Comments on: QotD: Mac Mini

By: Medicated Dad

Medicated Dad — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 19:49:05 +0000

I am the target market To answer the QoTD, I am the prosumer 'switcher'. (Actually, a 'switch backer', having been Mac only from '87 to '96). I've got a fairly nice PC, most of the bits being about two years old. In some way or another, the machine is about five years old. I...

By: Derek Kuhl

Derek Kuhl — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 18:06:06 +0000

I think the Mac Mini is okay. I was really hoping for it to have some sort of major surprise, like being able to play Gamecube titles. I just BEGS to be a mobile lan party machine. But then again, Apple seems to ignore the potential of such a deal.

On the other hand this machine is such an IT boon that you have no reason against using Mac for major corporate PC replacements. We just need to write awesome software to give them more incentive. Not sure it will catch on as so many IT employees would lose their jobs since you know Macs are way easier to manage compared to junk part Dells. I am so glad I got out of the IT workplace. I hope I never change out another bad drive ever again.

By: Kevan

Kevan — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 16:01:50 +0000

I'm also inclined to agree with codepoet about the positioning of the mac mini, from the standpoint of the name, and the color. I expected it to be called the iMac mini and to be more in line with the iMac G5's color scheme. You KNOW Apple doesn't name or color things randomly/haphazardly (granted, their style changes over time, but in a generation things are very deliberate). It's a "mac mini", which makes it seem exactly like the prosumer model that coedpoet describes, or at least, a miniaturized distillation of all that is a Mac. On top of that, the colors. With the aluminum edge and the inset white plastic on top/bottom, it looks like a complete merge of the latest iBook and PowerBook. The other point is, anybody that wants a Mac and doesn't have the DKM can get whatever they want. 25 bucks for generic USB Keyboard and Wheel Mouse, and 125 for a bargain basement monitor, is still going to give that person the Mac experience. I think it was a master stroke on the part of Apple.

By: jeff

jeff — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 15:31:19 +0000

that's a good article. i concur.

By: karl

karl — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 09:33:37 +0000

I've always held the opinion that one of the primary goals of this machine is to get reluctant programmers and other IT professionals onto the platform. It takes away many of the gripes they commonly have about keyboards/mice/monitors/price while providing them with a very good baseline system to target as far as macs go.

I wrote up a while blog entry on it, and the sort of programmers this sort of machine may attract to the Mac OS X market. If my thoughts are what Apple had in mind then not only will this machine move like hotcakes, it may even help apple reclaim marketshare.

By: Jared White

Jared White — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 08:54:00 +0000

Oh yeah, I think the new Mac mini is not only a wonderful design and price/feature ratio, but I think it's finally hit the sweet spot for potential Switchers to say "hey, what the heck, I'll pick up a Mac now". Again, the only real problem with it is not enough memory! And unlike other Macs, it's not user-upgradable, so that is a problem. I guess resellers will be pretty busy these days sticking memory in these buggers!

By: Luis de la Rosa

Luis de la Rosa — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 06:16:00 +0000

Proposal for a Mac mini switcher commercial Erik of NSLog() asks: "Did Apple position the Mac mini appropriately (i.e. well enough to avoid a "Cube" debacle)?" Definitely. If the blogosphere is any indication, the Mac mini is already a hit. My only concern is that Apple is

By: Adriaan

Adriaan — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 04:51:40 +0000

I think the only thing I find stupid is that the default RAM size is a lousy 256Mb. You can't run 10.3 or 10.4 on that little bit of gasoline.

By: Ralph Scheuer

Ralph Scheuer — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 04:19:51 +0000

Definitely. The cube was a debacle because it was too expensive. Nobody in his right mind could possibly criticize the price of the Mac mini. it offers a great value for the money and it's nice and small.

By: Ryan C.

Ryan C. — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 03:49:37 +0000

I'd like to think so. I definitely can't wait to get one and set it up as a server for the Macs in the house. A place to store large media files, or lots of them, and is easily expandable is very exciting to someone with limited funds, such as myself.