I totally disagree with you Apple-Insider. I think that the mini is a magnificent system. after all it?s what had introduced me for Apple in the first place. I mean, the mac is expensive and this is scaring away switchers like me and once of a sudden, BOOM, Mac mini $500. So I went like everyone else and grabbed myself one. Now, I am a mac user thanks to the mini. You take the mini away. You will scare all switchers away too because, we are computer users and we need a computer not a toy called Apple TV.
Drop 2.0 The 2.0 Buzzwords 2.0 before 2.0 I 2.0 Send 2.0 You 2.0 A 2.0 Dell 2.0 With 2.0 Crapware 2.0.
I am otherwise having a great time getting in contact with all of my friends though: "Facebook" is a great self updating address book. "Flickr" is a great online tool for sharing your pictures. "YouTube" is great for sharing your videos. And "MySpace" is great for discovering new artists.
The interface experience might be awkward, but at least I am having a great iLife on the internet. Don't be confused by all the crap 2.0 out there, its core message is that a stand alone web site is so last century and only applicable to small and large businesses. Apple should take notice of that and redefine its internet strategy for consumers. Hence exit iWeb.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slewis
Yes they need to do more with .Mac, but free isn't in the cards.
They should offer basic things for free and let you pay for the extra storage. .mac could be a great intro to their operating system.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slewis
If they continue to ignore "Niche" markets as they are called, well those niche markets can still add up to several million people that they are just outright ignoring altogether.
Those "several million" people are willing to pay the extra cash when they get hooked to the operating system introduced by .mac. Apple should make all their sub 1000$ computers ultra portable, while the +1000$ range is giving you the comfort of having a large screen included.
Hence good bye to the Mac Mini and the mid tower fantasy.
Long live the iPhone (which actually is a 500$ mini computer) and long live the baby Macbook!
does anyone suspect that this fabled withdrawl of the mac mini could be a great way of driving up sales just before an announcement? despite evidence to the contrary its not unheard of...
Personally, I would like something in the Mini's form factor as a home server unit. Media server, mail server, file and print with some stackable fw attached disk and running a cutdown version of OS X server and something like VNC to control it without having to worry about kvm. And maybe some home portal software (iZope anyone?) that integrates with rest of iLife so you can put all your stuff up on a home intranet.
Gates is talking about home servers so the meme is out there....
You can do that all already with a Mac Mini. The stackable fw disks from Lacie, Iomega etc suit the bill exactly. OSX Server cutdown isn't really needed - OSX client is enough although Apple could finesse setting up user shares and enabling mail, apache, php etc taking away some of the admin duties. VNC isn't required - you've got Apple Remote Desktop client built in already. Portal software - I usually use phpWebSite on them but any will do. Apple have a groupware wiki project in Leopard Server which I think is to be open source. Calendar sharing too.
If Apple replaced the Mini with a 'Home Server' type appliance I for one would be 3 times over the moon and doing loop-the-loop. It's exactly what I need for small business clients already using Macs and for my home use.
If this is true, then Apple is making a strategic mistake
- Not everyone wants a laptop
- Not everyone wants an all integrated desktop
- Most PC users will have a desktop (e.g. tower), separate screen, mouse and keyboard.
The Mac Mini is currently the only sub-$1000 product which has the ability to convert PC users to Mac and does not require users wanting to do so to throw away or sell on eBay ALL their PC equipment.
I believe it is still Apple Inc.'s strategy to convert as many people from PC to MAC and this will be made more difficult if the Mac Mini is scapped. They are bound to come up with an alternative.
As to the AppleTV, let's not forget it only has a 1Ghz processor. For those who believe that the Mac Mini will be scrapped in favour of an AppleTV with wireless keyboard and mouse should rethink the differences of what they can do with a Mac Mini compared to an AppleTV.
After 23 years if banning Apple products from my home I went out and purchased a 1.83GHz Mac Mini with 1GB of memory last month. A week or so ago I thought that bumping it up to 2GB was a better idea so I called my local Apple store.
They wanted $350 for the SODIMM memory and $30 to install it. (Crucial wants $88 for the same parts.) So I hung up the phone and murmured, "Dammit!"
I have not read the whole thread, but in view of the rumor about a redesigned iMac coming soon, I find the new rumor about the Mac mini death quite interesting.
Just in general, not just with the Mac Mini, when are Apple going to stop putting those crappy little combo drives in things?
Who uses these things these days - cost of DVD burners are so cheap these days.
It's ironic that a company that prides itself at being at teh forefront of technology with bold moves like ditching floppies etc. still faffs around with this rubbish in the name of 'engineering' a spread of products at so called 'affordable' prices.
The fact is the low end option of any Mac product has always been traditionally utterly useless, making a total mockery of their so-called 'entry level' price points.
I never expected AppleInsider to be THAT influential!
I just imagine crowds standing in lines in front of Apple Stores all over US for last chance to get their minis :-)
By this evening there probably be no minis left in stock, and those who get theirs for $2000 on e-Bay will be lucky...
Only fools buy computers from Amazon...I say that as a loyal amazon customer with the amazon creditcard statments to prove it, it is the same or close to going straight to apple...so get it from Apple
Only fools buy computers from Amazon...I say that as a loyal amazon customer with the amazon creditcard statments to prove it, it is the same or close to going straight to apple...so get it from Apple
Huh? Going through Amazon = no sales tax and mail-in rebate.
I got my first gen intel iMac for $1550 that way (down from $1700).
The Mac Mini is more important to Apple than shown in your article -- it's not just a price point. The Mini is a key player in winning over PC users to the Mac world. It's perfectly priced, designed and sold to PC owners that already have a LCD monitor, PC Keyboard and Mouse.
I'm a 23 year PC veteran that never owned a Mac. I would have never bought an iMac, or a MacBook or a MacPro, not in a million years. The Mini was the perfect entry and I'm very happy with the Mini. I tell my PC friends about it and see others going the same direction as myself.
Ditto -- I made the switch because of the Mac Mini. I already had a screen and $500 was all I was willing tor risk at the time to "try out" a Mac. Now I own 4 Macs. Mac Mini, two MacBooks, and an iBook. I'll probably buy more as the business expands. Currently working great with no complaints!!!! I think they need to keep a price point in the $500 range even if they don't keep the Mini. Maybe a $500 MacBook????
Thanks, I hadn't spoken to someone who had used one.
I take it you are saying it is slower than a Mac Mini "Server" via a 10/100 switch.
(and I assume you have used it)
Sorry to veer off topic. I bought an Airport Extreme because I needed a new router. The "airdisk" feature was only a bonus but it takes 20 minutes just to backup a few hundred megabytes of data. I have not used a mini as a server but feel sure it's quite a bit faster. (Something about needing a decent processor to convert the data.)
What about a Mac-midi that has a full-size (replaceable) hard drive and has the speed capability of a iMac. Basically a headless iMac. If something like this were in the $1000 range or so, I WOULD be interested.
Yes, a slightly larger version of the midi with a full-size hd would be great. With the same good looks and the same low noise level, it would be an even more useful machine. I'd buy one as a home server!
Anyway, think of the rumours that the iMac 17" disappearing - replacing both the mini and the 17" with a "midi" makes a lot of sense, I think.
I am otherwise having a great time getting in contact with all of my friends though: "Facebook" is a great self updating address book. "Flickr" is a great online tool for sharing your pictures. "YouTube" is great for sharing your videos. And "MySpace" is great for discovering new artists.
The difference? All of those are actual websites, Web 2.0 is just the sum of a bunch of not very well defined websites amounting to anything new and interesting on the web.
Quote:
The interface experience might be awkward, but at least I am having a great iLife on the internet. Don't be confused by all the crap 2.0 out there, its core message is that a stand alone web site is so last century and only applicable to small and large businesses. Apple should take notice of that and redefine its internet strategy for consumers. Hence exit iWeb.
They should offer basic things for free and let you pay for the extra storage. .mac could be a great intro to their operating system.
Yeah Apple should offer free Email and AIM Screen name (I now prefer my .Mac to my old AIM) free. But asking for free WebDAV is far too costly to the company in bandwith and storage.
Quote:
Those "several million" people are willing to pay the extra cash when they get hooked to the operating system introduced by .mac. Apple should make all their sub 1000$ computers ultra portable, while the +1000$ range is giving you the comfort of having a large screen included.
Hence good bye to the Mac Mini and the mid tower fantasy.
Long live the iPhone (which actually is a 500$ mini computer) and long live the baby Macbook!
Yes they are willing to pay extra cash but they aren't going to be introduced through .Mac as you say, and asking for Sub $1000 Ultraportables just won't happen right now. The iPhone may be a mini computer, but it still needs to sync with another computer just to use 1/3 of it's functionality. Ultraportables are generally quite expensive though.
If it isn't updated or replaced, Apple have quite simply lost a sale. I won't be the only one either.
I was waiting to see what kind of update the Mini would receive before I switched, as the Mac Mini is the only Mac in my price range, as you say, if it's discontinued, Apple will have lost another customer here.
Simultaneously getting rid of the small-screened iMac and the Mini would be disasterous. I know everyone's buying MacBooks these days, but Apple needs a cheap Mac. I work in the education industry, and we need a small Mac for classrooms, either a screenless one or one with a small flat panel. I'm not going to use a MacBook for a classroom workstation. What would really be nice is a screenless Mac that is upgradeable (two PCIe slots; one for gfx and an extra) and small. Maybe a New Cube? Either that, or keep the small iMac and drop the price $100 or so. I like the cheap, expandable, screenless Mac idea better.
Comments
I just imagine crowds standing in lines in front of Apple Stores all over US for last chance to get their minis :-)
By this evening there probably be no minis left in stock, and those who get theirs for $2000 on e-Bay will be lucky...
Drop 2.0 The 2.0 Buzzwords 2.0 before 2.0 I 2.0 Send 2.0 You 2.0 A 2.0 Dell 2.0 With 2.0 Crapware 2.0.
I am otherwise having a great time getting in contact with all of my friends though: "Facebook" is a great self updating address book. "Flickr" is a great online tool for sharing your pictures. "YouTube" is great for sharing your videos. And "MySpace" is great for discovering new artists.
The interface experience might be awkward, but at least I am having a great iLife on the internet. Don't be confused by all the crap 2.0 out there, its core message is that a stand alone web site is so last century and only applicable to small and large businesses. Apple should take notice of that and redefine its internet strategy for consumers. Hence exit iWeb.
Yes they need to do more with .Mac, but free isn't in the cards.
They should offer basic things for free and let you pay for the extra storage. .mac could be a great intro to their operating system.
If they continue to ignore "Niche" markets as they are called, well those niche markets can still add up to several million people that they are just outright ignoring altogether.
Those "several million" people are willing to pay the extra cash when they get hooked to the operating system introduced by .mac. Apple should make all their sub 1000$ computers ultra portable, while the +1000$ range is giving you the comfort of having a large screen included.
Hence good bye to the Mac Mini and the mid tower fantasy.
Long live the iPhone (which actually is a 500$ mini computer) and long live the baby Macbook!
Personally, I would like something in the Mini's form factor as a home server unit. Media server, mail server, file and print with some stackable fw attached disk and running a cutdown version of OS X server and something like VNC to control it without having to worry about kvm. And maybe some home portal software (iZope anyone?) that integrates with rest of iLife so you can put all your stuff up on a home intranet.
Gates is talking about home servers so the meme is out there....
You can do that all already with a Mac Mini. The stackable fw disks from Lacie, Iomega etc suit the bill exactly. OSX Server cutdown isn't really needed - OSX client is enough although Apple could finesse setting up user shares and enabling mail, apache, php etc taking away some of the admin duties. VNC isn't required - you've got Apple Remote Desktop client built in already. Portal software - I usually use phpWebSite on them but any will do. Apple have a groupware wiki project in Leopard Server which I think is to be open source. Calendar sharing too.
If Apple replaced the Mini with a 'Home Server' type appliance I for one would be 3 times over the moon and doing loop-the-loop. It's exactly what I need for small business clients already using Macs and for my home use.
maybe there ganna kill the 17" to customer sales like they did the emac.
- Not everyone wants a laptop
- Not everyone wants an all integrated desktop
- Most PC users will have a desktop (e.g. tower), separate screen, mouse and keyboard.
The Mac Mini is currently the only sub-$1000 product which has the ability to convert PC users to Mac and does not require users wanting to do so to throw away or sell on eBay ALL their PC equipment.
I believe it is still Apple Inc.'s strategy to convert as many people from PC to MAC and this will be made more difficult if the Mac Mini is scapped. They are bound to come up with an alternative.
As to the AppleTV, let's not forget it only has a 1Ghz processor. For those who believe that the Mac Mini will be scrapped in favour of an AppleTV with wireless keyboard and mouse should rethink the differences of what they can do with a Mac Mini compared to an AppleTV.
They wanted $350 for the SODIMM memory and $30 to install it. (Crucial wants $88 for the same parts.) So I hung up the phone and murmured, "Dammit!"
Sorry about that...
Airport Extreme with an attached hard disk is a poor excuse for a server. It's extremely slow, even when wired.
Thanks, I hadn't spoken to someone who had used one.
I take it you are saying it is slower than a Mac Mini "Server" via a 10/100 switch.
(and I assume you have used it)
Who uses these things these days - cost of DVD burners are so cheap these days.
It's ironic that a company that prides itself at being at teh forefront of technology with bold moves like ditching floppies etc. still faffs around with this rubbish in the name of 'engineering' a spread of products at so called 'affordable' prices.
The fact is the low end option of any Mac product has always been traditionally utterly useless, making a total mockery of their so-called 'entry level' price points.
He/she must not own a Mac, and just watched the commercials. Macs come with trial software too.
The big differance is that it doensnt effect preformance on the Mac, and it is easily removable.
On a PC, brand new, it is not uncommon to see a 3-minute boot time. remove all of the crap that AUTOMATICLY LAUNCHES and it is a ~20 second boot.
I never expected AppleInsider to be THAT influential!
I just imagine crowds standing in lines in front of Apple Stores all over US for last chance to get their minis :-)
By this evening there probably be no minis left in stock, and those who get theirs for $2000 on e-Bay will be lucky...
Only fools buy computers from Amazon...I say that as a loyal amazon customer with the amazon creditcard statments to prove it, it is the same or close to going straight to apple...so get it from Apple
Only fools buy computers from Amazon...I say that as a loyal amazon customer with the amazon creditcard statments to prove it, it is the same or close to going straight to apple...so get it from Apple
Huh? Going through Amazon = no sales tax and mail-in rebate.
I got my first gen intel iMac for $1550 that way (down from $1700).
The Mac Mini is more important to Apple than shown in your article -- it's not just a price point. The Mini is a key player in winning over PC users to the Mac world. It's perfectly priced, designed and sold to PC owners that already have a LCD monitor, PC Keyboard and Mouse.
I'm a 23 year PC veteran that never owned a Mac. I would have never bought an iMac, or a MacBook or a MacPro, not in a million years. The Mini was the perfect entry and I'm very happy with the Mini. I tell my PC friends about it and see others going the same direction as myself.
Ditto -- I made the switch because of the Mac Mini. I already had a screen and $500 was all I was willing tor risk at the time to "try out" a Mac. Now I own 4 Macs. Mac Mini, two MacBooks, and an iBook. I'll probably buy more as the business expands. Currently working great with no complaints!!!! I think they need to keep a price point in the $500 range even if they don't keep the Mini. Maybe a $500 MacBook????
Thanks, I hadn't spoken to someone who had used one.
I take it you are saying it is slower than a Mac Mini "Server" via a 10/100 switch.
(and I assume you have used it)
Sorry to veer off topic. I bought an Airport Extreme because I needed a new router. The "airdisk" feature was only a bonus but it takes 20 minutes just to backup a few hundred megabytes of data. I have not used a mini as a server but feel sure it's quite a bit faster. (Something about needing a decent processor to convert the data.)
What about a Mac-midi that has a full-size (replaceable) hard drive and has the speed capability of a iMac. Basically a headless iMac. If something like this were in the $1000 range or so, I WOULD be interested.
Yes, a slightly larger version of the midi with a full-size hd would be great. With the same good looks and the same low noise level, it would be an even more useful machine. I'd buy one as a home server!
Anyway, think of the rumours that the iMac 17" disappearing - replacing both the mini and the 17" with a "midi" makes a lot of sense, I think.
I am otherwise having a great time getting in contact with all of my friends though: "Facebook" is a great self updating address book. "Flickr" is a great online tool for sharing your pictures. "YouTube" is great for sharing your videos. And "MySpace" is great for discovering new artists.
The difference? All of those are actual websites, Web 2.0 is just the sum of a bunch of not very well defined websites amounting to anything new and interesting on the web.
The interface experience might be awkward, but at least I am having a great iLife on the internet. Don't be confused by all the crap 2.0 out there, its core message is that a stand alone web site is so last century and only applicable to small and large businesses. Apple should take notice of that and redefine its internet strategy for consumers. Hence exit iWeb.
They should offer basic things for free and let you pay for the extra storage. .mac could be a great intro to their operating system.
Yeah Apple should offer free Email and AIM Screen name (I now prefer my .Mac to my old AIM) free. But asking for free WebDAV is far too costly to the company in bandwith and storage.
Those "several million" people are willing to pay the extra cash when they get hooked to the operating system introduced by .mac. Apple should make all their sub 1000$ computers ultra portable, while the +1000$ range is giving you the comfort of having a large screen included.
Hence good bye to the Mac Mini and the mid tower fantasy.
Long live the iPhone (which actually is a 500$ mini computer) and long live the baby Macbook!
Yes they are willing to pay extra cash but they aren't going to be introduced through .Mac as you say, and asking for Sub $1000 Ultraportables just won't happen right now. The iPhone may be a mini computer, but it still needs to sync with another computer just to use 1/3 of it's functionality. Ultraportables are generally quite expensive though.
Sebastian
If it isn't updated or replaced, Apple have quite simply lost a sale. I won't be the only one either.
I was waiting to see what kind of update the Mini would receive before I switched, as the Mac Mini is the only Mac in my price range, as you say, if it's discontinued, Apple will have lost another customer here.