02
Sat, Nov
2 New Articles

IMHO: The Mac as a Client Platform? You Might Be Surprised

Commentary
Typography
  • Smaller Small Medium Big Bigger
  • Default Helvetica Segoe Georgia Times

The Macintosh and AS/400 platforms have a lot in common: They both are more than 10 years old (the Mac was launched in 1984); they both are powered by IBM’s PowerPC microprocessor; they both represent superior alternative technology; they both claim a core group of rabid, loyal fans who are ready to sing the praises of their respective superior technology; and they both have critics who have predicted (incorrectly) their demise for years.

Not only is the Mac a great personal computing platform, but Apple’s flagship system is also poised to be a good bet as an AS/400 client platform.

Like the AS/400, the Mac is plagued by several myths that are seeming bred by Windows zombies who flow like lemmings to Redmond banks. Let’s look at some of those myths and then talk about how Microsoft’s recent moves may actually help make the Mac a better client system.

Myth #1: The Macintosh Is Slow

As I mentioned, the Macintosh is powered by the same PowerPC chips that are the heart of IBM’s RS/6000 and AS/400 line. Megahertz for megahertz, PowerPC chips use less power. They’re also smaller and faster than Pentium and Pentium II chips. To underscore the point, Apple published Adobe Photoshop benchmarks that showed the Macintosh with the PowerPC 750 (a.k.a. the G3) beat the Pentium II and its supposed media-enhanced MMX technology (read: great marketing, poor technology). This made Intel engineers irate, and they called Adobe to verify the results. When Adobe ran the tests, it found that Apple’s numbers were conservative; the speed gap was even wider than Apple had reported.

BYTE magazine’s BYTEmark rates the 266 MHz chip as being almost twice as fast as a 300 MHz Pentium II-based Compaq.

Myth #2: The Macintosh Is Expensive

While it is true that Apple has no Macs in the $800 to $1,200 range, Mac clone makers UMAX and Mactell have full systems based on the PowerPC 603e (roughly

equivalent to the Pentium) for $1,000. This system includes 24x CD-ROM, monitor, 32 MB of RAM, and other nice built-in Mac-standard features, like small computer system interface (SCSI), that cost extra on most PCs. If you want power, you can get a decked-out 233 MHz PowerPC G3 box for around $1,600. An equivalently powered (333 Mhz Pentium II with SCSI) and equipped Dell box (bundled with Microsoft Office) runs for $2,400.

Myth #3: The Mac Is Going to Die

Supposedly, the Mac doesn’t have enough market share to remain a viable platform. If you don’t have market share (according to myth), you don’t have developers making the applications that drive the platform. No applications, and your platform is dead. While you do need a healthy developer community to have a viable platform, market share is not the right measure of platform viability. Instead, consider installed base. Of the 28 or so million Macintoshes ever sold, around 21 million are still in use (I find that Macs have a longer lifespan, 3 to 4 years, than Wintel boxes have).

Suppose I am a software developer who produces a game with a $2 million budget. The average computer game is running around $35. Let’s say I can sell my game to 3 percent of the Mac market. I will gross around $21 million. That’s a decent return, and that is why there are more people developing for the Mac and more titles available than ever before.

The best example is Microsoft. My guess is that Office 98 (which shipped for the Mac in March) will end up being installed on 40 percent of all Macintoshes. It is going to cost around $500 for a copy and $200 for an upgrade, so let’s say Microsoft grosses around $250 per Mac copy sold. If successful, Microsoft could gross $2 billion an upgrade cycle for the Mac Office. Not bad for a dead platform.

No wonder Microsoft invested $150 million in Apple. There is money to be made on the Mac. In fact, I’d bet that, per machine, Microsoft makes more money on the Mac than on the PC because of low-margin OEM bundling.

Myth #4: The Macintosh Is Incompatible

The Macintosh can mount Novell NetWare, UNIX, and NT-based servers and can read DOS-formatted floppies, CD-ROMs, and Iomega zip disks. With a $75 emulator, like Insignia’s RealPC or Connectix Corporation’s VirtualPC, the Mac emulates the Pentium architecture and can run any Intel-based operating system (like Windows 95/NT, UNIX, or OS/2) and the programs that run on those operating systems.

So why is the Mac a safe bet for a client? Two words: the Internet and Java. The number one feature added to the top 100 AS/400 applications was Web-enablement. Add that to a slew of new products that allow access to AS/400 data via the browser, and you have a plethora of platform-independent applications.

The browser is the great equalizer. With a few dashes of Java Virtual Machine and HTML, it doesn’t matter if you are cooking with Windows, UNIX, NC, OS/2, or even the Mac OS.

You may be skeptical about Java because many people are speculating that Microsoft is going to make Java Windows-centric, in spite of Sun Microsystems’ desire to make Java a write-once-read-anywhere technology and several court cases over the matter. Actually, if Microsoft or Sun loses, Apple will still win. Microsoft and Apple are writing the Java

Virtual Machine for Macintosh together in complete compliance with both Microsoft’s and Sun’s flavor of Java—part of the $150 million deal Microsoft and Apple cut last year. That means that the Mac is going to have the most foolproof Java Virtual Machine around.

Add that Java strength with the Mac’s value, speed, and compatibility, and you might look again at the Mac for your client of choice for modern AS/400 applications.

BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS

LATEST COMMENTS

Support MC Press Online

$

Book Reviews

Resource Center

  • SB Profound WC 5536 Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application. You can find Part 1 here. In Part 2 of our free Node.js Webinar Series, Brian May teaches you the different tooling options available for writing code, debugging, and using Git for version control. Brian will briefly discuss the different tools available, and demonstrate his preferred setup for Node development on IBM i or any platform. Attend this webinar to learn:

  • SB Profound WP 5539More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT Generic IBM announced the E1080 servers using the latest Power10 processor in September 2021. The most powerful processor from IBM to date, Power10 is designed to handle the demands of doing business in today’s high-tech atmosphere, including running cloud applications, supporting big data, and managing AI workloads. But what does Power10 mean for your data center? In this recorded webinar, IBMers Dan Sundt and Dylan Boday join IBM Power Champion Tom Huntington for a discussion on why Power10 technology is the right strategic investment if you run IBM i, AIX, or Linux. In this action-packed hour, Tom will share trends from the IBM i and AIX user communities while Dan and Dylan dive into the tech specs for key hardware, including:

  • Magic MarkTRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now!  Request Now.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericForms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericIT security is a top priority for businesses around the world, but most IBM i pros don’t know where to begin—and most cybersecurity experts don’t know IBM i. In this session, Robin Tatam explores the business impact of lax IBM i security, the top vulnerabilities putting IBM i at risk, and the steps you can take to protect your organization. If you’re looking to avoid unexpected downtime or corrupted data, you don’t want to miss this session.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericCan you trust all of your users all of the time? A typical end user receives 16 malicious emails each month, but only 17 percent of these phishing campaigns are reported to IT. Once an attack is underway, most organizations won’t discover the breach until six months later. A staggering amount of damage can occur in that time. Despite these risks, 93 percent of organizations are leaving their IBM i systems vulnerable to cybercrime. In this on-demand webinar, IBM i security experts Robin Tatam and Sandi Moore will reveal:

  • FORTRA Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAManaging messages on your IBM i can be more than a full-time job if you have to do it manually. Messages need a response and resources must be monitored—often over multiple systems and across platforms. How can you be sure you won’t miss important system events? Automate your message center with the Robot Message Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAThe thought of printing, distributing, and storing iSeries reports manually may reduce you to tears. Paper and labor costs associated with report generation can spiral out of control. Mountains of paper threaten to swamp your files. Robot automates report bursting, distribution, bundling, and archiving, and offers secure, selective online report viewing. Manage your reports with the Robot Report Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAFor over 30 years, Robot has been a leader in systems management for IBM i. With batch job creation and scheduling at its core, the Robot Job Scheduling Solution reduces the opportunity for human error and helps you maintain service levels, automating even the biggest, most complex runbooks. Manage your job schedule with the Robot Job Scheduling Solution. Key features include:

  • LANSA Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.

  • LANSAWhen it comes to creating your business applications, there are hundreds of coding platforms and programming languages to choose from. These options range from very complex traditional programming languages to Low-Code platforms where sometimes no traditional coding experience is needed. Download our whitepaper, The Power of Writing Code in a Low-Code Solution, and:

  • LANSASupply Chain is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. From raw materials for manufacturing to food supply chains, the journey from source to production to delivery to consumers is marred with inefficiencies, manual processes, shortages, recalls, counterfeits, and scandals. In this webinar, we discuss how:

  • The MC Resource Centers bring you the widest selection of white papers, trial software, and on-demand webcasts for you to choose from. >> Review the list of White Papers, Trial Software or On-Demand Webcast at the MC Press Resource Center. >> Add the items to yru Cart and complet he checkout process and submit

  • Profound Logic Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application.

  • SB Profound WC 5536Join us for this hour-long webcast that will explore:

  • Fortra IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn: