Am I the only person to want this.... The uMac

carniphagecarniphage
Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Imagine Steve Steve announcing this:

Here - the recipe



First take an iBook. Nice white polycarbonate case. Logo - the whole bit.

Pop in a reasonable processor, airport, graphics board, hard drive.



Nice - but a bit pricey soo..

Step 1 - is get rid of that expensive TFT display. We won't be needing it .

Step 2 - The hinge can go too.

Step 3 - get rid of that heavy and expensive battery - don't need that either.

Step 4 - nowhere for a keyboard to go now. Just leave a nice on-off switch.

Step 5 - Probably a good idea to put all the connections on one side.



What we have left is a nice, thin, white slab. Weighing not much more than 2lbs.



The resulting machine could be cheap. Really cheap. Less than the eMac. Half the price of the iBook. Lets say a bit more than $500. Not that much more than an iPod.



What wouid such a machine be good for? - Well practically everything.



Your daughter wants a computer for her bedroom - no problem, attach an old PC monitor and a USB keyboard and you have a cheap personal computer. Which is much quieter and nicer than a nasty tin box from Wal Mart. It even makes a Shuttle PC look huge.



Need a permanantly-on webserver or email server in your basement? This sucker is not much more than a router. Running Postfix - this is one cheap dedicated mailserver in a tiny box.



Need GarageBand to run in your music room? Buy a uMac to stick in your rack mount. Slam on a midi keyboard and leave it there. You have a world class synth for less than the price of some nasty Casio keyboards.



How about one in your home theatre - running iTunes. Think of it as a big iPod. Oh it plays DVDs too. It might even be able to out Tivo a Tivo.



Need a machine that you can use at home and at the office. This thing weighs less than a typical laptop and is totally portable.



Apple could sell a flat screen display - like the flat-screen iMac - and this thing could just click in - making an all in one.



Ladies and Gentlemen - i give you the first mass market ubiquitous computing device. the uMac. You don't want just one.



Opinions?



C.
«13

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 58
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    It's a great idea. I've heard it mentioned many times before. Unfortunately, I don't see Apple actually doing it. It's too bad, really. I think it would really sell. It would make the Mac accessible to lots of people. You listed plenty of great ideas for how to use such a machine.



    You know, there's a reason why so many people bid on broken-screen PowerBooks and iBooks on eBay. It's not often you get that much computing power in such a small space for so cheap. Usually you have to pay lots of money for a fully self-contained laptop with a display that you won't necessarily use and all that other stuff.



    Great idea. I just wish it would come to fruition.
  • Reply 2 of 58
    mattyjmattyj Posts: 898member
    It would be a niche product. I love the idea. However two reasons would put people off from buying it.



    1) As it won't have a keyboard, mouse or screen, one would have to rely on the neccessary equipment to be at the destination, plus all the appropaite cabling (who wants to carry wires around with them when this thing would have such a nice form factor).



    2) Expandability. It's hardly ever used. We know this, but people still like the 'secuirty' of the tower, plus a tower would be able to be more powerful. Unless a G5 was fitted into this mac with a radeon 9800 mobility. Perhaps two versions would be needed.



    I love the idea myself, I just see it a few years off yet...
  • Reply 3 of 58
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mattyj

    It would be a niche product. I love the idea. However two reasons would put people off from buying it.



    1) As it won't have a keyboard, mouse or screen, one would have to rely on the neccessary equipment to be at the destination, plus all the appropaite cabling (who wants to carry wires around with them when this thing would have such a nice form factor).



    2) Expandability. It's hardly ever used. We know this, but people still like the 'secuirty' of the tower, plus a tower would be able to be more powerful. Unless a G5 was fitted into this mac with a radeon 9800 mobility. Perhaps two versions would be needed.



    I love the idea myself, I just see it a few years off yet...



    I agree with the first point - keeping a monitor at either location is fine, but also having to carry a keyboard and mouse could be a hassle. One way to reduce clutter would be to use a bluetooth keyboard and mouse.



    As for the second point... it's not aimed at people who need expandability. The iMac and eMac aren't expandable. Besides, this thing is so cheap you could probably buy a new one every year or two anyway, so it won't matter if it's underpowered. And anyone who relies on power and speed will not be using this as their primary computer.
  • Reply 4 of 58
    mattyjmattyj Posts: 898member
    Luca I know what you're saying and I totally agree with you, but my point lies with the psychological problem of getting people to accept that a tower is not needed. Most never upgrade, apart from maybe the RAM, however most still buy towers simply because it's meant to be "future proof".
  • Reply 5 of 58
    gongon Posts: 2,437member
    I think this is a great idea.



    I'd put in a desktop hard drive (saves costs and gives much better server ability).



    Graphics card good enough to do Quartz Extreme and help with encoding/decoding. The current Mobility Radeons might be a good choice from the power/heat angle. Top end models with "real" 3D power not necessary.



    Video connectors from Powerbook.



    Bunch of management software and features from OS X Server. Sort of a "Server Add-On Pack" for the regular OS. This software would be sold separately as a $50 CD and come free with every uMac.



    Two 10/100 network interfaces - putting in the second one doesn't cost much anything. More than one 100$ PC motherboard has two network plugs. Benefits? Neat, clean hardware firewall and IP sharing if you want them.



    I have no doubt they could sell a pile of these for 500$ apiece and make very decent profits.
  • Reply 6 of 58
    carniphagecarniphage Posts: 1,984member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mattyj

    Luca I know what you're saying and I totally agree with you, but my point lies with the psychological problem of getting people to accept that a tower is not needed. Most never upgrade, apart from maybe the RAM, however most still buy towers simply because it's meant to be "future proof".



    I think some people are missing the point. It *is* upgradable - but you upgrade the uMac by buying more of them. Each box appears on Rendezvous and makes your home a bit more "hubbed up".



    The other issue is that it is the cheapest Mac to date - so while it wouldn't be the best all round computing solution - it would be a trojan horse for people wanting to try out the Mac experience - remember all those iPod owners are mostly PC owners who have now tasted the forbidden fruit...



    C.
  • Reply 7 of 58
    smirclesmircle Posts: 1,035member
    Yes, I like the idea - very much.

    I have been looking for something like that for a while, but besides broken powerbooks, nothing exists. So, I settled for a micro-ITX machine and installed Linux on it to have a nice home server/prototyping webserver/backup machine/dynDNS web server.



    The proposed Mac should have 2 ethernet adapters of which at least one should be gigE. This way, you can use it as a router. And it should be large enough to take 3.5" Hard disks, not notebook HDs.
  • Reply 8 of 58
    ensign pulverensign pulver Posts: 1,193member
    What you're really talking about here is an Xserve mini.



    If Apple marketed it that way, as a very inexpensive rackmount Mac and NOT as a general consumer machine then it could fly. Not that you couldn't use it as such, but it can't be sold to Joe Sixpack that way. The "take it with you from home to office and plug it in" concept is what Home on iPod is for.
  • Reply 9 of 58
    mmmpiemmmpie Posts: 628member
    I wouldnt be taking from home to the office and back, for me it would just be an ultra cool, ultra slim desktop. Or a router, or a server, or a whatever. It doesnt need two ethernet ports, you can quite happily run two ip addresses on one port to do routing. It has airport, so you can use that if you need it, or a usb ethernet/modem ( of course, you could just frop the modem and put another eth plug there ).



    As for not expandable, people wont care about expandable when computers become comodities. How cheap is a commodity? iPod cheap - they arent upgradable and you dont see anyone worrying about that. You will just buy a new one in a few years.
  • Reply 10 of 58
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    Good idea.



    Interesting read.



    But I got nothing to add, besides that I like the idea and would show interest in getting my hands on something like this.
  • Reply 11 of 58
    formerlurkerformerlurker Posts: 2,686member
    Yeah, I like it. Since it's designed to only run on A/C, you might as well use the 3.5" hard drive.



    A PC Card slot would also take care of a lot of expandability concerns, if it wouldn't add too much cost.
  • Reply 12 of 58
    programmerprogrammer Posts: 3,458member
    Reminds me of the Macintosh LC from years gone by. It would have more in common with the eMac than any other machine -- making a machine portable is expensive, but taking the main board from the low-cost eMac and dropping the display should deliver what you're asking for.
  • Reply 13 of 58
    t'hain esh kelcht'hain esh kelch Posts: 1,274member
    I'd prefer a gMac...



    Cube + Top Radeon + single G5 processor + 512 Mb ram + Maybe 7.1 soundcard. Yumiiiiiiii!!
  • Reply 14 of 58
    tekmatetekmate Posts: 134member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by \\/\\/ickes

    Good idea.



    Interesting read.



    But I got nothing to add, besides that I like the idea and would show interest in getting my hands on something like this.



    I'll agree I would by one in a heartbeat.
  • Reply 15 of 58
    dankodanko Posts: 15member
    something like that maybe?









    i would buy it...
  • Reply 16 of 58
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by danko

    something like that maybe?

    .

    .

    .

    i would buy it...



    Exactly my thoughts when I used an Aluminium Powerbook 12" for the first time, mostly because of its bad (relatively speaking) LCD quality. Preserving the keyboard and trackpad is convenient but it would add to the cost I think.
  • Reply 17 of 58
    psgamer0921psgamer0921 Posts: 393member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by danko

    something like that maybe?









    i would buy it...



    Yeah, but with no keyboard or mouse.



    I like the idea, but the reason people buy laptops in the first place is that so they can work wherever they are. You wouldn't want to carry around a big monitor and keyboard, would you? Even if it were wireless!
  • Reply 18 of 58
    formatc2formatc2 Posts: 176member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Carniphage

    What we have left is a nice, thin, white slab. Weighing not much more than 2lbs.



    The resulting machine could be cheap. Really cheap. Less than the eMac. Half the price of the iBook. Lets say a bit more than $500. Not that much more than an iPod.





    This IS the future of the iPod.



    The iPod's dock will evolve to contain USB ports and a video port, enabling the iPod to be used as a desktop computer.



    Apple's partner IBM is the pioneer of this type of computer, dubbed a computer "core".



    This "core" is pictured below in the man's hand, as well as docked at bottom right. The "core" can also be inserted into a tablet.





  • Reply 19 of 58
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    You know, this is one of the cooler ideas and thoughts I've seen posted here. I've been thinking about this since I read it and it would indeed be kinda cool.



    Basically take a 14" iBook and lop off the screen and keyboard, and lose the battery? Then you have the guts in a nice 1" thick "slab", with all the ports lined up nicely on the side or back. In the space you save by removing the battery (since it's not a laptop), you put in onboard Bluetooth (like the PowerBooks) so you don't have to go the D-link dongle route and any sort of display connector needed (DVI, ADC, VGA, etc.?). Whatever.



    A 1GHz (or more!) G4, the usual line-up of ports (Ethernet, modem, AirPort Extreme, USB 2.0, FireWire 400, headphones/speakers, slot-loading drive, etc.). Just carry it with you, put it where you need.



    For around $500? Why, yes...I'll take two.



    You've pretty much just described the elusive "headless iMac pizzabox" that gets so many around here stiff with joy.







    But I like that whole "put it where you need it" philosophy (in a rack, on your daughters desk, in the kitchen, etc.).



    With Bluetooth, there would be no need for wires if you didn't want them (but it would have USB, of course, so all your current keyboards and mice would work fine too). And keeping it "open-ended", display-wise, means you could connect ANYTHING to it: piece-of-crap $129 CRT or 23" Cinema Display, and all points in between.



    I like it. It's the headless iMac everyone screams for. Only sleek, portable, etc.



    iChabod.







    Get it?
  • Reply 20 of 58
    rickagrickag Posts: 1,626member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by FormatC2

    This IS the future of the iPod.



    The iPod's dock will evolve to contain USB ports and a video port, enabling the iPod to be used as a desktop computer.



    Apple's partner IBM is the pioneer of this type of computer, dubbed a metapad computer "core".



    Hence the name iPod, which was discussed no end when they were first introduced. We keep waiting for the big announcement, don't we?



    edit: opps forgot to complement you on the link to the IBM article.(more food for insatiable appetite of the rumor mill)
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