docno42

daven said:

I watch the movies that I purchased and downloaded (or rented and downloaded and view within the allotted time). 

Leave your device disconnected for a few months then try to watch that content.  It won't work.  Your devices have to phone back to the mothership routinely or the content locks.

Good luck!

dewme said:
You make a very legitimate point here. When I look behind my iMac I see a thunderbolt drive and cable for my Time Machine drive, a thunderbolt to DisplayPort connection to a secondary monitor, a USB3 hub and cable for various iDevices, a USB3 hard drive and cable for Carbon Copy Cloner, a USB cable for my primary speakers, a USB cable to a DAC for headphones, and a USB3 cable to an external SSD hosting my VMWare virtual machines. Oh, throw in the Ethernet cable as well. And power cord. 

As to this point, for these computers I don't see that kind of stuff being plugged into many (maybe most) of them.  If you have an iMac at a reception desk, for example, you aren't going to have a time machine drive, external DAC or other accessories for them.  

I wish Apple had an iMac styled monitor to pair with the Mac Mini - then people could pick whatever worked best for them.  Pretty amazing the consternation Apple not producing a matching monitor any more has and continues to cause  

dewme said:

 In fact, Apple’s strategy of putting the Ethernet connection into the power cord is a step in the right direction. If there was a way to move all of the ancillary connections to an outboard pod that is located under the desk I’d be thrilled. 

Yes, I find this the most exciting thing that was launched.  If the ethernet signal is carried by USB or thunderbolt, then some enterprising third party should be able to deliver a power brick and hub all in one.  For those instances where you have a Mac out there being able to connect everything with one cord is pretty appealing.  It will be interesting to see what the accessory vendors can do when these things hit the street.  

I hope they carry it over to the bigger iMacs too!  Because even though mine is backed into a corner too, the mess of cables - while mostly out of site - makes cleaning/retrieving anything that falls back there a PITA.  If I could organize all the cables under the desk that would be amazing. 

This is a pretty cool feature, especially if it improves the picture in my plasma that must be getting at least a bit tired by now.  Didn't see this one coming but it's brilliant; whoever thought of doing it deserves some kudos! 

nht said:
It’s one HDMI cable different. And if I mount the mini to the back of the display it becomes invisible.

One cable?  Are you the reincarnation of Tesla and figured out wireless power transmission now too?  

Also it's only "invisible" if your computer backs up against a wall without anything on the other side of it.  Otherwise it's a rats nest of cables again.  

Lots of use cases where computers are not backed up against walls.

If only Apple provided choice, they could solve this hopeless conundrum