“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
an interesting quote from the shuttle site:
“Current desktop PCs simply don’t need the expansion room they were originally designed with”
how interesting….
go “figure”
Dvorak’s just ticked off that Apple didn’t lay down and die when he told them to…again and again. I’d wager Dvorak will die from humilitation before Apple ever calls it quits.
And the Shuttle… well… it’s so 1990. All they did was “innovate” Steve Jobs’ [a href=”
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”LOL” style=”border:0;” />
It’s deja vu all over again.
In the meantime, Mac users keep publishing their box opening photos, like the ones on this [a href=”http://homepage.mac.com/johnbyrne/PhotoAlbum41.html] .Mac homepage[/a] that’s already gotten more than 12,000 hits.
You never see PC users showing off their machine’s packaging.
Let’s try those links one more time, shall we? :embarrassed:
Dvorak’s just ticked off that Apple didn’t lay down and die when he told them to…again and again. I’d wager Dvorak will die from humilitation before Apple ever calls it quits.
And the Shuttle… well… it’s so 1990. All they did was “innovate” Steve Jobs’
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”LOL” style=”border:0;” />
It’s deja vu all over again.
In the meantime, Mac users keep publishing their box opening photos, like the ones on this <a > .Mac homepage</a> that’s already gotten more than 12,000 hits.
You never see PC users showing off their machine’s packaging.
Ah! That’s much better!!
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”cheese” style=”border:0;” />
This post brought to you by the word greater, as in, a PC is not greater than the sum of its parts.
Oops..dropped the <a >3rd link </a>
Shuttle PC @ $500. Closest match I could find to MacMini. Here’s the specs. Oh, and it’s the closest I could find to the Mini’s size too, but it’s over EIGHT times larger than the Mini. (So do this even count?)
Note the *shared* video ram. It does have a faster disk and CD drive (but no DVD). Note also the Software Options: NONE. It’ll take a good hunk of change to add software that comes on a Mini, and even then it’s not possible to get even close to the Mini’s functionality.
Operating System:Windows XP Home Edition
Processor:Intel Celeron 2.4GHz 400MHz FSB
Memory:256MB PC3200
Drive Bay 1:80GB 7200RPM 2MB Cache
Optical Drive:52x CD-RW Drive
Sound:Onboard 5.1 Sound w/SPDIF In/Out
Graphic Card:SiS Real 256E integrated graphics (64MB shared)
Network Interface:Onboard 10/100 Fast Ethernet
Keyboard:Logitech Deluxe Keyboard and Mouse
Warranty:Shuttle Standard Limited One Year Warranty
Software Options:None
Free Shuttle T-Shirt:Shuttle T-Shirt, Large
Hey, Cube’s still rock!
With no fan it runs cool and quiet, Gig-and-a-half of Ram in mine handles everything I throw at it, and it still looks way better than any wintel box (biege or otherwise)!
LOL! Nice NoMacForYou
At 8.07″ x 12.6″ x 6.69″, you could hardly consider the Shuttle PC a “mini”. It’s maybe half the size of many of the smaller PCs available from other manufacturers. You could easily fit 8 Mac minis in the space a Shuttle L series computer would take up.
As for the PowerMac G4 Cube’s sales dying the next day, I’d have to say Apple has most likely sold far more PM G4 Cubes than Shuttle has sold of their small form factor PCs.
I’m wondering why Shuttle would even want to show off how much smaller the Mac mini is than their offering.
—
Brought to you by the word “make”. “When Shuttle can make a PC with equivalent specs to the Mac mini in a case as small or smaller, then come back and talk to me.”