DISQUS

Technology Liberation Front: The Technology Liberation Front » Archive » “The Most Powerful Computer Ever”

  • Timon · 1 year ago
    When I saw this I went to apple.com to see how much it would be possible to spend on a high end computer these days -- a Mac Pro with 2 x 3.2 Ghz 8 core processor (16 cores total), 32 gigs of ram, a $3000 Nvidia card, and fully maxed out other options from the customization page gives this quote:

    "Subtotal Please note that your subtotal does not include sales tax or rebates. $26,673.00"
  • Elijah M · 1 year ago
    The rebates should bring it down to ยข26,573.
  • Gary McGath · 1 year ago
    That ad says "Our most powerful computer ever," not "THE most powerful computer ever."
  • David · 1 year ago
    Man...

    I miss my Commie 64 now. I miss having to use multiple 5" floppies to run a game.
  • Ryan Radia · 1 year ago
    Hard to believe that in our pockets we each have a mobile phone orders of magnitude more powerful than that machine, not to mention much smaller and less power-hungry. Few laws are as great as Moore's.
  • Coops · 1 year ago
    Yeah and I can build a better system than the Mac Pro for less :)

    /Apple makes way too much on the "upgrades" from their standard configurations.
  • Sarah · 1 year ago
    My favorite quote ever, from Richard Greenblatt, creator (in some versions of history) of the LISP machine, the premier hardware of artificial intelligence ca 1980:

    "The LISP machine will never require more than 256K of memory."
  • Andrew · 1 year ago
    Geez, even in a Tandy thread some brainwashed MS fanboi has to knock Macs. Get a life.
  • Todd · 1 year ago
    Nothing worse than spending a ton of money on a Mac and then none of your accessories work because nobody cares to make drivers for your "high-end" computer.
  • Vaius · 8 months ago
    Funny how this causes you to start bashing macs, when the Tandy ISN'T EVEN A MAC.

    And ever since 2005, Macs have been able to run Windows on Mac. So, your "nobody makes the drivers" statement is invalid.
  • Ryan Radia · 1 year ago
    Coops--no, you can't. I'm as anti-Mac as they come but the Mac Pro dual Harpertown is as well-priced as anything you can put together assuming you buy extra RAM, video cards, etc from NewEgg.

    It's also very tough to find a reliable, well-reviewed dual Harpertown mobo with two PCI-E 2.0 slots and 8 FB-DIMM slots.

    Todd--Windows works on Macs, you know.
  • Ian Blincoe · 1 year ago
    8499*(1.062044)^19=26,673
    isn't inflation like 3.25%?
  • bob · 4 months ago
    no its 325% the number is multiplyed by 3.25
  • Aaron · 1 year ago
    @Todd: Now Vista users are the ones complaining that none of their hardware works and there aren't any drivers.
  • Chad · 1 year ago
    Whoa.. I'm guessing that the 1980s must have been unbelievably backwards times. I don't remember any of them, since I was still in pampers in 1987.

    So my question to all of you really old people is; what was the market for this insanely priced system? Did people take out bank loans to buy a system such as this, or was this market to mostly business customers?
  • Jon H · 1 year ago
    " Did people take out bank loans to buy a system such as this, or was this market to mostly business customers?"

    Keep in mind that this is Tandy. ie, RadioShack.

    I expect this was probably seriously overpriced, and marketed towards small business buyers with more money than sense. Dentists, lawyers, etc, buying a PC for their office while shopping at the mall.
  • David · 11 months ago
    @Todd,
    You don't own a Mac, do you. You're still living in 1989. I've been using Mac for 5 years, and I run my law practice on Macs. I have yet to find hardware that's incompatible.