01-19-2005, 03:09 PM
Apple's innovation has far less to do with the actual construction or size of the mac mini and far more to do with the style. And yes, I know what I just said.
The 'Computer' in 'Apple Computer' is becoming less and less important. If you look at the recent apple designs (mac mini, iMac G5) the effects the iPod has had on virtually all other apple products is instantly and obviously apparent. People don't buy an iPod because it has the best price or the best specs. They buy the iPod because people see the iPod and go "cool!" They buy the iPod because it's "the best."
One other note -- it's hardly fair to compare the mac mini to barebones PC's, either out of the box or custom built. Most of the bare bones systems you see (particularly the really cheap ones) are clones or no-name brands, with terrible components inside. And finally, remember that it's not running windows :). I recently built a PC (long story short it was too good a deal for me to pass up) and have had more viruses, spyware and adware programs in less than 7 days online than my iMac has had in over 7 YEARS connected to high speed (all but the last 8 months without ANY protection except the built-in firewall). The mac mini is perfect for someone who doesn't need any kind of real computing power (internet and word processing, etc) doesn't know anything about computers and wouldn't know what an antivirus program is if you smacked them upside the head with it.
gekko
The 'Computer' in 'Apple Computer' is becoming less and less important. If you look at the recent apple designs (mac mini, iMac G5) the effects the iPod has had on virtually all other apple products is instantly and obviously apparent. People don't buy an iPod because it has the best price or the best specs. They buy the iPod because people see the iPod and go "cool!" They buy the iPod because it's "the best."
One other note -- it's hardly fair to compare the mac mini to barebones PC's, either out of the box or custom built. Most of the bare bones systems you see (particularly the really cheap ones) are clones or no-name brands, with terrible components inside. And finally, remember that it's not running windows :). I recently built a PC (long story short it was too good a deal for me to pass up) and have had more viruses, spyware and adware programs in less than 7 days online than my iMac has had in over 7 YEARS connected to high speed (all but the last 8 months without ANY protection except the built-in firewall). The mac mini is perfect for someone who doesn't need any kind of real computing power (internet and word processing, etc) doesn't know anything about computers and wouldn't know what an antivirus program is if you smacked them upside the head with it.
gekko
"Life is sacred and you are not its steward. You have stewardship over it but you don't own it. You're making a choice to go through this, it's not just happening to you. You're inviting it, and in some ways delighting in it. It's not accidental or coincidental. You're choosing it. You have to realize you've made choices."
-Michael Ventura, "Letters@3AM"
-Michael Ventura, "Letters@3AM"