Why I Can't Buy a G5 (Yet)

posted on october 24, 2003, tag: tech

Ah, the Power Mac G5. After years and years of the Mac community crying and whispering false rumors and begging and praying, the gigantic metal box is unleashed to the world and I, as always, want one. I want everything new that comes out. Hell, I bought the 12" PowerBook I'm typing this on two weeks after it came out, and that only 5 months after having bought a 12" iBook (which was my first Mac computer save the Macintosh "Fat Mac" 512k that we got from a family friend back in 1994).

The problem with loving a company like Apple is that you're bound to be disappointed or mad at them when they release something new, and you're always going to want something more. When I bought my iBook, the next week they released new iBooks that were a little faster and a little cheaper. When I bought my PowerBook, it wasn't quite as bad—two months later they dropped the price by $200—but last month they released a faster, better version. But still, you can't buy anything from Apple these days without feeling remorse shortly after. I know that sounds horrible, but it's not—it's a good thing.

Imagine if the iBook I bought a year ago was still top-of-the-line today. Wouldn't that be depressing? Constant releases, upgrades and new technologies are exactly what you want in a computer company. Apple has been steadily releasing new machines and new technology in the past year and a half. And, on top of that, they've also been steadily releasing new versions of their operating system, OS X. Everyone knows Apple is a hardware company (if you didn't know—they are), but imagine how difficult it would be to sell new 17" PowerBooks or G5s if we were still using OS 9 and there was no movement in OS development.

So yes, I want the G5. I love my PowerBook, and I've been using it as a primary machine since I bought it, but I crave the raw power of two 2GHz G5 processors. Why not just buy it, you ask? Because, for the first time in my life I have the money to do so but I'm pacing myself. That's right—I'm forcing myself to wait. I always jump the gun, I always want to buy, buy, buy. But come on, three new machines in a year? That's ridiculous. The way I figure it, I can wait until next March (then it will have been one year after buying my PowerBook), and I'm gonna.

The downside? I'm going to have to wait another 5 or 6 months to get my hands on the machine. 5 to 6 months before I can replace my PowerBook as the primary machine. The upside? In 5 to 6 months, there will probably be at least a slightly faster G5 for the same price. Another upside? Waiting 5 to 6 months means only putting $500 a month aside for the machine, which is far less daunting than spending $3,000 all at once.

And so I wait. Sure, it's hard to wait to spend money. But at least in the meantime I can buy an Apple 20" Cinema Display, completely justified. I've needed a new monitor for a very long time, and since the ACD plays perfectly with my PowerBook and works with my P4 (and in the future, the G5), there's no reason to stay CRT from this point on. Oh, and there's Panther. I get to buy Panther. See, I've got plenty of things to buy before the G5. And then, in a few months, I'll get the G5. If you're waiting to buy one too, I think you should probably wait to buy it until after I do—with my history Apple will release both a faster and cheaper machine directly after I buy.

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