It very much depends what you're doing.
If you're doing video transcoding or encryption, the MBP will potentially be much
faster than the Mac Pro due to the newer CPU having hardware acceleration instructions for those functions. The AES-NI instructions in the Core I series for example are about 30 times faster than doing the encryption in software on the older CPUs.
My first computer had 16k of RAM (Tandy Coco 2) and second computer had 512KB (amiga - upgraded it to 1 megabyte). The amiga was amazing.
512KB of ram these days is probably enough to run a small hello world app generated by xcode
FWIW, I'm a graphic designer in print and motion. My Mac Pro and 2011 MBP have been pushed to their limits, and they're VERY functional. I'd say, especially between all the pro software I use such as Cinema 4D, Photoshop and After Effects, these 2 machines handle them very well.
We've done some amazing things on the 2008 Mac Pro, and sure it's showing it's age, but having the ability of THAT machine and the things we did with the 2008 Mac Pro in a mobile device is just fantastic (It's not even the latest MBP).
Intel is on a roll. I just wish AMD pushed the market a bit so we can see more advancements.
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Not naive, it really is cool. My/The families first computer was a IIe then a IIc then we got a 256sx 12 not long after that I built a cyrix 386dx 16. Starting in 1988 my dad (a shop teacher) began converting shop class to tech class at his school the transition was complete in 1989 when we spent the better part of 3 weeks assembling 20 or so 486DX 33's. I stayed pretty in touch until I went to OSU in '94 and stayed out of touch until '00. I was in and out during my time in the Army. I remember back in the day but it seems to me less exciting now than it did when I was a kid. Computers are obscenely fast now and making them obscenely faster is kinda boring. Overclocking took actual HW mods now it's a simple as changing a number in the BIOS/EFI. We used to have al kinds of cool different connectors now not so much. I know things are much better now but the "ain't that cool" factor is gone for me....
I think that's why I like futzing with the PowerPC's they aren't silly fast and they take a bit of effort to make them usable in the modern age. As always for me it's the process not the product.
That's really cool.
I definitely agree with you that computers are a bit "boring" now...maybe because most of us here grew up with technology. I mean I started using a Commodore Amiga since the age of 10, so throughout the years, this has just become part of our culture, maybe that's why we are so jaded by technology. Before that, I was taking apart radios and stuff at around the age of 5 and my dad would come home to the home radio parts being thrown around the living room—he'd make a big fuss about it.
I definitely used to tinker and overclock when I moved into the PC realm in the mid 90's. It was a pain in the butt trying to get the IRQ working, the ISA slots, etc. It's just so funny how easier things have become, even on the PC side.
I definitely am bored by technology, it is just a tool for me now to get my work done, especially since I moved on from the technical background to a more artistic one. I do get the "urge" to take things apart once in a while, hence why playing a video game on the desktop or a PS3 kind of helps aleviate that...and maybe upgrading the drive's to SSD's or cleaning the inside of the computer (haha). That's most of the techy stuff I do nowadays, I just want these things to "work."
It's also funny how when I upgrade my iPhones or laptops, I'm actually "happy" (not my best choice of words) for about an hour, then it's succumbed into just another thing in your pocket.
I actually want to buy a G4/G5 iMac and give it to my family for their living room, but it's probably not worth it since I can get a recent iMac 27" for a fairly low price.
Sometimes it's good to look at the clouds and how slow they move.
