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.

Comments

Re:Yes, but...

[Andy_R]

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."

Re:No screen?

[entrager]

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.

Re:goodbye bank account

[beef curtains]

Yep. In fact, here they are:

http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/

http://www.apple.com/macmini/

MOD PARENT UP

[TheRaven64]

Idiot moderators don't know irony when they see it. The parent poster is paraphrasing CmdrTaco's comment on the launch of the iPod:

No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.

Re:goodbye bank account

[TheViffer]

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?

Re:Small Form Factor PCs?

[Johnathon_Dough]

Not free, but elgato software makes the eyeTV for macs

EyeTV is a feature-rich digital TV recorder with realtime MPEG-2 video encoding that allows you to watch, record and edit your favorite TV shows and movies directly on your Mac. Automatically schedule when to record shows, edit out the unwanted content, and then burn your recording to DVD. You can even pause and replay live TV, letting you watch what you want, when you want it. The combination of EyeTV and an Electronic Program Guide means you'll never miss a show.

I have not actually tried it myself, but apparently it has/will soon have HD support as well.

Re:Small Form Factor PCs?

[WaKall]

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.

All Macs Come with an OS

[Dragonfly]

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!

not $500, $575 -- remember the ram

[Heisenbug]

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.

Re:not $500, $575 -- remember the ram

[kuwan]

Yep

Here's the WoW system requirements:

Mac® System OS X 10.3.5 OS:
933 MHz or higher G4 or G5 processor
512 MB RAM or higher; DDR RAM recommended
ATI or NVIDIA video hardware with 32 MB VRAM or more
4 GB or more of available hard drive space
MacOS X 10.3.5 or newer
56k or higher modem with an Internet connection

Since the cheapest Mac Mini has a 1.25 GHz processor and ATI Radeon 9200 with 32MB of VRAM then you should be set. Though since it only comes with 256 MB of RAM you'll probably need to upgrade to 512 MB, but you were going to do that anyway, right? Actually, you were going to max it out at 1 GB of RAM, right? ;)
--
It works.
Free Flat Screens | Free iPod Photo

Re:goodbye bank account

[Migrant Programmer]

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.

Re:Yes, but...

[Elwood P Dowd]

While Pages may be sufficient for doing the basics of letter writing and entry-level document preparation, many of the more complex business level documents still will require Microsoft Office or an equivalent alternative.

And while Microsoft Office might be sufficient for doing the basics of memo writing and entry-level document preparation, many of the more complex prepress documents still will require Pages or an equivalent alternative.

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.

Re:Where's the Power Supply?

[Oktober Sunset]

http://www.apple.com/hardware/gallery/mac_mini_pc_ jan2005_480.html spin it round and you can see the power supply behind it.