Well, that’s it. Just got the call from my editor at Byte. My column has been cut, as well as their Mac column. It was bound to happen. Interesting that it wasn’t directly related to Be’s demise (only partially) but to their own internal funding cuts. Now I am officially without any income beyond a couple hundred a month from kissthisguy advertising revenue, which is about 1/15th what it was six months ago, even though traffic levels haven’t changed.
Tech carnage everywhere I look. The destruction seems unstoppable. And I’ve been in its path in three dimensions over the past week alone. Feeling glum. But I hate that my happiness should be so connected to money. It’s not supposed to be that way. Just tacked this onto the end of the column I submitted for the first Monday of September:
Final Column
I am sorry to announce that this, my 30th column on BeOS for Byte.com, will be my last. It’s been a fantastic ride, and I’d like to thank CMP, Byte, and my editor Daniel Dern for having the wherewithal to sponsor monthly coverage on a niche OS not because they thought it was going to take over the world, but because they believed it was worthy technology. This kind of dedication is a too-rare commodity in the tech press, and I think I speak for the entire BeOS community in thanking them for their persistence and courage. Thanks also to the loyal base of readers who have generated ongoing traffic on the Byte.com site as a result of this column, allowing it to continue for as long as it has.
My love for BeOS is deep, but not blindly unswerving. It is time for me to move on and pursue other interests. Please let me know of interesting career opportunities for which you think I may be suited.
Until we meet again, keep the faith. There is life beyond Windows.
“There is life beyond Windows.”
Where? It seems I cannot find my way, I have been lost ever since the demise of beOS.
Its weird, when be died its as if I developed instant ADD towards computers. I tried to learning other operating systems, programming languages, whatever, but I always get turned off pretty quickly because I know its crap compared to be.
Jeremy, it’s been five years — time to recover! OS X isn’t BeOS in a lot of ways, but it’s also a lot more than BeOS ever was in a lot of other ways.
Happiness awaits you…
The only way I would be able to support MacOS is when its open like a windows operating system and can be installed on systems outside of the expensive cans apple tries to push us for $2000+
Its not an issue of buying the software either. I would gladly start over again, with 0 programs, hell I would even buy 3 or 4 copies of OS X if I could put them on computers I have built myself, I cant really justify paying $1500-$2000 for a good mac just to parade off anothe cliff heh.
“open like a windows operating system ”
LOL – That’s a funny thing to say, since Windows is the most closed operating system available on the market!
“expensive cans apple tries to push us for $2000+”
First, you can get a Mac Mini for $500, and it’s an *amazing* little computer. Second, you get what you pay for in this life. If you want the cheapest car you can find, the cheapest stereo, the cheapest camera, then be my guest. If you want a bit more quality, then you get to pay a bit more for it. Apple’s hardware prices are by no means outrageous.
” just to parade off anothe cliff ”
If that’s your intention, then certainly not! If all you want to do is parade off a cliff, Windows running on any cheap old x86 clone will do you just fine. Enjoy!
P.S.: http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20051130.html
“We’ve been testing this new iMac, and our verdict is that it’s the gold standard of desktop PCs. To put it simply: No desktop offered by Dell or Hewlett-Packard or Sony or Gateway can match the new iMac G5’s combination of power, elegance, simplicity, ease of use, built-in software, stability and security. From setup to performing the most intense tasks, it’s a pleasure to use. And, contrary to common misconceptions, this Mac is competitively priced, when compared with comparably equipped midrange Windows PCs; and it handles all common Windows files, as well as the Internet and email, with aplomb.”
“open like a windows operating system ”
I didnt mean open like open source. I meant open as in I can install it on whatever hardware I want. If the hardware breaks I can fix it.
That sometimes cant be said for an apple computer, yeah you can replace the memory and drives ect, but I have heard some great storys about apple care and how much they really dont care.
I guess im like you kinda of, I just need something I can get behind and I cant do that with windows and im pretty sure I cant get behind linux, sure its open source and whatever but the community, bleh.
Nothing will ever beat the be community.
iMac you say, i’ll have to check it out the real question is, since the intel swap, is it safe to buy.
Jeremy, what do you mean by “safe to buy?”
Seeing how the G-line of processors is on the way out. Will OS support fall behind for the non-intel computers? How long will they support them?
If it breaks in 6 months will they have parts to fix it?
If I get one I think I will wait until next year when the intel machines hit the market.
> Seeing how the G-line of processors is on the way out.
Something is always on the way out. It’s never a good time to buy any computer, because something newer/better/cheaper is always around the corner. Apple is not making a quantum leap here – just a simple processor shift. There’s no more reason to wait on this change than for any tech change. Buy a computer when you need one.
> Will OS support fall behind for the non-intel computers?
Considering the *massive* installed PowerPC base, Apple can’t drop PPC support for many, many years, since it will still constitute the bulk of their users for many years to come.
> If it breaks in 6 months will they have parts to fix it?
All the rest of the parts remain the same as they are. And I somehow don’t think Intel is going to run out of processors any time soon.
> If it breaks in 6 months will they have parts > to fix it?
I was refering to the PowerPC G5 chip in that iMac, if it breaks will apple still have IBM parts laying around since they are shifting to Intel.
I’ll prolly break down and get one, but im going to wait until January. Im hearing from the developers that the new intel based macs are really fast. Reminds me of the BeOS days man that operating system was so fast.
>Something is always on the way out. It’s never >a good time to buy any computer, because >something newer/better/cheaper is always around >the corner. Apple is not making a quantum leap >here – just a simple processor shift. There’s >no more reason to wait on this change than for >any tech change. Buy a computer when you need >one.
True, but even more so with a mac. With an X86 pc atleast there are some upgrade paths, you can buy a new proc, memory, drives, replace anything you want.
With a mac your limited.
> was refering to the PowerPC G5 chip in that iMac,
I’m sure they’re *very* well prepared to handle the existing hardware base for a long time to come. Leaving customers out to dry is no way to build a loyal fanbase.
> intel based macs are really fast
Yeah, it’s going to be nice.
> With an X86 pc atleast there are some upgrade paths,
It sounds like you’re thinking of Macs made a long time ago. Apple switched to almost all standard x86 parts years ago.
Yeah but I read somewhere that they still do some stuff to prevent that kind of upgrading and customization. If not, cool, I really will look into it then.