14th Jan 2005
mini Mac’n
No, I haven’t bought a Mac mini, but I can sure see its appeal to large audience.
It’s high time that Apple addressed the huge market of potential Mac users that have been sitting on the fence. For $500, the lower end Mac mini will serve the needs of many who just want to check their email, IM, browse the web, and do some spreadsheet and writing stuff.
For $500, they wll be getting a Mac that’s fast enough to handle everyday tasks, and won’t have to worry so much about all of the Windows-targeted spyware/malware/virulent strains.
For $500, they can reuse their USB keyboards and mice, and any industry standard monitor out there (VGA resolution up to 1920 by 1080!). No problem going to a DVI monitor, or a regular TV.
For $500, they’re also getting Panther & iLife.
Not bad! Not bad at all! It makes me wonder why Apple took so long to do this. On the other hand, let’s be glad they did. .. .And they did it with style! It’s going to be easy to tote this along in a backpack or messenger bag.
A couple of nits to pick:
* only 256 meg of ram? man, that’s pretty slim. I wonder how many users will get turned off to Macs the first time their machine starts swapping memory out to disk. I predict that a fair number of users will say “heck with warranty”, and upgrade the memory themselves (Apple charges way too much for memory).
* no audio line in?! Really? This means that someone that wants to play guitar through GarageBand will have to go through a USB device. There’s enough space on the back of the mini for the jack. What gives?
Aside from that, I hope Apple sells a million of these. I expect to see them popping up in cars, tucked alongside TVs, sitting on kitchen counters, and sprinkled throughout schools. Great stuff, Apple.
