Megahertz myth versus reality
There’s been some good press on the evaporation of the megahertz myth. For years, Apple has touted the superiority of the PowerPC chip’s architecture and processing power relative to Intel. The fact is, all of that still holds true.
What we have to bear in mind is simply that things change. As recently as a few years ago, PowerPC-based Mac’s were routinely dusting Intel-based workhorses. Everything we knew about the PowerPC showed us a better architecture and — assuming processing growth equal to Intel’s — it would have stayed there.
Steve’s single Integer units per Watt bar graph shows us how much Intel has been pulling ahead. Today, the PowerPC is still a fantastic processor and it still competes well with Intel. I’m very pleased to say that my dual G5 is still faster than my state of the art Intel Linux box. But it’s losing ground rapidly. Were I used to measure the performance difference in factors, now I measure percentages.
So, yes, when Steve tells us this is the right thing, I do believe him. Somewhere deep down I think he’s right — but I’m still disappointed. I liked believing in the megahertz myth and I liked the differentiation. But when it comes right down to it — I’ll like a faster machine even more. I’m sure that in two years or so I’ll start eying the new Mac and trying to justify an upgrade.
Update: A very good, in-depth commentary on codepoetry. Here, here!
