“The Mac mini is tiny, beautiful and dirt cheap. And, remarkably, Apple Computer didn’t compromise on performance or features in pricing it at $499 for the starter model with no keyboard, mouse or display. Apple took hardware components it has incorporated in its laptops for several years and which have become commodity parts. The mini and PowerBooks released before this week were kissing cousins,” Glenn Fleishman writes for The Seattle Times.
“But I can work with a PowerBook anywhere; for that privilege, I’ll spend well over $1,000 more for a set of features similar to the mini’s but including an integral LCD display, backlit keyboard (most models), PC Card slot and a trackpad. To keep its price low, the 6.5-by-6.5-by-2-inch mini avoids peripherals. You can pick and choose how to enhance it. You could add a $50 monitor or a $1,000 LCD panel, or use an existing monitor. It might be a regular home computer or a home-entertainment powerhouse playing DVDs, CDs and MP3s to your high-definition television,” Fleishman writes. The new Mac mini “includes the full iLife ’05 suite with updates to iPhoto, GarageBand, iMovie and iDVD, as well as AppleWorks and Quicken 2005. (The new $79 iWorks program with Pages and Keynote 2 is sold separately.)”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Hope Bill enjoyed reading his hometown newspaper’s tech section today. 
Can Bill read? I always thought he wore those glasses just to enhance his geeky good looks.
For anybody with an older Powerbook or iBook that wants to add the scrolling feature check out sidetrack:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/20854
I use it and its great.
Magic Word “try” – try it you’ll like it.
MDN, Please cease and desist all adverts that contain audio… I enjoy listening to my music while I’m on my computer and the last thing I want when I’m trying too catch up on my Mac news is some lady trying to sell me Vonage (or anything else for that matter). It’s bad enough that too many ads blink at you the entire time you’re on a page, but to have them talking is just rude and unappreciated. I really like this site and the openness of the commentaries, but I will be forced to find my news from other resources if I am going to be subjected to these ads!!
Thank you.
I agree about the audio ads, they suck. I visit MDN while I’m at work, and it’s bad news when all of the sudden some women starts blabbering about what ever.
What I’d like to see Apple implement is a scrolling/shuttling feature found in Canopus Edius (a PC NLE). You move your mouse in a circle and it acts like a jog/shuttle dial. For NLE work, that can be extremely useful.
The easiest way to visualize it:
It’s the iPod scroll wheel but using a mouse instead.
What I’d like to see Apple implement is a scrolling/shuttling feature found in Canopus Edius (a PC NLE). You move your mouse in a circle and it acts like a jog/shuttle dial. For NLE work, that can be extremely useful.
The easiest way to visualize it:
It’s the iPod scroll wheel but using a mouse instead.
Yes, cut the audio ads AND the blinking ads! I too really like MDN, but these obnoxious ads really ruin the experience.
Mac & PC guy,
I sent that as a suggestion to Apple like 2 years ago. It either slipped through the cracks or they didn’t like it. As for the blinking graphics, check out Pith Helmet.
While it is nice to see praise for Apple’s products on Microsoft’s doorstep, a couple of things were noticably absent…. Mac OS and the virus-adware-malware thing. Maybe the author thought he had gone far enough and didn’t want to rub salt in Window’s wounds. Still, it should have at least been mentioned.
Magic word is “figures”, as in “it …”
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
Dirt cheap? HMPHH! I’m so insulted !! NOT.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />