Slashdot Mirror
iPod Shuffle, Mac Mini, iLife '05, iWork
A number of announcements from the Mac World keynote this afternoon.
The iPod Shuffle is pack-of-gum sized, no screen, weighs less than an ounce. Ships today, $99 for the half gig, $149 for a gig.
The Mac Mini is the headless iMac... 6x6x2.5 with all the expected plugs, starting at $499.
Lot's of tiger bits, spotlight, virtual folders in Mail.app. iLife '05 will ship Jan 22. iPhoto gets folders and video support. iMovie supports HD. GarageBand gets 8 channel recording. iWork includes Keynote 2, and 'Pages' the new word processor and ships the same day as iLife.
Yes. From http://www.apple.com/iwork/
"Pages is compatible. It imports AppleWorks documents and imports and exports Microsoft Word documents. Want to share your documents online? Pages also offers the easiest way to create great looking PDF files. Pages makes it easy to share your work with others."
A pizza of radius z and thickness a has a volume of pi z z a
I should add that it's possible to have it play songs in a pre-set order, which you would define from within iTunes. You would just need to memorize the order.
Engadget has some pictures of the mac mini http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000590026982/ It's about 1/3 the size of the cube- looks smaller than most external cd drives. They're going to cell millions.
iPod Shuffle: http://webpages.charter.net.nyud.net:8090/mattman7 /shuf.jpg
7 /mini.jpg
Mac Mini: http://webpages.charter.net.nyud.net:8090/mattman
Yep. In fact, here they are:
http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/
http://www.apple.com/macmini/
Just once I'd like someone to call me 'Sir' without adding 'You're making a scene.'
No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
There are PS/2 to USB adapters. I use a similiar one to the link below with my iBook. http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat_id=1501& sku=27225
Buy a Mac keyboard to go with it, and you get two more USB connectors right there.
Depends ... could be hidden costs. On the specifications page it clearly states the following.
"Memory upgrade must be performed by an Apple Authorized Service provider."
So does that void the warrenty if you crack the case open to swap out say the memory or drives?
-- Knowing too much can get you killed, but knowing who knows too much can make you rich.
So don't. Just play your playlist the way you ordered it before uploading.
Damn those pesky terrorists
Similar to yourself, I've also got the feeling I'll be a Mac owner pretty soon.
Backup not found: (A)bort (R)etry (P)anic
I have not actually tried it myself, but apparently it has/will soon have HD support as well.
If you are one in a million, then there are six thousand people who are just like you.
MythFrontend is already a first-class Mac application. You could set your minimac to autologin a user, start MythFrontend at login automatically for that user, and now you just need some form of remote control.
You'll still need a MythBackend around, with the TV capture card in it and running Linux. AFAIK, Myth recording is still Linux-only.
Myth Frontend for OSX is really slick. I run it on my G5 and it just usurps the position of wallpaper while I have AIM windows on top of it.
So yes, $499 includes the latest version of Mac OS X.
As a side note, all Apple servers include a copy of OS X Server UNLIMITED Client. Factor that in every time you compare a Windows Server to an XServe!
OK, all you folks who are about to get your first Mac -- yes, do it, it's worth it. But listen, OS X just won't be happy with 256MB of RAM. Throw in another $75 and get 512.
Apple loves overcharging for ram. I don't know why, and it bugs me, so normally I upgrade from a third party right after I get a new computer. That isn't an option here, so just bite the bullet and do it. Otherwise, we're all going to be back here in a month complaining about how slow the mini is, and no one wants that.
> Oh yeah, and the fact that, apparantly, you can listen ONLY in shuffle mode - hence the name.
Sorry, no:
"With Play in Order mode, you manage the music. If things take a turn for the predictable, never fear. Turn iPod shuffle over, flip the slider to Shuffle and mix on the go." http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/
Trolls indeed.
Closed systems.
Boo hoo.
The fact that I can't carry a few spare AAA batteries.
A battery extender accessory that uses AAA batteries was also released today.
The fact that Apple will gouge me on a replacement battery when it dies (and it will).
Boo hoo. Replace it yourself.
The fact that I'll need to tie the iPod Shuffle's serial number to my PC.
WTF?
The fact that it's firmware likely isn't upgradable.
The firmware of other iPods is upgradeable, and has been upgraded several times by Apple in the past.
It probably doesn't play OGGs.
It probably doesn't play the Adlib file format either. That's about the same amount of impact on its potential user base. Before I forget: boo hoo.
Won't work as a plain ole' USB thumb device.
It sure will. You can specify how much of the space is used for music, and how much is used for other files.
Oh yeah, and the fact that, apparantly, you can listen ONLY in shuffle mode - hence the name.
Apparently you need to get a clue. There's a switch to change between Shuffle mode and Play In Order mode.
Apple's iPod shuffle website
IHBT, and I am having a very nice day, thank you.
Bitchslapped. Neat.
1) OS Cost not factored in. Unless you're assuming that the Windows XP copy would be pirated (an understandable assumption)
2) The volume of the Mac Mini (that needs to be reversed, henceforth, it is the Mini-Mac) is listed in the description of the product (6.5" x 6.5" x 2"; 16.5 cm x 16.5 cm x 5.1 cm)
Pretty much, it's a cheap Mac that I'm interested in picking up... (especially since I need to learn how to fix my mom's new iBook G4...)
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong...
Nephilium
Look at Apple's screenies for Pages, and tell me that you'd want to try and use MS Word to create those documents. I'd rather have a hole in my head. Pages' layout features look as if they surpass Word like Keynote surpasses PowerPoint. Yes, if you need an embedded Excel spreadsheet, you'll need Office. But you might already have MS Office, and still need Pages.
There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
http://www.apple.com/hardware/gallery/mac_mini_pc_ jan2005_480.html
spin it round and you can see the power supply behind it.
What if Tetris was invented by Nazis?
The Mini looks looks like another homerun, their first small form factor PC
Don't forget the Cube. The difference between the Mini and the Cube is that the Cube used expensive parts while the Mini probably uses compenents from the iBook line. Oh, and the Cube went for $1300 more than the Mini, IIRC, and also did not come with a monitor.
I'll be curious to see how the HTML and .doc compatibility works.
.doc formatting working perfectly as well as I care about HTML formatting working perfectly. And the answer is that it doesn't work very well at all. Most of the general layout is there, but much is lost. I didn't ask to see .doc exporting.
I just got back from MacWorld, and this was the very first thing I asked of the very first demoer I saw. Well, I don't care about
One of the project managers was over the shoulder of the demo guy, and he pointed out "but our columns have features that they don't have". The columns actually worked perfectly, but text flow around an image element had a semi-messed up border.
Obviously, given the headaches of multiple browser compatibility, there would be absolutely no way that they could allow you to use whatever layout feature you wanted in Pages, export it to HTML, and have it to look perfect. Unfortunately, it doesn't look very good at all. The demo guy said, "Well, all the content is there".
Outside of the HTML export, the application is fucking rad. If your desired output method is PDF or paper, I've never seen a slicker word processor. They beefed up the Keynote canvas until it could handle everything you need for page layout.
There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
Shuttle XPC Model SN41G2V3 - Item#N82E16856101460 $269.00
AMD Mobile Athlon XP 2500+ - Item#N82E16819103401 $88.00
Geil 512MB(256MBx2) - Item#N82E16820144309 $80.00
Western Digital 80GB - Item#N82E16822144122 $60.33
NEC 16X Double Layer DVD±RW - Item#N82E16827152037 $67.99
Logitech diNovo Cordless - Item#N82E16823126166 $125.00
NETGEAR Dual Band Wireless PCI - Item#N82E16833122126 $71.99
Innocom V.92/56KData/Fax/voice Modem - Item#N82E16825100103 $21.50
ATI RADEON 9200 128MB DDR - Item#N82E16814102287 $93.50
Windows XP Media Center 2005 - Item#N82E16832102311 $131.00
Office Small Business 2003 - Item#N82E16837116148 $331.00
Intuit Quicken 2005 Basic - Item#N82E16832109137 $36.00
total: $1,374.81
the mac is a BTO, added BT, AP, BT-keyboard and mouse
Mac mini 1.42GHz Accessory kit
Internal Bluetooth + AirPort Extreme Card
80GB Ultra ATA drive
SuperDrive
56K v.92 Modem
512MB DDR333 SDRAM - 1 DIMM
Mac OS X - U.S. English - P/N: Z0B8 $903.00
Wireless Keyboard & Mouse Set - P/N: B9396LL/A $99.00
Office 2004 for Mac - P/N: T9189LL/A $399.95
:-( (that would be a LACK of games, although that's changing, slowly)
total: $1,401.95
differences for the shuttle:
DVD burner(the only silver ones were 16x).
Modem(has to be external if you want PCI-802.11a/b/g)
summary:
shuttle pluses
- you can build it yourself
- you can upgrade it yourself
- games(!)
shuttle minuses
- you can build it yourself
- you can upgrade it yourself
- Windows
- finding drivers, updating patches
- fan noise
mac mini pluses
- its very small
- its very quiet
- it looks nicer(subjective)
- the software is preinstalled
- there's more software included(appleworks, iLife, garage band, iMovie, iDVD)
mac mini minuses
- you can't upgrade it
- you can't make it faster(see previous)
- it's easy to steal(not showing up in any offices anytime soon)
- games
so once you've added up all the stuff you need to match the mini, you end up darn near close;
a $27.14 difference in favor of the Shuttle.
"...that's as white as it gets; all the bits are on..."