“Apple’s new Mac Mini is the least expensive Macintosh to date. As befits Apple’s heritage, this Mac defies conventions. It weighs just 2.9 pounds, but it’s a desktop computer, not a notebook. It’s portable — but in the sense of moving from room to room, not home to office or city to city. Apple sells the 6.5-inch-square machine in a lunchbox-size package with a handle,” Edward C. Baig writes for USA Today. “Mac Minis start at $499, though the total climbs quickly if you boost the memory and supply often-needed accessories — such basics as monitor, keyboard and mouse. Even so, with the Mac Mini, Apple has fashioned a winner.”
“Mac Mini is something of a pioneer in the Apple universe, just as the freshly minted $99 Apple iPod Shuffle digital music player I reviewed last week breaks new ground. This computer may give Steve Jobs his best opportunity yet to wrestle some market share from the masses schooled on Windows-based personal computers,” Baig writes. “Many buyers have been reluctant to embrace Macs. In part, that’s because the computers typically command a premium over Windows PCs. And once all is said and done, the Mac Mini will cost more than comparable entry-level Windows machines. You could make the case, though, that with the software loaded on the Mini, you’re getting more bang for your buck.”
MacDailyNews Note: Kudos to Mr. Baig for that last sentence. It’s very nice to read someone who actually gets it and also writes it down for millions to read.
Baig continues, “Other factors could make Windows customers ponder a switch. Thanks to the iPod, legions of PC users have been wowed by Apple’s technical prowess. And the maddening virus/spyware epidemic may have led some Windows customers to beg for alternatives. (Macs have so far been immune to the scourge.) Some longtime PC users might now willingly invest in a Mac. Two things that truly set Mac Mini and all recent vintage Macs apart: the slick Panther operating system and the inclusion of the best-of-breed iLife multimedia software suite. iLife ’05 has the latest versions of iTunes software, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD and GarageBand (a recording studio application). Apple has also thrown in Quicken 2005 personal finance software… It’s the slickest little budget computer I’ve seen.”
Full article here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
USA Today: Apple’s iPod shuffle should ‘send shivers through’ competitors – January 20, 2005
In the “real gaming world” we require games. The Apple Mini does not support gaming and therefore will never survive in the “real gaming world”. PC are used as toys and the Apple machine will not support the gaming software.
Furthermore with the soon to be released Longhorn there is no need to move to a different platform. Longhorn will resolve the few issues with the current MS OS.
and when will we see longhorn?
they will take over the world
first post truely never used a mac and will probably hate himself for not getting on sooner. Son, dont knock it till you try it, and i really mean really use OSX.
Now I need to pick up a few mini’s, since my parent’s house burned down last week, among all their worldy possesions going up in smoke, they lost a G4 PowerMac, a 667MHz PowerBook, and the grandkid’s iBooks. Sad day all around. I’m accepting donations on their behalf, not that anyone here knows me from Adam.
My Dell can’t play 3D games even on low detail, because it doesn’t have a real 3D board like the Mac Mini has. But that’s OK, because the Mac has ZERO games. At least I have Minesweeper.
And one day I will have Halo, Doom, Unreal Tournament 2004, and other 3D games on my next Dell. Try finding games like those for Mac!
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Re-Sputnik
a- Get a life and use your brain for something other than a hat rack. X-Boxes and PS2s are $150 bucks. Why should I let the ability to play Halo 2 or some other game determine what computer I use?
b- ALL M$ OSes are in perpetual beta. Have you read the developer info for Longhorn? A dual core CPU is necessary. The only one currently in the Intel pipeline consumes something above 130 watts. No laptops for you.
c- I said it before and will say it again- 2003 was Micro$oftopoly’s high water mark. IE is now below 90% for the first time since the Browser Wars of the late 1990’s and is losing market share every month. Apple is kicking everybody in the teeth with iTunes/iPod. OpenOffice is steadily making inroads, and LINUX and Mac installs continue to increase.
Hey “I agree”, FYI:
UT 2004: http://www.apple.com/games/articles/2004/03/unreal2004/
Halo: http://www.apple.com/games/articles/2003/11/halo/
Not to mention BF42 and well, just check this link:
http://www.apple.com/games/
Sputnik, you must be the most naive guy on the planet.
Good luck in your future MS-life, you will need it…
Panther = today
Tiger = first half 2005
a Simplified Longhooooorn = 2007 (realistic estimation)
You still have a lot of gaming time left !
Sputnik….
Hate to tell you this, but the “Real gaming world” is based on console games, not PC games. In fact, the PC game market has been quietly spinning down the toilet while console games have shot through the roof. The game world is ruled by PS2 and Xbox, not Intel. Hell, World of Warcraft was practically giddy to have sold 600,000 copies and is “the fastest selling PC game ever”, in the console world, that’s not just a failure, that’s a huge failure. Sony games routinely move 2+ million–and that’s not for launch titles, that’s for games no one’s heard of.
Add to the fact that to play the “latest” PC games you need to spend thousands on a new machine or upgrades for your old machine, and then play the Russian roulette game of “will it work?”
Whether you like it or not, gaming is moving away from PCs. You’ll still play strategy games on the PC and the ever present solitaire in 5 years, but you’ll see less and less big game productions for them– the money and market are just not there, it’s on the PS2 and Xbox.
What you think of as “the real gaming world” is a rapidly drying up waterhole. Soon, no developer of significant size will be involved in producing mega-million dollar games like Doom III and Half Life II. Where are both those games being ported?
Even Gates seems to understand that the future of games in consoles, not PCs (or a console masquerading as a PC).
-Doc
Sputnik is an old friend around these parts, haven’t heard from him in a while. So for you newbies to this site you should know that Sputnik’s favorite magic words are irony and sarcasm.
hey sputnik,
are you with us again?
Firstly, the “real world of gaming” is an oxymoron. It’s either real world or gaming.
Secondly, get yourself a girlfriend/boyfriend and you will discover the irrelevance of computer games.
Thirdly, the grown ups use computers for things like email, internet surfing, as substitute DVD consoles, and, yes, for work-related issues such as text processing, presentations, information gathering.
And, lastly, “serious” gamers (another oxymoron) as a group are an irrelevant minority among potential custumers of PC vendors.
Have a nice day!
Been looking at a gamebox myself. But I still prefer the “keyboard + mouse” way of playing. I dont like the gamepads. Any suggestions? PS2 or Xbox? (I do like Halo and Unreal)
bleep bleep bleep – drool
Spotnik, the first dog in space, was trained by his master Pavlov to drool at the sound of a bell.
Sputnik, the bitter self-hating Wintel apologist, was trained by his master Rob Enderle to lick his balls in public.
Neither are particularly relevant today
giofoto,
There are mouse + keyboard adapters for the xBox (and Playstation.) How do you suppose some people get to level 23 on xBox live? Sorry, I don’t have a link for ya’, but you’ll find one. Just make a little effort.
Sputnik, in the “real gaming world” you buy a console. They are better than any desktop, PC or Mac.
So, Sputnik has changed his/her/it’s rant from the “real IT world” to “real gaming world”? What a putz.
Let’s hope Apple is smart enough to capitalize on all the feelgood love the Mac Mini has been receiving by releasing a consumer-oriented accessories that utilize the DVI and FireWire ports to maximum effect.
Having a few smart accessories will make apparent that the sub-$500 PCs can’t hold a technical candle to the Mini. In almost all the Mini-vs-PC comparisons to date, the DVI and FireWire ports have been severely underappreciated or entirely overlooked.
Who gives a f*ck about playing games on a Mac mini? I have a PlayStation 2 for that anyway.
And no $499 PC is a “real gaming PC” either. You need to spend a hell of a lot more than that to get a decent PC gaming rig, so get off the gaming thing moron…
I wonder if next step will be in the “real kindergarten game world” to in order to still have an excuse to type rants and apologies for the beleaguered PC world and mediocre Windows system.
PS
as JB says…
sry g-unit: missed your one-line post: right on the money.
I want a PC, cause it’s a “toy”, and can play games. <sarcasm>
So Sputnik can’t wait till Longhorn to play his games?
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”LOL” style=”border:0;” /> That’ll be like smashing your head onto a toillet to get it to flush!!! Now I can’t wait for Longhorn… woohooo..!
All this time sputnik has been laying the load of “IT professional”. In time the truth slips out as being nothing more than a game player.
I just noticed the ad directly below the feedback section – “Sylvan Learning Center. Learning feels good”. Not a bad suggestion for sputnik.
just watched the clip.. wow..
what’s really interesting.. as Apple’s mindshare expands.. you can see, even the anchors messing around with the Mac mini, is the way they’re having FUN with the Mac.
You will never see people on TV ‘exploring’ Windows on a PC the way messing around in OS X, and exploring software is on a Mac.
Funny.. after all these years of hearing about the Mhz Myth, etc. now the AMD, and Intel naming schemes are so confusing, no one is really saying stuff like, “Pfft 1.25Ghz” except of course, ill-informed trolls on message boards.
Do you think, when they were playing with iLife on that clip, the idea of Mhz/Ghz even popped into their heads? Were they thinking.. I can get a similar Dell for cheaper? Doesn’t really look like, does it?
The girl even asks, “Soooo.. MS is getting worried about this?”.. a bit of a hyperbole, to be sure, but the point is, in her mind, she’s thinking.. “500 bucks and and can have one of these babies? See ya eMachines..”