Point of Convergence

Sometime in 2006, say between march and June I'll be looking into buying a machine that will do everything I've ever wanted to do as far as my computing needs go in the same place.

• I expect it to have cutting edge industrial design and run the latest commercial apps as well as the latest in Open Source software.
• I also expect it to act as a media center and the main hub for all my media needs.
• I expect it to be also an integral part of my interpersonal communication needs.
• I expect to be more productive because for one I know that machine will not be the victim of viruses and spyware and I also expect to say goodbye to having to format said machine every 6 months like I need to with windows thanks to that machine.
• I expect the latest and the greatest standards on said machine and I expect that machine to last me a good 3 years before I can even consider looking into buying a new one.

And the only company that will be able to offer the best of all worlds, without tying me down and without ripping me off is Apple.

If you haven't heard, Apple is set to release machines based on Intel processors early 2006.
This is HUGE for Apple because:

1. Moving to Intel means that Apple can finally offer competitive prices on hardware.
2. No longer tied to the now stagnant PPC architecture, Apple can greatly improve system designs as they are not tied down to old platform constraints.
3. Intel might not currently be the fastest kid on the block, but this isn't a bad thing as portables such as powerbooks and iBooks will finally have decent speed bumps more frequently.
4. They actually have a fighting chance to increase market share against windows.

This is HUGE for us as consumers and computer users because:

1. Having a name brand machine that isn't plagued by viruses or spyware suddenly becomes more affordable.
2. Suddenly one can buy a computer that runs Windows, Linux and OS X natively on the same machine (in case a certain app isn't available, but who are we kidding, there's going to be a huge push to port more apps).
3. Suddenly one can buy a computer and use it with no hassle whatsoever from day one.
4. Open Source software becomes friendlier.
5. The computing world becomes less and less dominated by a single platform.

These points might seem weird and sound rather obvious, but there's no time I'd rather be than right now watching all this unfold and there are some seriously fun and interesting times coming to us soon.

My next machine is going to be an Apple iMac powered by an Intel processor. With a 20 inch screen.