VMD-L Mailing List

From: John Stone (johns_at_ks.uiuc.edu)
Date: Fri Jan 14 2005 - 10:02:50 CST

Kudos on organizing this Warren. I've forwarded your note to everyone
I work with as well, I hope you get a lot of responses. I've sent
Apple numerous emails about this and contacted their technical people
various times over the last two years, clearly it is time for the
users to add their weight to the cause. Thanks again for doing this.

  John Stone
  vmd_at_ks.uiuc.edu

On Thu, Jan 13, 2005 at 05:58:50PM -0800, Warren DeLano wrote:
> Fellow Visualization Software Users:
>
> My #1 gripe with MacOS X Panther has been the lack of support for
> industry-standard stereo-3D graphics (in a window). So far, I and others
> have been unable to convince Apple that this feature matters enough to their
> bottom line to merit implementation. Candid discussions this week at
> MacWorld confirmed that Tiger (OS X 10.4) will likewise ship without this
> essential capability at a time when the opportunity for Apple is at its peak
> in this market. I believe this would be a serious error, and that Apple
> must now hear from us on this issue.
>
> If you agree, then please reply directly to me, RIGHT NOW
> (mailto:warren_at_delsci.com) with the words: "Stereo 3D matters to me." Your
> response will be printed, and I will hand-deliver them to Apple management
> in nearby Cupertino at the end of the month. We need AS MANY responses as
> we can get (ideally 1,000+), so please forward this email to all of your
> visualization-oriented colleagues (in any sector), and ask them to submit
> individual emails to me as well. Here's why:
>
> Stereoscopic 3D visualization increasingly matters in science, medicine, and
> engineering. Though arguably the ultimate technical computing platform, the
> Mac remains hopelessly crippled in this key respect when compared to Sun,
> HP, Dell, or IBM workstations running Linux, Solaris, or even Windows.
> Dual-Xeon and dual-Opteron systems now ship stereo-3D-ready thanks to
> powerful nVidia/Quadro and ATI/FireGL graphics cards. Thus, the competition
> WILL OWN THIS MARKET if Apple doesn't support stereo-3D in a window on MacOS
> X, ASAP. The disruptive market opportunity created by the implosion of SGI
> and the stopgap adoption of "home brew" Linux systems is about to end.
> Professional-grade stereoscopic visualization is now a standard OpenGL
> capability, it is vendor-supported on a variety of hardware, and it is
> present on every platform EXCEPT THE MAC. None of those "amazing features"
> in Tiger matter one bit to technical users whose basic needs remain unmet.
>
> Stereo-3D inadequacy is a show-stopper for many scientists and engineers.
> The Mac will not have a fair shot at this market unless Apple quickly
> follows though on it's assumed responsibility to support all OpenGL
> features, including quad-buffered stereo-3D graphics in a window. Case in
> point: my company just spent $5k on a dual-Opteron Sun workstation instead
> of a dual-G5 Mac solely because stereo-3D in a window is absent from MacOS
> X. This pattern will surely be amplified many thousand-fold if Apple does
> not take immediate corrective action.
>
> Responding together, we can insure that Apple understands what this
> deficiency means for the future of MacOS X in scientific, medical, and
> technical visualization. I do not believe that Apple management has made an
> informed decision regarding stereo-3D, and I think this is our last best
> chance to change things before the issue becomes moot.
>
> Please share your concerns by responding to this email
> (mailto:warren_at_delsci.com). It will only take a second, but the benefits
> could last for years to come if Apple listens well and then acts decisively.
>
>
> Input from current Linux and Windows users is especially welcome, since
> Apple would love to sell you the visualization platform of your dreams if
> you're willing to help define it. Thank you for your time.
>
> Cheers,
> Warren
> Author of PyMOL: http://pymol.sf.net (Note that MacPyMOL is currently shown
> on http://apple.com/science under "The Tools" -- cool!) DeLano Scientific
> LLC company profile: http://delanoscientific.com/about.html
>
> PS. An alternate way to be heard is to post on the Apple SciTech or Sci-Vis
> mailing lists, but please CC me too to be sure that you're counted.
>
> http://lists.apple.com/mailman/listinfo/scitech
> http://lists.apple.com/mailman/listinfo/sci-vis
>
> --
> Warren L. DeLano, Ph.D.
> Principal Scientist
>
> . DeLano Scientific LLC
> . 400 Oyster Point Blvd., Suite 213
> . South San Francisco, CA 94080
> . Biz:(650)-872-0942 Tech:(650)-872-0834
> . Fax:(650)-872-0273 Cell:(650)-346-1154
> . mailto:warren_at_delsci.com
>
>
> 

-- 
NIH Resource for Macromolecular Modeling and Bioinformatics
Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
University of Illinois, 405 N. Mathews Ave, Urbana, IL 61801
Email: johns_at_ks.uiuc.edu                 Phone: 217-244-3349              
  WWW: http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/~johns/      Fax: 217-244-6078