I admit it. I was wrong. Hence I hereby eat my words unashamedly but with pleasure.
Apple continues to not just surprise, but enthral users all over the world with their creations. And I see finally a user doesn’t even have to dig too deep to be part of the clan.
They introduced, the most beautiful, practical, simple and sexy box you could ever imagine:
All this for $499
You know what the bastards do as well? They’re pitching it as an “upgrade” to the masses, where if you already own a USB keyboard, 2-button mouse with wheel, and a monitor, just put this brick in the middle, connect all the cables, switch on and you’re up and running. They even include all the software any normal user would need, including iLife, a suite of software that let you connect your digital camera, video camera, a host of internet applications, photo albums, and other applications that you probably never have to install anything else.
Perfect. I guess I’ve got to order 3 or 4 of these minis for the kids at least. I’ve got far too much invested in my own PC that it still doesn’t make sense for me to “upgrade”… well, I do have a KVM switch lying around unused!! ๐
Comments
Eating my words
Beautiful machines, but where is the floppy drive? ๐
I know I know, Apple ๐
Re: Eating my words
Even until early last year, we used to buy external floppy drives for the macs we deliver to clients because some applications STILL required that drive as their applicationi authorisation codes came on specially formatted floppies!
thankfully that changed with the introduction of usb dongles etc…
Re: Eating my words
[quote]Average Joe: Another great new product on which we can spend our money, stuff more cash into steve jobs’ wallet, and convince ourselves that we’re ‘cool’ cos we have a miniteenietinyapplecomputer.. [/quote]
Good thinking, Average Joe. We should all refuse to buy from manufacturers who make things we like, especially those who brazenly improve on products we already have. From now on, all my money goes to manufacturers who make things I don’t like with no regard to quality, who never improve them, and whose products look like crap. That will teach them to mess with us. I hate capitalists like Steve Jobs who makes all his profits satisfying consumers like me. It’s just wrong.
[quote]Average Joe: We need to stop being impressed by what the west develops (ESPECIALLY IN THE AREA OF CONSUMER ELECTRONICS, FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE!!!) don’t you realise this is just slightly better than what you currently have, but not quite as good as what APPLE/MICROSOFT/SONY/etc etc etc have planned for 2006, at which point they will extract more of our petrodollars?? do you think it’s the end of the story? no way jose, it’s just another product designed with added profits in mind.. [/quote]
You’re so right, AJ. What’s the point of buying something today when there will be something better next year? And the year after that? The only logical thing to do is to not buy anything at all so that we are never caught up in this mad rush of progress. The world would be a better place if we would have just stuck with driving 1950s Studebakers, playing 78 records on turntables, and no air conditioning. We should stop playing their game and never buy anything that’s better. Somebody has got to put their foot down and that foot is us!
And doesn’t the West make you mad with all its new inventions and whatnot? Who needs their airplanes and combustion engines and television? People did without those for centuries in the Middle East and they did just fine, kinda. You know what pisses me off about the West? Polio vaccine! Who needs it? And then once you buy it, the West just keeps improving on it, the bastards. Every year, it’s some new damned medicine from Western labs that we’ve got to have. When will it stop?
Why should all the profits go to Western workers making goods and services for Middle Eastern consumers instead of going to ruthless dictators like in the good old days? We’ve just got to stop this flow of petrodollars into consumer goods and put it back into weapons where it belongs.
[quote]We don’t need cool, cute, sexy computers. we need some common sense, we need to rationalise our consumption, we’re a nation of consumers with nothing to show for it.. [/quote]
Average Joe, you’re a genius. Out with the Cool, Cute, Sexy Computers! Bring back the Univac!
Steve
Eating my words
I’m going over to the Apple Store on Regent Street here in London to check the new toys out and I’m under strict instructions to leave my credit cards on my desk. Doh!
Seriously though, I think Apple have positioned the mac mini perfectly. Most PC users have a monitor with dual inputs so it’s a doddle to switch between the Mac and Windows.
Rock on Apple!
Re: Eating my words
Man you’ve got to wait till Jan 22nd which is the shipping date. That’s 10 days from now. I hope I can wait! I’ll put it my pre-order on Amazon or whoever else that carries them and can ship to Bahrain. One thing I’ve got to check is their power rating though. Rami bought an all-in-one iMac and blew the power supply as he just assumed that it was universal voltage. Credit to the new iMachines (new competing AppleCentre) in Bahrain, they changed his power supply under warranty free of charge, even though he bought it from the States!
Re(1): Eating my words
If you can wait until mid Feb, I can pick one up for you from here if you like. The Apple Store is a couple of minutes away from me.
Eating my words
Mahmood,
Have you watched Steve Jobs keynote speech in San Francisco?
It’s awesome!
Eating my words
$499 is an unbelievably spectacular deal for a Macintosh computer that’s compact, powerful, and beautiful. I couldn’t afford a new Mac at this time, now I can. I’m so glad I waited and didn’t get rid of the extra USB keyboard, mouse and monitor I had stored away. You bet I’m buying the Mac Mini on the 22nd! I’ve read a few negative reviews about this new product, but I think this is one of the smartest move that Apple has made. Just watch. It will sell big time – like the iPod.
Laura
Re: Eating my words
no I haven’t unfortunately, but I was reading a Wired article about MacWorld and that’s how I got to know of the new products. Unbelievable!
Re: Eating my words
I completely agree… I just got the house all networked, and even got a socket behind the TV, so you can bet that I’m getting one and plugging it into the TV, with a spare wireless keyboard and mouse I’ve got lying around the office! ๐
Surfing while watching TV in picture-in-picture mode has a very nice ring to it!
Re(2): Eating my words
Rami calls me the “ultimate immediate gratification guy!” that’s because once I put my mind to something, there is no way I could wait to get that thing done, or bought. So, sorry, there is no way I can wait till mid-feb, if I have to fly to San Francisco to grab one I will! ๐
Eating my words – or Why You need to Get Out More !
C’mon man…”sexy”? A plastic box? We’re talking techie IT here not the latest Ferarri. I don’t think you can even play games on them?
Johnster
#;-)
Re: Eating my words
Jobs is as big a jerk as Gates but he’s a jerk devoted to quality, aesthetics, and building a superior product. I just wish Jobs had the business savvy of Gates so that we would all be working with Macs instead of PCs. We would have better equipment and less headaches.
I remember Jobs complaining about Gates and Microsoft in the documentary “Triumph of the Nerds,” saying that Microsoft had no culture. He pointed out that Apple had introduced resizeable fonts which sprung from a love of literature and good books which was brought to Apple by employees who had come from varied fields and had gotten into computers. Microsoft, on the other hand, hired a narrow pool of computer geeks who knew nothing of the larger world and merely aped innovators inventions.
You can see that in their products. Macs have smooth-running software encased in something close to sculpture while PCs are buggy things pushed out into the market with security holes and encased in crude boxes.
If you’re in the computer biz, you need to see these two documentaries by Robert Cringely about the development of PCs and the Internet:
Triumph of the Nerds (1996)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00006FXQO/ref=cm_custrec_gl_acc/104-8986868-6243130?v=glance&s=dvd
Nerds 2.0.1: A Brief History of the Internet (1998)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6305128235/qid%3D1105555104/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/104-8986868-6243130
Steve
Re: Eating my words – or Why You need to Get Out More !
I am a sucker for eligance, wherever that comes from and whatever shape or form it takes. To me, the macmini encompasses all of that eligance: the right shape, the right power, the right size, the right applications, and the right price.
This “brick” is typically 1/8th or less the size of a typical desktop computer. Isn’t it eligant that the Apple engineers have shrunk all that metal and electronics into such an enclosure?
Yes. All of these factors translate to an excellent experience, possibly better than sex! It’s pleasure will surely last longer in any case ๐
Re(1): Eating my words
[quote]Surfing while watching TV in picture-in-picture mode has a very nice ring to it! [/quote]
Can you say PLASMA?
Eating my words
[img]http://www.joyoftech.com/joyoftech/joyimages/635b.gif[/img]
Eating my words
Another great new product on which we can spend our money, stuff more cash into steve jobs’ wallet, and convince ourselves that we’re ‘cool’ cos we have a miniteenietinyapplecomputer..
what a waste of brain power to even be thinking obout this.
We need to stop being impressed by what the west develops (ESPECIALLY IN THE AREA OF CONSUMER ELECTRONICS, FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE!!!) don’t you realise this is just slightly better than what you currently have, but not quite as good as what APPLE/MICROSOFT/SONY/etc etc etc have planned for 2006, at which point they will extract more of our petrodollars?? do you think it’s the end of the story? no way jose, it’s just another product designed with added profits in mind..
We don’t need cool, cute, sexy computers. we need some common sense, we need to rationalise our consumption, we’re a nation of consumers with nothing to show for it..
Eating my words
Hello Average Joe
The ‘West’ – mmm, Sony, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Subaru, my dinners at the Ritz carlton and my apartment in Dubai…I giess its all ‘West’ of…erm…Hawaii! Yes, west of Hawaii!
I get and agree with your poiint about this being a totally consumeristic society where social success is sometimes measured by whether you have the latest XYZ. In fact, I have never lived in a country where this trend is so rampant as it is in Bahrain.
But aside from shopping, what else is there to do? ๐
Art, culture, music, painting, oooh then there are all those beautifully maintained public beaches…and don’t forget the lovely open piazza’s and squares where we can stroll in the evenings…..OK OK I’m being cynical. But my point is, little else of valued (leaving aside spiritual beliefs). My Bahraini friends are embarrassed by my phone..and as for my ‘classic’ car…to them its old junk.
So, it’ss not about the West – it’s about this market.
Re: Eating my words
I’m lost… so the problem is what exactly?
There are too many antagonistic sentences in your comment that I don’t know where to start to deconstruct your views. Are you against:
1. The West
2. The West’s products
3. Steve Jobs
4. Apple
5. Consumerism
6. Technology
7. Buying goods from the West
or all of the above?
Ok let’s say this is the case.. what exactly should we be spending our “petrodollars” on if we are to purchase only from the extremely limited Arab/Muslim goods?
1. man-hole covers designed by the West, manufactured locally but on Western machinery
2. Saudi toothpaste, the main reason that Saudi is objecting to Bahrain’s FTA! They don’t want Saudis to buy “genuine” Colegate toothpaste if Bahrain can import it from the Western manufacturer and then sell it cheaper to Saudis.
3. I know, let’s just put a complete ban on any technology that changes every 6 months to a year because “the change is too fast” and of course it’s also a “western conspiracy” to steel our precious “petrodollars”
Give me a break man, and face reality. There is no conspiracy here, it is a good product that wipes the floor with everything in its class. There is no way you can get ANY Arab country to produce anything even remotely close to it, and it is a testament to good engineering and creativity.
You know when I said I was going to buy a couple of these things I was saying it with tongue firmly in cheek. The kids all have modern Dell computers in their rooms, now I AM ordering 4 of these units just to spite you! ๐
You have a very retarded way of thinking…
Re: consumarism and culture
Everytime I go down to the souq area I think to myself that this would be an ideal place for a couple of squares, walkways, restaurants and the like. That could be the same along the very limited beaches we have in Bahrain as well. The plans for the renovation of the Manama Souq could put the soul back into it and bring in tourists etc. I hope.
But apart from that, there are places you can spend quality time in even now. I was reading about La Fontaine in the Daily Star today and that reminded me that I want to go and visit, to see what it’s like and take my wife to a nice dinner there…
There must be other places – other than hotels, where people can just hang-out, and show off their latest PDA/Phone/trinket while enjoying themselves! ๐
Eating my words
yes, I agree totally about the Suq and in fact have seen some concept drawings of something like that. It would be a brilliant place to go and a good sop on the tourist trail. La Fontaine – why does it take a French guy to preserve Bahrain’s architecture….grrrrrr…
Eating my words
ooops, I meant “stop” not “sop” — changes the meaning somewhat!
Re: Eating my words
WHAT French guy? It’s owned, restored and operated by Fatima Alireza, a very much Bahraini lady!
Eating my words
Yes, I know and have met her. The building was owned before by her Dad. The buy who restored it with her was a french architect and artist. It is his vision that we see there. I can’t remeber his name but have met him as well.
Re: Eating my words
oic, sorry!
Eating my words
I was introduced to the world of Apple Macs by a good friend of mine. I’ve never touched a PC since! – For what you get i think it’s well worth the price… A beautiful computer thats asthetically pleasing to the eye, and an OS that I would say is bug/virus proof. – Ive had my iMac G5 for a few months now – and I still havnt found a way to make it crash! Any suggestions Mahmood? ๐
Re: Eating my words
not from me! the mac is solid and with the linux-like os it is (in my book) a winner. but that only came about when they reduced their prices and they brought out the macmini. I just hope that they’ll (a) reduce the prices of the other desktop models to be more competitive with the wintel range, and (b) bring back the droves of developers who left. b. is going to be much harder than a, but with Apple quadrupling their profits for the last quarter, that should be easier than I initially expected… everyone loves a winner ๐
Eating my words
[quote] Apple quadrupling their profits for the last quarter, that should be easier than I initially expected… everyone loves a winner[/quote]
Profts driven not by sales of computers but sales of the IPOD. Will Apple be able to turn the computer side around with this MacMini? Good question and time will tell. Apple as a company has never had that strong of a business sense. Good product but lacking in corporate direction. I hope the MacMini does well and doesn’t turn into a “Spruse Goose”or a “Beta Max”.
Re(2): Eating my words
Indeed!
Re(1): Eating my words
sour grapes.
people would have no problem paying more for quality and aesthetics. the difference of a $200 or more is nothing when you can get a machine that would give you peace-of-mind even if it is just to get away from the continuous virus and worm threats.
I can’t believe I’m defending macs!
But to be fair, my major bone of contention with the Macs has always been price/performance. That ratio has now become so insignificant with the advent of the macmini as compared to others in class that I can finally say that yes, the mac is at the sweet-spot now that it will be more acceptable to the general public and businesses to acquire it. Just looking at the list of software included in the macmini convinces me that most businesses will not need any other software to be installed for daily use other than a database application probably. But as OpenOffice is available for it, and with how close we are to getting version 2 which actually includes a database for the first time, then it will be a complete system acceptable for more applications.
Re: Eating my words
That’s partly true. Although they did enjoy quite a lot of Mac sales compared to the same quarter last year:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=580&ncid=580&e=17&u=/nm/20050113/bs_nm/tech_apple_earns_dc
I can’t believe I’m defending Apple!
Eating my words
Mahmood,
When I see an Apple computer I see a failed company. Apple should have been the leader in the home computer market but they lacked the “drive” to do it. At one point APPLE had computers in literally EVERY school in America. The first time I touched a computer it was in grade school and it was an Apple. Somehow Apple was never able to transfer that exposure it had to millions of young minds into tangible results.
Even in the printing/graphics industry in the US, once a stronghold for Apple that demand is falling. (at least it was when I left in 99) The business world does not use Apple and I don’t see it changing. At least not in the near term. I used an iMac for a time and concluded if the Brady Bunch had a computer it would be an iMac. It was a horrible P.O.S. and I enjoyed tossing it in the dumpster.
I hope just for the sake of competition that Apple gains some market share. Greed is good but greed with competition is better!
Now how many of these MacMinis do you want me to bring?
Re(1): Eating my words
I love OSX, and I’m a dyed in the wool Linux user.
What I wish Apple would do is not simply sell their PCs on the merits of the stylish exterior or fashionable logo! Noone is going to be excited to buy a car that looks pretty if they don’t have the details of what the car comes with!
Apple -should- promote OSX as the next best thing. Compare it to Windows. Show how good the interface is. Drum up the ‘lack of bugginess’. We have eMacs in the department that have never gone down -once-, even though we have screwed with the settings innumerable times.
If we think of Apple vs. Microsoft in a political analogy, Apple is like the democrats, and Microsoft the republicans (in the US). Apple needs to stop ‘looking idealistic’ and get down to the nitty gritty of why their computers are good for your business. What can a Mac do that a PC can’t? Why? Drum up developer support. Get game companies to come out with Mac OSX versions of games! (games drive sales, y’know) Promote the OSX box as a game playing station. The hardware is all standardized between every Mac – same video cards, same chipsets, no gamer incompatibility issues. Those are selling points that I know that Apple has missed, and will continue to miss unless they give me a million dollar salary to kick the asses of their marketing department ๐
Eating my words
Replying to the price comparison above, first of all the speed for Mac mini is 1.25 but also comes in 1.42 ..
And second, did you factor in the price of getting a superior operating system that leaves you worry-less about your every day job of cleaning out spyware and scanning for viruses ? Or the included free software that alone, for many, is worth the price ? Or the low depreciation of macs ? Or the portability and small weight and size of the Mac mini ?
You should stop looking at price and start looking at VALUE !
– hussain
Re: Eating my words
Bu-Ali, I completely agree with you, value is more important that just numbers. If everyone just went to the bottom line, we might never have innovation and creativity.
The price/performance of this box makes it very worthwhile to “switchers” as well as first-timers. And if you want to go nationalistic, there is NOTHING as good as the Mac in Arabic, it actually started the whole contextual analysis word processer back in 1984 when the PC was still dirtying its diapers! ๐
Re: Eating my words
The problem with Apple is that they were a software company that thought they were a hardware company. They thought that they should keep their software secrets close to the vest so that they could monopolize the sale of their hardware, which they marked up to make profit rather than gain market share. It was short-sighted.
Microsoft had worse software than Apple but they licensed it so that any PC maker could use it. They stuck to software and let the hardware makers stick to hardware. Consequently, they got greater market share and took advantage of the network effect which makes each PC more valuable the more PCs there are with which it can share resources. This historically pushes a single technological standard to dominate 85% or so of its market, whether you’re talking about railroad gauges, VHS vs Betamax, CD vs record albums, et cetera. Microsoft made itself the standard while Apple was fishing for bucks alone.
Apple went for the short term payoff. Microsoft went for the long term payoff. That’s why we’re on PCs, not Macs.
Steve
Re: Eating my words
Hussain,
Those comparisons where in the report. They did not come from me. Value is always a concern or it should be. However I doubt this product will make big gains against the PC market in the US. If this MiniMac is viewed as a “threat” you can be sure Dell/Gateway/HP/IBM/whoever will introduce a counterpart with similar software and price and go head to head. This could be a good thing!
How long will it be if this MacMini/MiniMac gains share in the market before the dreaded spyware/virus issues begin to haunt the Apple crowd? Or is the Mac OS safe by its own nature? Or is the threat small because there are so few users? I honestly don’t know the answer.
Re(1): Eating my words
The Mac mini is targeted mainly at people who have used the iPod and love it and are looking at what other products Apple offers that brings them the same level of satisfaction as the iPod. Some, however, have looked and stayed back because they could not afford Apple’s other hardware, so this is the solution to that problem. You mention that the competitors will retaliate and come up with something similar, and I can only direct you to Dell, Creative, and others who have introduced products to compete with the iPod and quite obviously failed to take the spotlight away from the iPod. They have also introduced a flash-based iPod for $99 (512 MB) and $149 (MB) that can double as a flash disk (the other iPods can also be used to store files, but they’re not as convenient). Apple takes great pride in offering the user a better experience and a lot of R&D goes into that at Apple. Only time will tell how well the Mac mini does and how many it will “switch”, but I think it’s a safe bet to put your money on Apple.
Regarding the viruses, Mac OS X is based on Unix, the same as Linux, and seeing how Linux has a larger share than OS X, they have yet to get viruses because of the way Unix is designed, requiring an administrator password to change or delete system files, therefore (don’t want to say impossible) very hard to infect them.
– hussain
Re(1): Eating my words
His name is Jean Marc Sinnan
Re: Eating my words
Yes but as usual they will charge you over $100 extra for the privilage. at รฦรขโฌลกรโรยฃ339 each or $644 at todays rate. More money for mr Job!
Re: Eating my words
I found this interesting take on the MacMini.
[b]INFOWORLD TECH WATCH [/b]
January 12, 2005
[b]Apple makes max mistake with Mac Mini[/b]
I’ve been covering PCs since 1981 and I like to think that by now I can spot a winner from a loser.
I’m afraid Apple fans, the Mac Mini is, well, not a winner. I’m not the only one. See Rob Pegoraro at the Washington Post. He’s not that thrilled either. Nor is Seth Jayson at the Motley Fool, or Jack Kapica at the GlobeandMail.com in Canada.
[b]For $500 you get far less than what you could get with a much better configured PC.[/b]
Let’s look at the stats and see what you get and don’t get.
[b]Mac Mini, $499[/b], 1.2GHz processor, 256MB RAM, 40GB hard drive, DVD-ROM/CD-RW.
[b]For $599 [/b]you get a 1.4GHz processor and an 80GB hard drive.
What you don’t get are a monitor, mouse keyboard.
Here’s two configurations from Dell.
For $399 you get a 2.4GHz processor tower with 512MB RAM, 40GB hard drive, CD or DVD ROM drive, and a 17-inch monitor, a keyboard and a mouse.
For $699 you can get an Inspiron 1000 notebook. It has a 2.2GHz processor, 256MB RAM, a 30GB hard drive, CD ROM/DVD ROM, and a 14.1 inch XGA display. Of course the keyboard and mouse are built in.
It seems to me Apple will have a great deal of difficulty convincing most buyers looking for a solution rather than a nameplate to opt for the Mac Mini.
I know Apple fans will think I’m in the pay of Bill Gates but I’m not. I just don’t see value conscious consumers who know how to shop buying a less than complete package for more money.
I predict that you will see Apple lower the price and by next year add a monitor, keyboard and mouse.
Let the hate mail begin.
Posted by E. Schwartz at January 12, 2005 12:25 PM
Re(2): Eating my words
[quote]If we think of Apple vs. Microsoft in a political analogy, Apple is like the democrats, and Microsoft the republicans (in the US).[/quote]
You realize that makes Steve a PC. Wonder what OS he is running on?
Eating my words
I love my Mac, Husband has one of those other kind and spends half his computer time repairing it. I have never in 10 years and three Macs had a virus. Right now I have a little EMac and it is three years old, goes everywhere and does everything I ask of it. My Daughter is in graphic design and would never use a PC as it does not perform nearly as well. Most publishing houses use Macs. I also have a laptop which I can easily hook together and never have any problems with it.
If your going to buy the new mini, be sure to get an airport card. it makes life so much easier. I would also buy the 80meg harddrive. the Emac I have has only a 40 in it and I had to add a 125 to keep up with my needs.
Re(2): Eating my words
[quote]If we think of Apple vs. Microsoft in a political analogy, Apple is like the democrats, and Microsoft the republicans (in the US). [/quote]
It’s a bogus analogy. Apple dreams up stuff that works. Democrats don’t. All the Democratic products are buggy at best when they aren’t disastrously crashing and burning.
Steve