They're only ending the life of the mac mini now because Leopard will work on "any" new computers like Windows does once it's released! :-P
Doubtful - but if Apple is going to release on other PCs, now would be the time due to Vista's lack-lustre uptake. I would think Apple would be more likely to ignore "any" clone and just to release on all HP/Compaq, and/or all Dells - that would limit the number of different hardware to support (but still give them a huge market share potential).
As I said, I think it's doubtful anyway. And even if they did, the Mac Mini would still have a place. I'm hoping for an AppleTV/MacMini merger myself.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacTel
I would hope that they merge but that would probably be unlikely with all the ports. It would be one ugly mess in the back.
It's just the same ports as the Apple TV plus 3 extra USB ports, and 1 Firewire port.
Not really so hard.
Still... I think S-video on the AppleTV and 4:3 aspect ratio would do more for the AppleTV audience than anything else!!
Here we go again. I guess if you keep predicting it then it will happen.
If Apple were to replace the Mini by an AppleTV, say with an optical drive, there would be one more switcher in the world but not in the way we'd like to think of. Also, I just can't see Apple replacing it by something bigger like the Cube (Apple systems get smaller not bigger) and the Apple TV truly is a no go outside the US where a lot of its computer market is.
So, Apple TV is useless outside the US, not everyone wants/needs a portable and some of us don't want a 20" dongle with the computer. Since Apple doesn't want to go the mini-tower route that would leave an odd space in its lineup. Surely they don't expect people who are attracted to the Mini to move to a Mac Pro! A Mac Mini attached to an HDTV is about as good as it gets in the Apple world. It wouldn't surprise me if Apple were to combine the AppleTV and Mini into one product line but I guess that depends on how things progress with negociations with the video people.
If Apple were to replace the Mini by an AppleTV, say with an optical drive, there would be one more switcher in the world but not in the way we'd like to think of. Also, I just can't see Apple replacing it by something bigger like the Cube (Apple systems get smaller not bigger)
Umm... while it's possible that a MacMini converted into an AppleTV form factor would result in a loss in processing power... it also could just be a different shaped MacMini with extra outputs.
I'm not sure why that would make you switch away in that situation...?
(given, of course, that we know nothing of Apples actual plans)
I'm ADC, I've been using it since the 06 WWDC, at which I attended. I went to the local leopard tech talks, and I went to WWDC 07. I have used every ADC build. You shouldn't assume so much.
Didn't assume anything. Thats why I said "unless". I can't say ive had my hand on any of the builds but know several that do, there isn't that much under the hood.
Evolutionary sure I will give it that, revolutionary not even close. Anyways for what it costs me t upgrade its dirt cheap so I will get it once I see how the bugs work out.
"Umm... while it's possible that a MacMini converted into an AppleTV form factor would result in a loss in processing power... it also could just be a different shaped MacMini with extra outputs.
I'm not sure why that would make you switch away in that situation...?"
Oh, no that would be fine. As long as I can run OSX from a wireless keyboard to whatever is hooked to a TV then I'm happy. I don't even care for an optical drive. A merging of the two (Apple TV and Mini) just seems strange to me from the point of view of Apple wanting the AppleTV to be a playback unit of iTunes stuff.
If I had my way, I'd get rid of the optical from the Mini and allow it to run on batteries. Combine it with a remote with a bit more power, such as an iPod Touch type thing, and you'd have a really neat presentation tool. It's probably just me but I can't stand laptops/iMac's with the screen hinged to the computer/keyboard (I do have an iMac and iBook which I rarely use anymore). I can see a rational for the Mac Pro and obviously people love laptops but the iMac doesn't make sense (to me) except that it's so darned beautiful (I admit it does make for a great desktop for most people).
Well I hope Apple does not give up on the small form factor. There are PC's which are similar but they are much more expensive than the Mini (I think few people realize what a bargain the Mini is).
As long as I can run OSX from a wireless keyboard to whatever is hooked to a TV then I'm happy. I don't even care for an optical drive. A merging of the two (Apple TV and Mini) just seems strange to me from the point of view of Apple wanting the AppleTV to be a playback unit of iTunes stuff.
Yeah, Apple has clearly defined a different audience for Mac Mini & AppleTV.... so making it one line might be a bad move.
And yet... they are both computers, there could be gains from sharing manufacturing costs... who knows. Now that you've mentioned it, I'll have to think about that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pmcd
If I had my way, I'd get rid of the optical from the Mini and allow it to run on batteries. Combine it with a remote with a bit more power, such as an iPod Touch type thing, and you'd have a really neat presentation tool.
I'd rather see the existing iPod's act as a presentation device
Gawd there's just sooo much pent up demand for Macs once Leopard is out the demand will spread and floooww woooo ... I think Oct 26, Jan Macworld, Back to School middle of 2008, Apple has a very good Mac, iPod, iPhone, "4th element", in place to streamline through 2008....... OMG LEOPARD OMG
Well I would like to see something like Mac Mini inside a keyboard. It would spare a cable and make the Mac easier to transport. That would probably lead to sacrificing optical drive. But it could be pretty cool for some people to have a notebook without screen and battery that can be attached to 24" at home, 20" in dormitories/in school etc.
Keyboards are so cheap that it makes sense to leave a keyboard everywhere one leaves a monitor and carry around a smaller package. Someday, a future iPhone will have enough power to fill that role.
Keyboards are so cheap that it makes sense to leave a keyboard everywhere one leaves a monitor and carry around a smaller package. Someday, a future iPhone will have enough power to fill that role.
In many ways the computer in keyboard is such and old idea, and it was the way computers used to be sold:
I am not convinced about this making a comeback, at least for a desktop. In many ways the screen is the best place, since it helps hide the cable mess, which the keyboard would fail in. Then again, a portable is very much a computer in a keyboard, with an attached screen.
Ok so what would be the best scenario for my situation??? Over 800 DVDs I want to rip to hdd .. Audio needs to be ac3 (Dolby digital)..reciever will accept optical.. All content is 480p....xbox360 in the mix...have 1 media center 2005 server on the network as well as 1 vista ultimate box on the network...would like to rip these to external usb drives and access them from the tv with the easiest interface... What type of video rip are we talking about here? Apple tv is out because of the lack of 5.1 right? What about a mini? What are your thoughts? Btw sorry if this is a little off topic
Ok so what would be the best scenario for my situation??? Over 800 DVDs I want to rip to hdd .. Audio needs to be ac3 (Dolby digital)..reciever will accept optical.. All content is 480p....xbox360 in the mix...have 1 media center 2005 server on the network as well as 1 vista ultimate box on the network...would like to rip these to external usb drives and access them from the tv with the easiest interface... What type of video rip are we talking about here? Apple tv is out because of the lack of 5.1 right? What about a mini? What are your thoughts? Btw sorry if this is a little off topic
Wow I honestly don't think AppleTV, iMac, MacPro or Mac mini would fit your bill. Not being an Apple snob, just honest...
Wow I honestly don't think AppleTV, iMac, MacPro or Mac mini would fit your bill. Not being an Apple snob, just honest...
really?? thats discouraging What exactly is it that i need here that a mini couldn't do? Keep in mind that I mentioned the windows PC's and xbox only has an option here. I have tried the "media extention" options from the xbox to the pc's and well, it sucks.
Most people that use a Windows system don't even know what Leopard is, nor do they care. The two do not compete against each other, Windows can be installed on either, Lepoard can only be installed on Apple hardware, hense it will not go about 5-6% market share and thats if every Mac owner upgrades, which they won't.
Except that apple is already selling at more than 5-6% market share. And it's reported to be much higher in consumer and especially educational markets. While apple is in the minority, it's still going up and taking market share from Windows a little at a time.
Killing the mini could be a great thing or a terrible thing depending on whether they replace it, and what it is replaced with.
Killing it with no replacement would be stupid, leaving them with no headless model in a consumer price range and shutting out all potential switchers who already have monitors.
Killing it and replacing it with a more cost-effective mid-tower model would be a great idea. Most people don't want a tiny mac, they just want a headless one that isn't huge. A model that had modest expandability (replaceable video card and one or two open slots, plus one open HD bay) would be a huge improvement over the mini, especially since it would have vastly improved bang for the buck since it could use more stock components and not have to use mobile parts like hard drive and optical drive. They could jump the size of the hard drive by a factor of 5-10 and still save money on it. This would be the smartest option, I hope this is the plan.
Killing it and replacing it with a redesigned mini that still used mostly laptop parts would be better than not replacing it, but would be pretty dumb and a wasted opportunity.
Really, the mini was an idea that was more "cool" than sensible and was intended to fill a need that didn't really exist - it should have just been a simple budget midtower from day one. Hopefully they'll rectify that.
They also need to give the appleTV a major update assuming they don't just kill it. It has great potential but the current version just has a couple major limitations that are dealbreakers for many people.
Killing it and replacing it with a more cost-effective mid-tower model would be a great idea. Most people don't want a tiny mac, they just want a headless one that isn't huge. A model that had modest expandability (replaceable video card and one or two open slots, plus one open HD bay) would be a huge improvement over the mini, especially since it would have vastly improved bang for the buck since it could use more stock components and not have to use mobile parts like hard drive and optical drive. They could jump the size of the hard drive by a factor of 5-10 and still save money on it. This would be the smartest option, I hope this is the plan.
Killing it and replacing it with a redesigned mini that still used mostly laptop parts would be better than not replacing it, but would be pretty dumb and a wasted opportunity.
A mini-tower-MAC (more along the form factor of Shuttle PCs) would definitely be a plus. There is already AppleTV for those who want something really small to use as a media center. The current mini form factor constrains storage and graphics options to great extent. It should also be possible to provide better cooling with almost no noise in a larger form factor.
Another option would be a "Mac media" in a stereo component like form factor with a built in TV tuner & cable card slot. Intel has spent a lot of time and effort developing such form factors and no PC vendor has been able to push these to market successfully. Apple is certainly capable of pulling this off.
Comments
They're only ending the life of the mac mini now because Leopard will work on "any" new computers like Windows does once it's released! :-P
Doubtful - but if Apple is going to release on other PCs, now would be the time due to Vista's lack-lustre uptake. I would think Apple would be more likely to ignore "any" clone and just to release on all HP/Compaq, and/or all Dells - that would limit the number of different hardware to support (but still give them a huge market share potential).
As I said, I think it's doubtful anyway. And even if they did, the Mac Mini would still have a place. I'm hoping for an AppleTV/MacMini merger myself.
I would hope that they merge but that would probably be unlikely with all the ports. It would be one ugly mess in the back.
It's just the same ports as the Apple TV plus 3 extra USB ports, and 1 Firewire port.
Not really so hard.
Still... I think S-video on the AppleTV and 4:3 aspect ratio would do more for the AppleTV audience than anything else!!
If Apple were to replace the Mini by an AppleTV, say with an optical drive, there would be one more switcher in the world but not in the way we'd like to think of. Also, I just can't see Apple replacing it by something bigger like the Cube (Apple systems get smaller not bigger) and the Apple TV truly is a no go outside the US where a lot of its computer market is.
So, Apple TV is useless outside the US, not everyone wants/needs a portable and some of us don't want a 20" dongle with the computer. Since Apple doesn't want to go the mini-tower route that would leave an odd space in its lineup. Surely they don't expect people who are attracted to the Mini to move to a Mac Pro! A Mac Mini attached to an HDTV is about as good as it gets in the Apple world. It wouldn't surprise me if Apple were to combine the AppleTV and Mini into one product line but I guess that depends on how things progress with negociations with the video people.
philip
If Apple were to replace the Mini by an AppleTV, say with an optical drive, there would be one more switcher in the world but not in the way we'd like to think of. Also, I just can't see Apple replacing it by something bigger like the Cube (Apple systems get smaller not bigger)
Umm... while it's possible that a MacMini converted into an AppleTV form factor would result in a loss in processing power... it also could just be a different shaped MacMini with extra outputs.
I'm not sure why that would make you switch away in that situation...?
(given, of course, that we know nothing of Apples actual plans)
I'm ADC, I've been using it since the 06 WWDC, at which I attended. I went to the local leopard tech talks, and I went to WWDC 07. I have used every ADC build. You shouldn't assume so much.
Didn't assume anything. Thats why I said "unless". I can't say ive had my hand on any of the builds but know several that do, there isn't that much under the hood.
Evolutionary sure I will give it that, revolutionary not even close. Anyways for what it costs me t upgrade its dirt cheap so I will get it once I see how the bugs work out.
I'm not sure why that would make you switch away in that situation...?"
Oh, no that would be fine. As long as I can run OSX from a wireless keyboard to whatever is hooked to a TV then I'm happy. I don't even care for an optical drive. A merging of the two (Apple TV and Mini) just seems strange to me from the point of view of Apple wanting the AppleTV to be a playback unit of iTunes stuff.
If I had my way, I'd get rid of the optical from the Mini and allow it to run on batteries. Combine it with a remote with a bit more power, such as an iPod Touch type thing, and you'd have a really neat presentation tool. It's probably just me but I can't stand laptops/iMac's with the screen hinged to the computer/keyboard (I do have an iMac and iBook which I rarely use anymore). I can see a rational for the Mac Pro and obviously people love laptops but the iMac doesn't make sense (to me) except that it's so darned beautiful (I admit it does make for a great desktop for most people).
Well I hope Apple does not give up on the small form factor. There are PC's which are similar but they are much more expensive than the Mini (I think few people realize what a bargain the Mini is).
philip
As long as I can run OSX from a wireless keyboard to whatever is hooked to a TV then I'm happy. I don't even care for an optical drive. A merging of the two (Apple TV and Mini) just seems strange to me from the point of view of Apple wanting the AppleTV to be a playback unit of iTunes stuff.
Yeah, Apple has clearly defined a different audience for Mac Mini & AppleTV.... so making it one line might be a bad move.
And yet... they are both computers, there could be gains from sharing manufacturing costs... who knows. Now that you've mentioned it, I'll have to think about that.
If I had my way, I'd get rid of the optical from the Mini and allow it to run on batteries. Combine it with a remote with a bit more power, such as an iPod Touch type thing, and you'd have a really neat presentation tool.
I'd rather see the existing iPod's act as a presentation device
Well I would like to see something like Mac Mini inside a keyboard. It would spare a cable
Keyboards are so cheap that it makes sense to leave a keyboard everywhere one leaves a monitor and carry around a smaller package. Someday, a future iPhone will have enough power to fill that role.
Keyboards are so cheap that it makes sense to leave a keyboard everywhere one leaves a monitor and carry around a smaller package. Someday, a future iPhone will have enough power to fill that role.
In many ways the computer in keyboard is such and old idea, and it was the way computers used to be sold:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiga
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_II
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectrum
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bbc_micro
I am not convinced about this making a comeback, at least for a desktop. In many ways the screen is the best place, since it helps hide the cable mess, which the keyboard would fail in. Then again, a portable is very much a computer in a keyboard, with an attached screen.
Ok so what would be the best scenario for my situation??? Over 800 DVDs I want to rip to hdd .. Audio needs to be ac3 (Dolby digital)..reciever will accept optical.. All content is 480p....xbox360 in the mix...have 1 media center 2005 server on the network as well as 1 vista ultimate box on the network...would like to rip these to external usb drives and access them from the tv with the easiest interface... What type of video rip are we talking about here? Apple tv is out because of the lack of 5.1 right? What about a mini? What are your thoughts? Btw sorry if this is a little off topic
Wow I honestly don't think AppleTV, iMac, MacPro or Mac mini would fit your bill. Not being an Apple snob, just honest...
Wow I honestly don't think AppleTV, iMac, MacPro or Mac mini would fit your bill. Not being an Apple snob, just honest...
really?? thats discouraging
This is an interesting mini mockup.
This is an interesting mini mockup.
I might buy one, depending on the specs, and if apple had a cheaper screen
Most people that use a Windows system don't even know what Leopard is, nor do they care. The two do not compete against each other, Windows can be installed on either, Lepoard can only be installed on Apple hardware, hense it will not go about 5-6% market share and thats if every Mac owner upgrades, which they won't.
Except that apple is already selling at more than 5-6% market share. And it's reported to be much higher in consumer and especially educational markets. While apple is in the minority, it's still going up and taking market share from Windows a little at a time.
Killing the mini could be a great thing or a terrible thing depending on whether they replace it, and what it is replaced with.
Killing it with no replacement would be stupid, leaving them with no headless model in a consumer price range and shutting out all potential switchers who already have monitors.
Killing it and replacing it with a more cost-effective mid-tower model would be a great idea. Most people don't want a tiny mac, they just want a headless one that isn't huge. A model that had modest expandability (replaceable video card and one or two open slots, plus one open HD bay) would be a huge improvement over the mini, especially since it would have vastly improved bang for the buck since it could use more stock components and not have to use mobile parts like hard drive and optical drive. They could jump the size of the hard drive by a factor of 5-10 and still save money on it. This would be the smartest option, I hope this is the plan.
Killing it and replacing it with a redesigned mini that still used mostly laptop parts would be better than not replacing it, but would be pretty dumb and a wasted opportunity.
Really, the mini was an idea that was more "cool" than sensible and was intended to fill a need that didn't really exist - it should have just been a simple budget midtower from day one. Hopefully they'll rectify that.
They also need to give the appleTV a major update assuming they don't just kill it. It has great potential but the current version just has a couple major limitations that are dealbreakers for many people.
Killing it and replacing it with a more cost-effective mid-tower model would be a great idea. Most people don't want a tiny mac, they just want a headless one that isn't huge. A model that had modest expandability (replaceable video card and one or two open slots, plus one open HD bay) would be a huge improvement over the mini, especially since it would have vastly improved bang for the buck since it could use more stock components and not have to use mobile parts like hard drive and optical drive. They could jump the size of the hard drive by a factor of 5-10 and still save money on it. This would be the smartest option, I hope this is the plan.
Killing it and replacing it with a redesigned mini that still used mostly laptop parts would be better than not replacing it, but would be pretty dumb and a wasted opportunity.
A mini-tower-MAC (more along the form factor of Shuttle PCs) would definitely be a plus. There is already AppleTV for those who want something really small to use as a media center. The current mini form factor constrains storage and graphics options to great extent. It should also be possible to provide better cooling with almost no noise in a larger form factor.
Another option would be a "Mac media" in a stereo component like form factor with a built in TV tuner & cable card slot. Intel has spent a lot of time and effort developing such form factors and no PC vendor has been able to push these to market successfully. Apple is certainly capable of pulling this off.