“I’ve been a fan of the small computer since I first saw a little cubic box encasing a mini-iTX board. From there I’ve admired all the small boxes, as well as the numerous homebrew machines developed by combining mini-ATX or mini-iTX motherboards with various components and cases. While this trend has been going on for years, people still seem to prefer large tower cases. Now we see the Mac mini and the interest in small computers has been revitalized. It’s time to rethink the whole idea,” John C. Dvorak writes for PC Magazine.
“The Mac mini design is somewhat different than the typical little PC; it’s more along the lines of a laptop. In other words, Apple has taken the small-form idea seriously,” Dvorak writes. “I think Apple’s marketing machine should be able to invigorate the small-model business on the PC side of the market. We hope that the little devices will not overheat and bring bad PR to that segment. If all goes well, this means you can expect a Dell mini, an HP mini, and everything in between. We also hope they will give some thought to design.”
“If indeed the market for small PCs skyrockets, you then have to ask yourself, ‘Why the heck does Apple have to be the company that once again lights the fuse?’ How humiliating,” Dvorak writes.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: What’s humiliating about the fact that Apple is the company that once again lights the fuse? Aren’t you used to it by now, John? Exactly how many decades of proof do you need? We expect Apple to lead. The only way it could be humiliating is if you hate Apple for some reason, work for a Wintel box assembler like Dell, or don’t like being proven wrong time after time after time. Perhaps you’re starting to realize that you’re on the losing team, John?
Dvorak goes on and on about what he thinks a small form factor PC should be, but he’s way off base as usual because he still seems to refuse to understand what a Mac is and what it can do. Dvorak seems to think iLife, Mac OS X, Safari, and the rest of the Apple’s applications are the same as the software available for Windows, it must all just be marketing hype – there are no differences. It’s as if he sees no value in Apple’s Mac OS X operating system and Apple’s software and the synergy they all have with the Mac hardware and the users. Everything for Dvorak seems to be seen from the Windows perspective, so it’s only natural that what he imagines a “PC mini” should be ends up being dull, uninspired, and pedantic.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
FrankenMac mini, it’s alive! Man rips apart Mac mini, turns it into PC – January 31, 2005
Where Apple leads, Wintel follows years later – January 31, 2005
Defending Windows over Mac a sign of mental illness – December 20, 2003
*sigh*
what’s it gonna take with this guy?
He probably hasn’t touched a Mac in years…
Dvorak couldn’t pour water out of a glass if the instructions were on the bottom…
Pete: LOL. reminds me of the old joke about what does it say on the bottom of Coke bottles made in **** (fill in your favorite country)? ans: open other end.
“I think Apple’s marketing machine should be able to invigorate the small-model business on the PC side of the market. We hope that the little devices will not overheat and bring bad PR to that segment. If all goes well, this means you can expect a Dell mini, an HP mini, and everything in between”
This guy is an idiot.
The sad thing is MINI PC’s have been around for about 4 yrs now…The Mac FanBoys would never know though, They only bring their heads out of there butts once a day to look at the “Windows” news on MDN.
http://us.shuttle.com/
Just like all PC manufacturer, Devorak seems to think making an inexpensive PC means removing components and features and to make a small computer means more removing more components and features. Just like that PC guy who Mad a “PCmini” but had integrated video, shared RAM, and no CD, but had to have Analog I/O ports!? They dont understand what people need/use in their machines for. The Macmini is a wonder of engineering where you get a REAL usable computer, not a half assed box of commodety cheapo pieces of hardware and no software.
DVORAK IS A PUNK! I’M THE NEW RATIONAL VOICE OF THE MAC WEB AND ONE DAY ALL YOU IDIOTS WILL REALIZE THAT! THE MAC MINI IS AND WILL BE A FAILURE UNTIL, WELL, IT’LL JUST ALWAYS BE A FAILURE.
http://www.billpalmer.net/2005/01/am-i-only-sane-voice-left-on-mac-web.html
I AM THE ONLY SANE VOICE LEFT ON THE MAC WEB!! I TOLD ME SO!!
“NoMacForYou” brilliantly illustrates the point of the article: That while so-called mini PCs existed before the Mac mini (ever heard of the PowerMac Cube, too? – way more than “4 years” old), they were made with the wrong approach.
The “Shuttle” link that he supplies is textbook shit-box Wintel crap. Ugly, bulky, bloated, and lacking any form of emotional attraction at all.
Perfect. Thanks for showing us – through your ignorance – just how pathetic the Wintel crowd truly is.
magic word: gave …as in “Your flames gave us more laughs than you could ever imagine.”
How humiliating,” Dvorak writes.
No one has been humiliating you but yourself John. And you have been doing a pretty good job of it.
Please, Ugly, Bulky, Bloated and lacking any form of emotional attraction. Speak for yourself bitch. Ive sold tons of these. And people love em, They adore them.
And thanks for showing me once again how closed minded, ignorant and pathetic “some” of the mac crowd can be.
Tell me. Do you like it when Steves sandpaper covered penis plugs you in the ass? Or is that just a normal computing experience?
the cube was out before the shuttle sff’s. i’m sure any good mac fanboy can tell you that.
the shuttle is also 8 times larger than the mini.
Man, that shuttle is FUGLY. It looks like a little filing cabinet.
Yeah, Your right, the cube was out first, but as I recall, it died the next day.
Magic word: any …as in “Any thing that the NoMacForYou tool says at this point just makes us all laugh!”
…Ive sold tons of these. And people love em, They adore them.
Does it get any funnier than that?? Classic!!
Keep digging moron.
This story and it’s comments are so true. John D. just doesn’t get it. And Apple is the one leading the inovation not the PC folks at Dell or any of the others for that matter. Look at Microsoft for instance. Bill Gates said that Longhorn would be a totally new inovative operating system a year ago. Today he is saying that there will be some good features but more of an update. Nuf said.