“Steve Jobs is so enigmatic. A couple weeks ago at MacWorld, he introduced the 2.9 lb. Mac Mini and the reaction was so great it was like he had re-invented the PC. Readers are all excited by the little box and have been asking me for my take on it. Like everyone else, I had to scratch my head a bit and ponder what this thing is really for. I know, I know, it is for all those PC drivers who bought an iPod and are now supposed to trash their Windows PC for a Mac Mini. Yeah, but what’s it REALLY for? Movies,” Robert X. Cringely writes for PBS.
“The Mac Mini is one of Apple’s trademark technology repackaging jobs. There ought to be nothing inherently exciting about the little box. It isn’t especially powerful. You can buy smaller Windows and Linux machines. You can buy cheaper Windows machines from all the big brands. Yet the Mac Mini has people excited and those other PCs mainly don’t. Some of it is industrial design — it just looks cool. Some of it is commercial psychology: by forgetting the keyboard and mouse Apple not only saved money, it invented a whole new computer configuration between a barebones box and a complete system. Other keyboard-and-mouseless systems will soon appear from other vendors, I promise you, but they’ll just be seen as copies,” Cringely writes.
“I’ll buy one. I have an old 400 MHz iMac in the kitchen that is begging to be replaced. Lots of Mac users will buy a Mini just to have one, which is why Jobs didn’t really have to tell a big story to explain the little box, nor did he (yet) have to follow the aggressive pricing plan I suggested in my 2005 predictions. He’ll sell the first half million just on exuberant inertia. But then sales might drop off as they did with the original Mac. THAT’s when we’ll get the real story on what this thing is for,’ Cringely writes. “Everyone seems to think the Mini is a media PC, yet it has few characteristics of most media PCs. The box has no TV tuner and no place for one, and no analog TV output. You can’t even burn a DVD with it, at least not yet. But there were hints in that MacWorld presentation, hints of what’s coming, and the Mac Mini is a big part of that.”
Full article here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Report: Apple’s Mac mini power connector hints at upcoming add-ons – January 20, 2005
Cringely predicts $249 Macintosh, would make Apple the world’s number one PC company – January 10, 2005
Robert X. Cringely: Steve Jobs ‘is proud of being an a**hole’ – April 30, 2004
You can burn a DVD with it. You just need to choose a Superdrive when you order it.
My first Mac mini has been burning DVDs very nicely since I put it into service. The SuperDrive option I ordered it with has been working marvelously.
What are these “smaller windows and linux” boxes he talks about? Is he trying to compare like a PDA or palm-pilot thingy to a fully-functioning computer?
what? no MDN take?
you boys get lazy when there is nothing to sensationalise…
And no, you can’t find a PC smaller than the Mac Mini. You can find Small PCs, you can even build a Micro PC, but it’s still about 8″x8″x9″ (or so).
Read his article, it is very very good. Quit whining about a few little mistakes.
The DVD comment is pretty stupid.
On the other hand, unless you do a special BTO order from the online store, it can’t burn DVDs. And since Apple bunged by online order, I’m stuck with retail unless I want to wait a month.
Private whine: I ordered a BTO mini with Superdrive on the day they were announced. I then was reminded by my wife that Apple uses UPS for a lot of deliveries, that at least our area doesn’t deliver after 5 p.m. and won’t drop off without a signature–tough when someone’s at the house only after 5. So I called to switch the delivery address to my wife’s job, and the genius on the phone somehow recoded my Mac mini into a PowerMac G4. When I informed Apple that I in fact wanted a mini, they recoded it again–with late February delivery.
MDN’s eerie code word is “get”
good article. and an intersting idea about the future of the mini. though I think his problem with quicktime not playing trailers for a while was a fluke, not a harbinger. quicktime is a core component of iTunes, so if it’ll play in iTunes it’ll play in quicktime.
It’s all about QT 7 and H264! I reckon that’s when we’ll see what Apple’s real video strategy is. The scalable codec of H264 will enable a credible range of video products in the same way that AAC enabled iTunes/iPod etc….
He may have a point in the HD part but no analog TV output from the Mac Mini? He did not do his home work. You can order a adapter cable for that!!!
I agree with Jay, quit whining. You’re missing the point.
The article, I believe is completely on target. It’s the dawning of the virtual cable company completely independent of DVD standards or distribution channels. Of course one does not need a Mac mini (any Mac would do), but to do it with mass appeal, you need an inexpensive device. And considering some iPods cost at least as much and the mini, I can’t imagine people balking at $500 or so to download HD movies long before we have the DVD standards in play (and long before BlockBuster, et al, can get into the fray). The new players will be at least $500 initially. The movie houses don’t even have to start producing discs yet to take advantage!
What an end run!
However, I wonder if you’ll be able to burn the download content to DVD with any semblance of quality?…. Converting your ACC to MP3 isn’t exactly preserving audio fidelity.
There are smaller PCs.
the OQO UPC comes to mind… comes with a screen too, and docks to become a fully blown PC running XP.
the FLipstart as well.
These are “Pocket PC” size units that run XP.
BSOD
Hoe did you get a Mac mini so soon? I thoughht they were not supposed to start shipping them until the22nd (tomorrow).
MacOS X is highly scriptable. If you were to develop a bluetooth “remote” for the Mac with preprogrammed scripts for various media tasks (as well as user programmable features), then that would work very well for controlling the recording and playback of digital audio and video content. Any auxiliary devices that could attach to the Mac via USB or Firewire could potentially be controlled through the Mac, as well. If the auxiliary components also include bluetooth then they could be directly controlled from the remote, as well, given the proper firmware.
P.S. What’s with the “magic word” anyway? What purpose does it serve?
Just read that the Mac mini is going to be sold at Target. This is huge I think, but we’ll see how the numbers turn out in six months.
“You can buy smaller Windows and Linux machines. You can buy cheaper Windows machines from all the big brands.”
But you can’t buy smaller AND cheaper Windows and Linux machines. That’s one of the things that makes the Mac mini interesting.
Look at some of the small PCs. They’re selling for $700-$800, though they might come with a keyboard and mouse
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” />. We’ve all seen the cheap PCs in “standard” tower enclosures.
He’s right that it doesn’t come with the things that a full-blown “Media Center” comes with. But I think Apple is wise to stay out of that market–for now. The do-it-yourselfer can build a Mac mini media center for a little over a thousand dollars. The truly enterprising may even try to make some money off of it–Assemble all the parts in a bundle, write some simple installation scripts and maybe a bit of code and ship that puppy.
“You can buy smaller Windows and Linux machines”
REALLY????
I DON’T THIK SO SOMEHOW!
Anyone here seen a windows pc smaller than the mac mini??
If so give me a link – I want to see this extremley rare beast!
Beryllium,
Despite accepting the free shipping from Apple, my first Mac mini arrived a few days ago via FedEx Express in one day from Shenzhen, China. Total shipping time was amazingly less than 24 hours door-to-door.
The Mac minis are supposed to arrive no later than January 22nd if you ordered on-line when I did. Not ship after then.
Dammit, the Target links are only dynamic. Just do a search on “Mac mini” from the front page of target.com and you’ll come up with it right away.
The site also says “Availability: Item arriving in 2 to 6 weeks. Order now.“
Brought to you by MDN magic word “later” – no joke.
At the end of the day if you want to build a computer you are restricted by the fact that it has to have a dvd/cd srive built-in.
Apple could have made the mac mini a quarter of the size it is IF it didn’t a cd drive.
So, I cannot see any computer manufacturer building a pc as small as the mac mini – considering they would have to buy expensive custom made parts/motherboards etc.
Just look at the Imacs – Dell or Sony could never build a machine with that forma factor purely because the windows market is dictated by low profit margins on pcs!
Wow, everybody is talking about the size of their PC, and nothing about far-reaching comments Cringley makes in his article. I’d think that is more of a discussion point than DVD burners in Mac minis, or whether it could be made smaller….
Interesting article. I hope he’s right. Perhaps we’ll see Flicks and Flix melded together for iFlicks, iCinema, or iTheater?
As for a remote, I guarantee there will be Bluetooth remotes coming out in droves soon. My T68i can already control iTunes and the DVD player. Further functionality would be a snap.
KingMel – P.S. What’s with the “magic word” anyway? What purpose does it serve?
It is for the transfer of cosmic messages from beyond. Ignore them at your peril.
They are all butt ugly but these are pretty small and there is one PC on this page which is actually smaller than the Mini.
http://www.cappuccinopc.com/mocha.asp
But that is not the point. The point is this is an incredibly small, low priced MAC (caps intentional). As MDN is so fond of pointing out “Its the OS, stupid”
I think Cringely might have something here. But there are a few issues which are of concern.
Does anyone know if the audio output port is really an optical out in disguise (and just not activated yet.) No surround sound with HD picture will be a total waste of time. Maybe they’ll make a breakout box which will also include alternate video outputs, a remote control receiver as well as digital audio.
Also, is a 1.25Ghz G4 really fast enough to decode HD video?? Especially with only 256Mb RAM. Has anyone tried it on a similarly equipped machine yet?