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Big Mac · Apr 22, 2002, 06:43 AM

It's very odd that we don't have any ATi All in Wonder cards - they provide great multimedia features. I don't know if there is an nVidia equivalent (I bet there is), but it just stands to reason that high-end, expensive Power Macintosh G4s should at the very least have All in Wonder cards as BTO options. Yet, we don't have access to such cards in any form.

All in Wonder cards would definitely enhance the digital hub. So why hasn't Apple facilitated their introduction to the market? Maybe SJ hates television with such a passion that he can't stand to allow Mac users to utilize it at all.

nana2 · Apr 22, 2002, 07:02 AM

I would imagine the porting of the ATI MMC (Multimedia Centre - the software apps that capture, view, schedule recordings etc) is not worth it to ATI for the small amount of sales they will get.

Justin W. Williams · Apr 22, 2002, 08:15 AM

http://www.ati.com/shopati/promotion...mbo/index.html

That's as close as it gets.

milhous · Apr 22, 2002, 03:01 PM

Originally posted by Justin W. Williams:
http://www.ati.com/shopati/promotion...mbo/index.html

That's as close as it gets.

And what's more ridiculous about the ATI XCLAIM TV USB Edition is that there is absolutely NO OS X support for the product at all!

These people are absolutely idiots as they try to sell a product that does not work with Apple's latest OS.

The best hope we have for OS X TV capabilites is Eskape Labs (Hauppauge) TV tuning products or the continued work of WinTV card compatibility through the XTV project on SourceForge.

Mac Zealot · Apr 22, 2002, 06:37 PM

Another reason PCs are FAAAR Supperior than macs?

Just kidding!

dandbj · Apr 23, 2002, 08:58 PM

Zealot, Zealot, Zealot...

Here's a thought. Why aren't you guys barking up Apple's tree? After all, they're the ones with the proprietary systems. They're the ones with the 5% market share. Its a given that you can't have all the cool stuff that is available to PC users. That's one of trade-offs. In such areas as TV tuners where Mac users are left out, why is Apple not developing those things for its community. If they want to sell the hub, they are going to have to make some of the things that go with it. Lift your voices to Cupertino and demand satisfaction.

Gene Jockey · Apr 25, 2002, 02:37 AM

Originally posted by dandbj:
Zealot, Zealot, Zealot...

<snip>
Lift your voices to Cupertino and demand satisfaction.

I'll make sure to carry a glove from now on, so that if I run into Steve Jobs I can smack him in the face with it and demand satisfaction.

I'm not sure that'd work, but I'd enjoy doing it.

--J

[ 04-25-2002: Message edited by: Gene Jockey ]

milhous · Apr 25, 2002, 03:43 AM

Originally posted by dandbj:
Zealot, Zealot, Zealot...

Here's a thought. Why aren't you guys barking up Apple's tree? After all, they're the ones with the proprietary systems. They're the ones with the 5% market share. Its a given that you can't have all the cool stuff that is available to PC users. That's one of trade-offs. In such areas as TV tuners where Mac users are left out, why is Apple not developing those things for its community. If they want to sell the hub, they are going to have to make some of the things that go with it. Lift your voices to Cupertino and demand satisfaction.

You have a very valid point. In another thread I posted to a while ago, I gave the example that one could acquire, edit and master professional quality digital video on Mac. But you can't watch TV on it?

Big Mac · Apr 27, 2002, 03:36 AM

Apple should definitely engineer these solutions in conjunction with ATi or nVidia. For the price premium of the Power Macs, there's little excuse not to have such features on board and no excuse whatsoever to lack the option completely. Apple should spend a couple million of last quarter's profits to beef up the G4's offerings, since it seems we'll be waiting for the G5 for quite a bit longer.

Mac Zealot · Apr 27, 2002, 03:54 AM

Yes, I'd love to see all macs come with built in TV tuners now!

The true digital hub: Now you can watch TV, record TV, make videos, etc.

(the DCMA's nightmare come true)

InterfaceGuy · Apr 27, 2002, 11:38 AM

What I want is a wireless TV viewing solution so that I can watch TV on my iBook in bed without wires. Perhaps that would need to be the feature of a cable modem and could be shared via the Airport Base Station and viewed by any wire or wireless computer connected to the Airport.

rambo47 · Apr 27, 2002, 02:31 PM

It's a simple numbers game. Apple's falling market share (closer to 2.6%, not 5%) keeps companies from developing for the Mac. The potential profit does not justify the cost of development and marketing. The pc market is far more lucrative and will pull in more and more of the resources to develop products. If Apple loses much more market share I fear for the platform's survival. Once the developers abandon the Mac it's truely over. Why do you think it took so long to get a OS X-native version of Photoshop? Simple. It just wasn't worth it for Adobe to rush. The potentail sales made it a low priority.

Big Mac · Apr 27, 2002, 08:46 PM

Originally posted by rambo47:


[SNIP]

Why do you think it took so long to get a OS X-native version of Photoshop? Simple. It just wasn't worth it for Adobe to rush. The potentail sales made it a low priority.

That's not all that accurate. Sure Adobe could have put more effort into getting it out faster, but I don't think the company took so long because there wasn't enough incentive. Adobe still makes a great amount of money from the Mac market.

Since ATi just recently came back to Apple, maybe we will see more from them in the future.

[ 04-30-2002: Message edited by: Big Mac ]

x user · Apr 28, 2002, 11:56 AM

Current market share would be 3.7% not 2.6%. FYI

rambo47 · Apr 28, 2002, 06:10 PM

Bad info on market share. I stand corrected.

I'm glad for every % we can get.

brown monk · Apr 29, 2002, 12:46 PM

If there were one, it carry a price tag of, umm about $600...

But the real reason, or the reason ATI gives, is that there isn't enough demand for them...

dandbj · Apr 30, 2002, 01:11 AM

Today at CompUSA, I saw LCD monitors with built in TV tuners. That is the kind of solution that Apple needs to be coming up with. Not sitting around waiting on someone else to develop solutions for Apple consumers. The Apple Web browser is another one that comes to mind. Then they could make it as fast as they want by showing off that famous hardware software integration. And where are the accessibility solutions for people with low vision? Apple monitors scale beautifully to 640 x 480 (making things on the screen look bigger), but no Apple software fits on the screen when resolution is scaled that low. On a PC, it is quite easy. Why are fonts, menus, scroll bars and other elements not scaleable? Don't tell me about third party developers. It is the Mac OS. Apple ought to build such simple solutions into their OS just as Microsoft does. The time has come for Apple to start developing their own solutions.

[ 04-30-2002: Message edited by: dandbj ]

SpeedRacer · Apr 30, 2002, 02:06 AM

I agree 100% with the wish that we could have the AiW cards available on the Mac, but it's not going to happen folks. Stevie's made it clear many times that he does not buy the covergence of PC to TV. As such, i doubt there's going to be much incentive within his circus to work with those developers coming up with TV on Mac solutions.

Not to mention perfectly legitimate question: "What exactly are you going to run this AiW card on?" So what if Apple has even 3.7% market share - they still only have ONE machine with the PCI slots necessary to install something of this sort!

Want more? Check this out:

What Steve Jobs WON'T Do at Apple

Thinking about how far we'd have to come to get truly decent HTPC performance is somewhat sickening. It's more than than the AiW video card, it's the lack of decent audio cards, lack of drivers, etc.

Speed

Big Mac · May 1, 2002, 01:32 AM

Originally posted by SpeedRacer:


Not to mention perfectly legitimate question: "What exactly are you going to run this AiW card on?" So what if Apple has even 3.7% market share - they still only have ONE machine with the PCI slots necessary to install something of this sort!

Yeah, the one model line is the G4, and there are a lot of G4s out there. Moreover, G4 owners should have the opportunity to choose an AiW card if they wish. That's my main contention.