz of a top-of-the line PC.
Because of the way Power PC’s chips worked, this wasn’t as big of a difference as it seems. The Power PC chip, a RISC (reduced instruction set computer) processor, could usually run nearly as fast as CISC (complex instruction set computer) Intel processors with twice the number of megahertz. In a very general explanation, RISC processors can store a lot of information that can be processed directly on the chip.
The electrical current only needs to go a matter of millimeters or less to travel to and from the processor. CISC processors, on the other hand, tend to send information to memory more often. The memory is usually several inches away and takes longer to read and write. That may not seem like a large difference, but when this is all being done at several gigahertz (billions of electric pulses per second), it adds up.
Even with this advantage, the Power PC chip was falling behind and something needed to be done.
Motorola also had difficulty keeping the Power PC chips from overheating. The newest Power PC chip, the G5, was so hot that it could not be put into laptops. Even the older G3 chip in my iBook sometimes leaves me with the same feeling you get from holding a hot pizza box on your lap driving home from Papa John’s. (You know that feeling, right?)
Apple’s marketing is doing a good job of selling the change to the Mac faithful. During his speech announcing the new Macs, CEO Steve Jobs played a commercial containing the line: “The Intel chip. For years it’s been trapped inside dull little boxes, dutifully performing dull little tasks. Starting today, the Intel chip will be set free.”
When Steve Jobs took over as CEO of Apple, the company’s motto was changed to “Think Different.” Thinking differently began with the revolutionary iMac, the first popular all-in-one computer. Instead of beige, it came in eye-catching Bondi blue. Since then, Apple has remained ahead of the curve with iTunes and the iPod, making “i” a cliche to add to words much like the “Mc” of McDonalds. Switching to Intel chips is just another way Apple is working to keep at the forefront of the computer industry. I think if that is what it takes, it is time to switch.
What’s it like to be a traitor? Two or three times faster, and it feels great.
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