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It's been almost a year now since Oculus announced that the consumer version of the Rift virtual reality headset would only support Windows PCs at launch—a turnaround from development kits that worked fine on Mac and Linux boxes. Now, according to Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey, it "is up to Apple" to change that state of affairs. Specifically, "if they ever release a good computer, we will do it," he told Shacknews recently.
Basically, Luckey continued, even the highest-end Mac you can buy would not provide an enjoyable experience on the final Rift hardware, which is significantly more powerful than early development kits. "It just boils down to the fact that Apple doesn't prioritize high-end GPUs," he said. "You can buy a $6,000 Mac Pro with the top-of-the-line AMD FirePro D700, and it still doesn't match our recommended specs."
"So if they prioritize higher-end GPUs like they used to for a while back in the day, we'd love to support Mac. But right now, there's just not a single machine out there that supports it," he added. "Even if we can support on the software side, there's just no audience that could run the vast majority of software on it."
Source: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/03/oculus-founder-rift-will-come-to-mac-if-apple-ever-release-a-good-computer/.
See also: Shacknews blog.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 04 2016, @03:09PM
Mac could be so much more. I just wish the Woz had more involvement. Jobs and Cook just don't get it and have mangled Apple into a lifestyle brand with no substance.
(Score: 4, Touché) by isostatic on Friday March 04 2016, @03:21PM
Mac could be so much more. I just wish the Woz had more involvement. Jobs and Cook just don't get it and have mangled Apple into a lifestyle brand with no substance.
Yup
http://bgr.com/2015/02/11/apple-vs-google-microsoft-market-cap/ [bgr.com]
Apple is now worth more than Microsoft and Google combined
They just don't get it.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Nerdfest on Friday March 04 2016, @03:27PM
It amazes me that people think Apple is such a great company because they take such an obscene amount of profit from their customers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 04 2016, @03:38PM
Welcome to the alternate 1985 from BTTF.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by isostatic on Friday March 04 2016, @03:40PM
No, what it means is Jobs knew what people wanted, and delivered it. To say he "didn't have a clue" is a rather strange statement. Sure, he had no clue about treating cancer, but he did about building good products that people liked to use.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 04 2016, @04:47PM
He knew how to manipulate people into wanting something.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Tramii on Friday March 04 2016, @06:14PM
He knew how to manipulate people into wanting something.
I hear this a lot and I just don't understand.
If I talk someone into buying something, and they go ahead and buy it and don't regret the purchase later, we don't call that "manipulating". We call that making a good recommendation. It's only if the buyer later regrets their decision that they might claim they were manipulated.
People are not being "manipulated" into buying Apple products. People in general *like* Apple products. They go back and buy them again and again. They are not being manipulated. Just because *you* don't like them, doesn't make it manipulation. Apple makes high quality products that generally "just work" and are generally easy to use. They are good at taking complicated technology and simplifying them down to where a grandma can use them. Their products also last longer than most others and retain their value longer.
It's NOT manipulation. It's giving people what they want. If you want something different, that's fine. If you don't like Apple's "walled garden", well you don't have do. A lot more people do. If you think you can get hardware for cheaper, then go for it. Most people don't have the time or energy to research and then build custom stuff. They want to be handed a near perfectly working solution that works the moment you hit the power button.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by frojack on Friday March 04 2016, @06:55PM
While I'm no particular fan of Apple, I still think you've hit the nail on the head.
There exists a sizable contingent here on SN that object to any form of advertising, and accuse any use of advertising as some form of manipulation.
Apparently you can't do any research and find out what people want, then use that to create a product and advertise that you do indeed supply what people were looking for. You have to somehow set up a retail operation, either in bricks and mortar or on the web, BUT never once mention what you are selling or why.
To do anything else is somehow manipulation.
Probably this is in response to the advertising abuse on the net, triggering the simple minded knee-jerk reaction to hate on all advertising.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by BasilBrush on Friday March 04 2016, @11:07PM
Another bizzare thing is a lot of the people that say Apple is all marketing buy Samsung phones. Yet Samsung's marketing budget is many time that of Apple.
Hurrah! Quoting works now!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 05 2016, @01:01AM
Hmm Samsung sells more different things then apple, so therefore might have to advertise for more different products.
If you really want an apple to apple comparison what are the marketing budgets for the iphone vs the galaxy line of phones.
My WAG is that Apple spends more.
(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Sunday March 06 2016, @02:11AM
Samsung has to pay for their advertising. Apple doesn't.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Friday March 04 2016, @09:00PM
The best manipulation is the one where you don't realize you're being manipulated.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by Tramii on Saturday March 05 2016, @04:20AM
If there is a company that can manipulate people into buying products in a way that no one realizes they are being manipulated, then I'm just gonna be happy that they limit their evil powers to just making money. Better that than something more serious, like say, using it to take over the world.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by archfeld on Friday March 04 2016, @03:39PM
You sound like one of those women in the wrinkle cream commercials. I just paid $900.00 for a .25 oz jar of made up fsck'n crud, of course I could admit I got taken but I won't instead I'll say how amazing it is. Why do you think snake oil salesmen get away with their con-game so often and for so long ?
"Apple is now worth more than Microsoft and Google combined"
"They just don't get it."
So we know Apple hit their goal, to make mass quantities of money, what was your goal? Giving Apple large quantities of money, or to get hardware that will allow you to have an UNDEGRADED VR experience ? You make the choice. What's more important, performance or image ?
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 2) by Geotti on Friday March 04 2016, @04:27PM
what was your goal?
To get a superior OS. Sadly, the hardware sucks balls these days on the CPU and GPU side of things, that's one of the reasons, why you can build a hackintosh or get a hackbook (pro).
(Score: 3, Insightful) by isostatic on Friday March 04 2016, @04:40PM
So we know Apple hit their goal, to make mass quantities of money, what was your goal? Giving Apple large quantities of money, or to get hardware that will allow you to have an UNDEGRADED VR experience ? You make the choice. What's more important, performance or image ?
Functionality. What gives me the maximum gain for the minimum effort. On my laptop, that's ubuntu on a thinkpad. On my phone it's an iphone 5.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by isostatic on Friday March 04 2016, @04:42PM
So we know Apple hit their goal, to make mass quantities of money, what was your goal?
To point out that Jobs and Cook did "get it", as evidenced by your admission that Apple made tons of money.
The relative quality and costs of apple kit is neither here nor there.
I have two laptops on my desk at the moment, one cost about £900, the other about £2k. One is a PC running linux, one is a mac. The expensive one is the quality one which I use all the time, the other one I use for specific purposes (it's got a longer battery life for example).
There's a mac mini too, which as it's used for business purposes was exempt from tax and therefore actually cost about £250 5 years ago. I'm sure I could have built a £150 linux PC instead, unlikely to be as nice hardware though.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by ledow on Friday March 04 2016, @03:56PM
Apple got that money - and most of it is just money sitting around not doing very much - from their customers.
By the difference between what their hardware / software actually COSTS to make, and what they charge for it.
I'm sure DeBeers make an awful lot of money. Because it costs next-to-nothing to get some slave labour to dig around in some dangerous mines that you happen to own most of them worldwide. And you can charge a fortune because people think it's somehow "rare". It does not mean that you're "good". It just means you know how to sell a polished turd.
A skill in itself, no doubt, but some people hold different criteria for success than the amount of cash you have in the bank doing nothing.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Friday March 04 2016, @04:17PM
But it means that DeBeers gets it. They've met their goal.
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by Francis on Friday March 04 2016, @04:19PM
I refuse to buy diamonds because of that. Well, between DeBeers and the conflict diamonds, I refuse to buy. Personally, I'd rather have a manufactured diamond anyways. They come in an array of colors and are usually cheaper than the ones mined anyways.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday March 04 2016, @05:14PM
Also, the primary reason normal everyday diamonds are something that people think are all that valuable is due to marketing campaigns by, you guessed it, DeBeers. Save yourself some money and buy a different gem if all you want is a pretty rock.
Oh, and if it's for an engagement or something, the right partner will be overjoyed with a simple brass band ring, and the wrong partner will be complaining if you get them the most expensive ring you can find at your jeweler (jewelers of course make a lot of money from people who fail to understand this).
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 1) by Francis on Friday March 04 2016, @09:01PM
More likely I'll be buying just a gold ring like this one: https://www.etsy.com/listing/202786130/double-knot-ring-silver-and-rose-or?ref=market [etsy.com]
Not because it's cheap, but because it's something you don't see much and a great conversation starter. I've never understood the attitude that people are willing to spend a ridiculous amount of money on engagement rings and on the wedding/honeymoon. One of the most common reasons for divorce is financial problems, so why would anybody dig themselves that deep over such superficial choices?
(Score: 1) by Spamalope on Friday March 04 2016, @04:59PM
Don't forget murdering anyone producing diamonds who doesn't play ball...
(Score: 2) by tibman on Friday March 04 2016, @06:04PM
If you want to build/buy a gaming box then you can't even approach apple. Same for google, they make nothing usable by the gaming market. Microsoft doesn't make gaming hardware (other than peripherals maybe?) but their OS supports the best gaming gear. Linux is still behind Microsoft but only because most graphics drivers are closed-source and compiled for windows.
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by isostatic on Friday March 04 2016, @06:10PM
Funny that, my phone has lots of games on.
If you want to build a very specific type of gaming box for a very specific type of user then you go for a very specific hardware and software combination.
However 90% of people couldn't give a stuff about that.
Apple know this, and have decided they don't want to serve that market. That doesn't mean they "don't get it".
(Score: 3, Informative) by tibman on Friday March 04 2016, @06:57PM
Just because you can play games by scratching X's and O's into the sand/dirt with a stick that doesn't mean you have a gaming (sand?) box. That's fine if apple doesn't want to serve it, i have no argument with you there. Just acknowledging they currently have zero offerings for gamers and so apple is a non-starter for those interested in gaming machines. That's what this whole article is about. Though perhaps Luckey should have said Rift will come to Mac if Apple “ever releases a good [gaming] computer”.
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