On a side note, can anyone imagine taking a 24 inch iMac back in time ten years, and telling somebody that this -- a 64-bit, dual core, unix-based computer with a gorgeous (and huge) display -- is the current state of the art in consumer desktops?
In some quarters we thought we'd be further along than this. Remember that the PowerPC architecture is actually a 64-bit architecture; the PowerPC 620 (pre-G3) was the first 64-bit implementation. Dual cores were planned ten years ago. Resolution independence was known to be important ten years ago, and larger displays were a given. LCD sizes are underperforming relative to where we thought they'd be. There hasn't (visibly) been a necessary breakthrough in manufacturing large size LCDs.
The main difference between where we thought we should be and where we are is that Windows was expected to be emulated at high speeds or ported to PowerPC (the Pentium was expected to be left to rot). And no one thought Motorola would drop the PowerPC ball with such force and magnitude, and that Apple would stop paying attention long enough to let them.
by Chris — Sep 07
In some quarters we thought we'd be further along than this. Remember that the PowerPC architecture is actually a 64-bit architecture; the PowerPC 620 (pre-G3) was the first 64-bit implementation. Dual cores were planned ten years ago. Resolution independence was known to be important ten years ago, and larger displays were a given. LCD sizes are underperforming relative to where we thought they'd be. There hasn't (visibly) been a necessary breakthrough in manufacturing large size LCDs.
The main difference between where we thought we should be and where we are is that Windows was expected to be emulated at high speeds or ported to PowerPC (the Pentium was expected to be left to rot). And no one thought Motorola would drop the PowerPC ball with such force and magnitude, and that Apple would stop paying attention long enough to let them.