The New Apples
Now that the euphoria has died down, some sense and facts have creeped in and Steve Jobs' reality distortion field has dissipated, here's my thoughts about the new products.
Mac mini
There is a reason this doesn't come with keyboard, mouse or a display. Apple doesn't plan this product as a complete computer replacement, they want people to buy this as their second, third, or fourth machine. With people being swayed into buying Apple products due to the popularity of the iPods, at least in the majority of developed countries where it holds over 60% mp3 player marketshare, this could be the perfect foray into trying out a Mac. Many people have been saying that they like the Mac, they want a Mac but it's to expensive. Well, this takes away that excuse.
You can buy Dells or build your own for the same price but you won't get a combo drive, you won't get anything resembling the iLife package, you won't get a Firewire port, and certainly you won't get the flexibility this Mac mini can offer. However you do get a keyboard, a mouse, and a display, the very basic requirements for a complete computer system but like I said above, this isn't exactly aimed at people who's never had a computer before.
Unfortunately, if you're a PC user with gear from the pre-USB days, you're gonna need to buy everything all over again. The two USB ports are simply bare bones and unless you have a keyboard with additional USB ports, you're gonna use it all up just by connecting a keyboard and a mouse. A USB hub, is in my opinion, an essential purchase so add another $10 or so to your cost.
Moms, dads, grandpas and grandmas are the perfect users for this product as they might not want anything complicated and pricey. This is not for the hardcore PC gamers of PC enthusiasts who build their own PCs and would never touch a pre-assembled, branded unit.
Alternatively, this could work for graphics professionals who haven't upgraded since the days of the blue and white PowerMac G3s or even the early G4s. The size of this thing even allows for people to install it in their cars. Some of you may be thinking, "Why the hell would I wanna pop this in my car?" If you've seen MTV's Pimp My Ride, you wouldn't be surprised, they've got people installing game consoles and fish tanks in cars on that show. It's no coincidence the Mac mini fits a single DIN slot. That's the size of a regular car stereo.
While this computer is small enough to be discreet, I think a lot of people would want to show it off.
iPod shuffle
This is a case of what ifs. What if I hadn't lost my USB drive 5 months ago and bought a replacement soon after? What if I had waited 5 months after I lost it? What if Apple had released the iPod shuffle earlier? Dammit. I was wishing Apple had released something like this iPod last July so I could buy one when I lost my flash drive but they didn't and I ended up buying a regular replacement.
The iPod shuffle is what I needed back then and I probably wouldn't have bought the 20GB iPod if they had this out. But hey, it's out now, and I already got myself the iPod and the flash drive so this one is out of my horizon. Instead, the money is most likely going to buy the iWork software package.
iWork
I've been waiting for something from Apple to replace the aging and dated AppleWorks and this seems to be it. It lacks a spreadsheet component to really challenge Office:mac but it's not something I use too often anyway. Besides, I'm pretty sure they will have it on the next release, maybe January 06. Hopefully they'll have it as a free upgrade if they release it before next year. I have Office:mac v.X but despite the license allowing installation on one desktop and one notebook, it won't run when it detects the same installation active on another computer in the same network. So anyway, I'm looking forward to getting iWork. Everyone's been saying Keynote kicks PowerPoint's ass so with Pages coming from the same team that brought out Keynote, I'm not too worried.
Mac mini
There is a reason this doesn't come with keyboard, mouse or a display. Apple doesn't plan this product as a complete computer replacement, they want people to buy this as their second, third, or fourth machine. With people being swayed into buying Apple products due to the popularity of the iPods, at least in the majority of developed countries where it holds over 60% mp3 player marketshare, this could be the perfect foray into trying out a Mac. Many people have been saying that they like the Mac, they want a Mac but it's to expensive. Well, this takes away that excuse.
You can buy Dells or build your own for the same price but you won't get a combo drive, you won't get anything resembling the iLife package, you won't get a Firewire port, and certainly you won't get the flexibility this Mac mini can offer. However you do get a keyboard, a mouse, and a display, the very basic requirements for a complete computer system but like I said above, this isn't exactly aimed at people who's never had a computer before.
Unfortunately, if you're a PC user with gear from the pre-USB days, you're gonna need to buy everything all over again. The two USB ports are simply bare bones and unless you have a keyboard with additional USB ports, you're gonna use it all up just by connecting a keyboard and a mouse. A USB hub, is in my opinion, an essential purchase so add another $10 or so to your cost.
Moms, dads, grandpas and grandmas are the perfect users for this product as they might not want anything complicated and pricey. This is not for the hardcore PC gamers of PC enthusiasts who build their own PCs and would never touch a pre-assembled, branded unit.
Alternatively, this could work for graphics professionals who haven't upgraded since the days of the blue and white PowerMac G3s or even the early G4s. The size of this thing even allows for people to install it in their cars. Some of you may be thinking, "Why the hell would I wanna pop this in my car?" If you've seen MTV's Pimp My Ride, you wouldn't be surprised, they've got people installing game consoles and fish tanks in cars on that show. It's no coincidence the Mac mini fits a single DIN slot. That's the size of a regular car stereo.
While this computer is small enough to be discreet, I think a lot of people would want to show it off.
iPod shuffle
This is a case of what ifs. What if I hadn't lost my USB drive 5 months ago and bought a replacement soon after? What if I had waited 5 months after I lost it? What if Apple had released the iPod shuffle earlier? Dammit. I was wishing Apple had released something like this iPod last July so I could buy one when I lost my flash drive but they didn't and I ended up buying a regular replacement.
The iPod shuffle is what I needed back then and I probably wouldn't have bought the 20GB iPod if they had this out. But hey, it's out now, and I already got myself the iPod and the flash drive so this one is out of my horizon. Instead, the money is most likely going to buy the iWork software package.
iWork
I've been waiting for something from Apple to replace the aging and dated AppleWorks and this seems to be it. It lacks a spreadsheet component to really challenge Office:mac but it's not something I use too often anyway. Besides, I'm pretty sure they will have it on the next release, maybe January 06. Hopefully they'll have it as a free upgrade if they release it before next year. I have Office:mac v.X but despite the license allowing installation on one desktop and one notebook, it won't run when it detects the same installation active on another computer in the same network. So anyway, I'm looking forward to getting iWork. Everyone's been saying Keynote kicks PowerPoint's ass so with Pages coming from the same team that brought out Keynote, I'm not too worried.
This entry was posted
on Sunday, January 16, 2005 at 4:15 PM.
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On Sunday, January 16, 2005 6:14:00 PM,The Mac Mini also SCREAMS digital media centre...i mean just add an Elgato EyeTV and that thing can act as your stereo, dvd player, record and playback HDTV...
That's what I'm talkin' bout.
On Monday, January 17, 2005 7:05:00 AM,
I was at Streetwise @ Glenferrie the other day and saw those Elgato EyeTV's. I'd have bought one if I don't have a TV already, it's the perfect companion to the minimac. It's like a TiVo only more expensive and totally worth it since we don't have TiVo in Oz.
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