“At Tuesday’s MacWorld keynote address in San Francisco, Steve Jobs rolled out a slew of upgrades to existing products, a new iPod without a hard disk and a diminutive new so-called headless (no monitor) Mac called the Mac mini,” John C. Dvorak writes for CBS MarketWatch. “Selling for $499, this computer will be a significant entry into the computer scene, if it works as advertised.”
“I have a stand-alone DVD drive that weighs more than this device. The Mac mini is 6.5-inches wide and 2-inches tall and weighs in at less than 3 pounds. Some years ago when an engineer friend of mine was discussing the difference between laptop and desktop designs he said that laptops are different because most of the engineering goes into packaging, not computer science. This mean that components had to be carefully selected and put together in ways which dissipate heat and work well under mobile and often extreme conditions. This is essentially what Apple has done here,” Dvorak writes.
“With the Mac mini, the all-aluminum case should help but with a gigahertz processor, a whirring hard disk and a DVD drive all working at once I have to wonder how the components will hold up. We’ll know after a few months,” Dvorak writes. “The machine in every other sense is close to perfect. It has the right array of inputs and outputs, built-in networking and sound along with a versatile video output that should work with almost any monitor you already own. Once this unit gets into the field and passes the tests of the real world, I’ll have no trouble recommending it as a machine of choice, especially to new users. And I haven’t done that with an Apple product for years.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Well, damn, if that ain’t the kiss of death, nothing is. What’s next, Rob Enderle manning the Mac Genius Bar?
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Kiss of death II: Thurrott wants an Apple Mac mini, calls it ‘drool-worthy’ – January 12, 2005
Apple finally stops overreaching for ‘switchers’ and goes for ‘adders’ instead – January 12, 2005
Dvorak calls Mac market share ‘stagnant’ when numbers really show Mac market share growth – December 29, 2004
John C. Dvorak: Apple iMac G5 is ‘reminiscent of a 1954 DeSoto’ – September 01, 2004
Dvorak blames obsessive compulsive disorder, not Microsoft for virus problems – April 28, 2004
Dvorak: people won’t switch from Windows to Mac because of games – March 11, 2004
Dvorak predicts the ‘MacIntel’; says ‘Apple must go with Intel or risk its future’ – April 07, 2003
Dvorak spews latest prediction: Apple to go Intel within 18 months – March 19, 2003
I suppose now Thurrot will give the mini his approval…
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OH MY GOD!!!
Bill Palmer was right.
This proves it.
Dvorak is always wrong.
Potential first post…I loved this product, and ordered one pronto yesterday to replace an ailing B&W G3 for home. It should be a great hit, if there are no glitches. Please, let there be no glitches, and let the inventory be somewhat congruent with demand.
Way to go Apple!
It doesn’t matter what any of them say.
I like it. I’ll get one for my mail server/telephony system. I’ll get one for the receptionist desk, I’ll take them apart to get the mother board for home automation projects and automobile automation projects…
I’ll buy lots of them!
Oy Vey. I think I’m getting hot flashes and I’m about to drop!
Well, you know what they say about blind squirrels and acorns.
In Dvorak’s next literary masterpiece, he will congratulate himself for speaking out loud regarding the need for a headless mac (earlier last year) and how Jobs must have heard his prose and made it so. If it wasn’t for Dvorak, we’d all be lost… sheesh!
For Dvorak this is indeed a “New World”. ;-]
Uh, all those components work fine together in an iBook? Why would they break now?
Come on.. all he cares about is that 499 number.. and everything else falls by the wayside.. So THATS how PC users think.. fascinating..
Good show!
Hey Mike,
that is how they think, unless they are gamers.
Form factor is really important. Right now most pundints are thinking of home user’s as the primary market, but the mini will be great for physician’s exam rooms, POS applications, education, small servers, diskless smart terminals. Add an i Sight camera and who knows. Incredible hardware/software value! Hey, can I lash a few of these things together and have a Virgina Tech supercomputer mini?
Dvorak seems to forget the “engineering” that went into the original Mac and seems to assume that Apple did not test these machines in extreme environmental conditions.
It’s like wondering whether a car company was sure their 4 wheel drive truck would function well and a dirt road.
Anybody with any sales training would see his comments as “objections” easily overcome as they are FUD. I think the editors required a column from him so he gave them one, not based on critical analysis but to get his check.
As far as his shuttles blowing up. Why in the hell do you think there is a big aftermarket for fans for wintel machines.
Everything will be alright my (magic word) son.
Here’s where the products are BIG hits… that mini is SO spot on for customer facing situations (as mentioned, receptionists etc) as well as ideal home units (every plasma should have one!) and the shuffle is worth the money even if just used to jog/workout.
Real world applications – Apple strikes gold again.
I’m loving it.
This baby Mac just might replace my 12″ PowerBook at work. I already use my Dell monitor and Macally keyboard and MS mouse. All I’d be losing is the extra 12″ screen. Hmm, it sure is inexpensive and portable…
Apple’s going to have trouble keeping up with demand. It sure has people’s attention. Mac and PC users alike. I fully expect it to cut into iMac and PowerMac sales. In the end though the expanded Mac market will start looking to upgrade to the full-featured products.
By then Apple will have true low-end, mid-range, and high-end products, just like the iPod line. Very good Apple, very good.
Just wait. Once Dvorak’s hits start going down he will post another Mac bashing article. The man is a whore.
It’s almost like the Media Center hardware (Mac mini) was ready before the software (OSX 10.4, QT 7) was ready.
Oh crap! Steve will be pissed. What do we do with all these Media Centers while those programing weenies finish playing with Tiger?
I know, sell them as a headless iMac.
Yes, that’s the ticket. We’ll just rename it a Mac mini. Sell it to switchers until Tiger comes out.
Win. Win
I’m grabbing my kids and heading for the mountains! If this isn’t a sign that the end is near, I don’t know what is.
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rickl: “Hey, can I lash a few of these things together and have a Virgina Tech supercomputer mini?”
SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!
<wanton speculation>
Imagine if Steve Jobs placed a little bit of code in Tiger so that each Mac mini could become a node in a distributed computing supercluster over the net. Then if we need extra computing power we could tap into the legion of minis! Hahahahaha! Mu-hahaha!
“Oh, and one last thing… I OWN YOU!” (future Steve Jobs keynote phrase)
<end wanton speculation>
coincidentally brought to you by the word “probably”
Edge, that’s already here! Search “XGrid” on the Apple site.
Brought to you by “years”, as in Years Ahead of Longhorn”.
hehe
love these crazy Mac heads. <3 :p
That was supposed to be a
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Oh shat…this guy is a FOOL//// We are doomed! LOL
Dvorak has been so wrong, so many times about the mac that it’s a mistake to believe anything he says about anything. This guy is so bitter about Apple it’s laughable. With his ongoing struggles with alcohol, doesn’t he have enough to deal with?
He couldn’t get away with denegrating the Mac Mini, so he didn’t try to.
Anyone remember what he spouted about the original iMac? Then the iMac became the most-sold computer in history. What an idiot.
He’s so wrong, so often, that I’m tempted to think the Mac Mini sucks-
no, wait…… it’s John Dvorak who sucks.