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

goodbye bank account

[rwurth]

wait, cheap Mac, cheap iPod. Nevermind

Re:goodbye bank account

[beef curtains]

Yep. In fact, here they are:

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

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

Re:goodbye bank account

[sydsavage]

Quote from the Mac Mini webpage:

And yes, Mac mini will take advantage of your two-button USB mouse with scroll-wheel and your favorite USB keyboard. Just plug them in.

Since you supply the mouse and keyboard, they've essentially nipped that perennial argument in the bud.

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:goodbye bank account

[javaxman]

Nope. No mouse in the box. No keyboard, either.

The box is - get this - smaller than the standard iPod box.

That's what they'll complain about. No mouse sold with the computer. Cheap-ass Apple, expecting me to already have a USB mouse... oh, wait...

Re:goodbye bank account

[Anonymous Coward]

There are two reasons that Apple doesn't ship two-button mice - one is simplicity for beginning users, the other is that it forces lazy developers to expose functionality in the UI and NOT just bury it in a contextual menu. Windows drives me batty because features are commonly implemented that way.

Re:goodbye bank account

[mindstrm]

A bold move?

OS X has never been limitd to a 1 button mouse. IN fact, every mac user I've seen who uses a mouse uses a typical multi-button optical mouse, or other exotic device. Almost nobody uses the stock 1 button mouse.

The only reason it's even mentioned here is because apple doens't supply peripherals with the mini.

You plug in a two button mouse, and it behaves as you would expect, it's not a "kludge" or anything like that. THis is nothing new, macs haven't been limited to one button mice since along, long time ago.

Re:goodbye bank account

[Infamous Coward]

Hidden costs indeed. If you upgrade the Mac mini to 1GB of memory through the Apple store, the additional cost is $425! So that $500 marvel is now $925. And for OS X to really sing, mucho memory is required.

Sadly, the math is starting to break down...

Re:goodbye bank account

[Moofie]

If you'd ever been on a phone call with your grandmother trying to explain the difference between the right and the left mouse button, you'll know...APPLE WAS NOT WRONG.

The one-button mouse is a good default. The fact that they support a richer interface for the people that want one is great.

Re:goodbye bank account

[Snocone]

The fact that I can't carry a few spare AAA batteries

Ahem.

" ... Extend the playback time of your iPod shuffle with the Battery Pack, powered by two AAA batteries..."

Won't work as a plain ole' USB thumb device

Ahem.

"... Store files along with your music ..." ...Closed systems ... gouge me on a replacement battery ... doesn't play OGGs...

Nobody. In. The. Target. Market. Gives. A. Flying. Fuck.

Should I keep going?

Well, you haven't actually started yet, so please.

Re:goodbye bank account

[Thundersnatch]

Look at the fine print at the bottom of the iPod Shuffle page:

"Do not eat iPod shuffle.

Nice...

Re:goodbye bank account

[kzinti]

Who in their right mind buys memory from an OEM? Don't get on Apple's case about expensive memory, because it's true in the PC world too! Whether it's Dell, Sony, IBM, whoever - you're almost always better off dollarwise to buy your system with the least available memory, then buy the upgrade from someone else. With the exception of the occasional special deal, this has been true for as long as I can remember.

Of course, this begs the question: does the mini allow user upgrades? Can't check because the Apple site isn't responding at the moment, but that little box looks to be shut tighter than a virgin's iPod.

Re:goodbye bank account

[Golias]

My Mac mini order would have gone through by now if you bastards were not slashdotting the store to gawk at the specs!

Somebody hurry up and start an EQ2 vs. WoW flamewar or something, so the Apple Store servers will free up!

Re:goodbye bank account

[Moofie]

Look at all the icons in your system tray. Take an inventory of all the functions that are available with the right click, and then all the things that happen with a left click. I've been using computers for 20 years, and I not infrequently have to try both.

This is poor, poor design. Yes, it's poor design by the coders, but it's abetted by the availability of a right mouse button. Too many UI designers use that as a crutch. Don't know where a function should go? Sure, put it in a contextual menu.

With the Mac, all contextual menus are optional. I simply don't use them very much. I use middle-click for new tabs in Safari, and I like the scroll wheel, but neither of those features are critical to making the operating system function.

Try to run Windows without a right mouse button. It's possible, but MUCH harder.

Redundant?

[timster]

no wireless. Slower than a dell. Lame.

From iPod Shuffle website

[m_dob]

2. Do not eat

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

$499 Mac? Damn

[Anonymous Coward]

Well now that's it's true...damn, even I might buy one!

I'm begining to get the feeling that Steve Jobs might be trying to reposition Apple. Hardware is a mugs game, after all. We all know what happened the last time Apple tried to licence the Mac to clone builders..but what if they tried it now?

It seems to me that over the last two or three years Apple has been working to reposition itself from a hardware company to a more diverse place, where the OS and the services it offers (E.g. iTunes) are what matters more than the hardware. The $499 Mac would seem to enforce that point. The idea is obviously to try and penetrate into the mid range market; make the Mac an everymans computer. If they can do it, and if they can increase their market share, they would certainly seem to have enough room to manovour and licence the Mac to clone builders again..

Re:Mac Mini

[rayde]

i agree. most people have always agreed that mac os x is superior, but price has always been the sticky issue. with price becoming more realistic, perhaps apple can start winning back its market share.

i think this is just the beginning. if apple stays in this market, we'll see more powerful iterations of the mac mini in a similar price point with more powerful features down the road.

kudos apple!

Perfect Terminal

[hbuschme]

The Mac Mini will be a perfect X-Terminal to use with a Linux box in another room. You'll have a silent and small box on your desk and the fat and loud server is down in the basement. Great.

Never owned a Mac in my life but I'm getting one..

[WIAKywbfatw]

The Mac Mini looks like it's the thing for me. I've never owned a Mac in my life - I've used a few in my time and I've been to a few Mac Expos with Mac-owning friends - but I think that's about to change.

This is the Mac for all of us who said Macs were too expensive. For around £400 (yeah, Apple just like the rest of them loves screwing non-Americans when it comes to exchange rates) I'll have a nice little toy that'll give me some first-hand experience of MacOS 10.4 plus my girlfriend will have a easy-to-use machine that she can play with when I'm hogging my PC.

Hopefully, it'll work with the PS/2 keyboards and mice that I've got lying around, if not then I suppose that I'll be shelling out for USB ones but that's no great loss.

Mark my words: these babies are going to sell like hot cakes.

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.

Evil Steve Jobs

[krbvroc1]

I can just see Evil Steve Jobs at the marketing table. He raises his pinky to the corner of his mouth and says, "I'll think I'll call it mini Mac".

Bhwahahaha.

Re:Mac Mini

[Xzzy]

That's not the point, the point is it makes it marketable as a PC replacement. A cheap replacement.

Apple started hooking PC users in with the iPod, now they can reel them in with a plug and play replacement.

Gotta admit it's pretty clever. ;)

http://www.macmerc.com/

[slapout]

http://www.macmerc.com blogged the thing live. I hope they don't made me posting it here.

01:59 PM - The speech is wrapping up. Please stay tuned to MacMerc for coverage. I'll be moblogging photos from the Apple booth in a few minutes. And if you haven't already, please PayPal us a buck or two (button left column). Thanks!

01:54 PM - Shipping starting today. Accessories rolling out in the next four weeks.

01:54 PM - 2 models: 512MB for $99 and 1GB for $149.99.

01:53 PM - Autofill: button in iTunes to make a playlist sized for the iPod shuffle. You can also manually fill it. You can also use the iPod Shuffle as a USB flash drive (choose how much for songs how much for data).

01:50 PM - iPod Shuffle: really tiny (smaller than most packs of gum), no screen, weighs under 1 ounce. Cap on the bottom, USB 2. 12 hour rechargeable battery. PC/Mac. Looks about the size of a flash key drive.

01:46 PM - There is one more thing: iPod marketshare is 65% over double last year. But Apple is going after the remaining flash player market.

01:45 PM - Motorola: iTunes client on Motorola phones. Showing Motorola e398. Phones shipping this spring.

01:43 PM - iPods on cars: BMW, Mercedes, Nissan, Volvo, Scion.

01:40 PM - We have the iPod and the iPod mini (something else coming???). Holiday 2004 quarter iPod sales: 4.5 million vs. 730K a year ago. Cross 10 million iPods sold, 8 million in 2004.

01:39 PM - Moving onto iPod...

01:37 PM - iTMS sold 230 million songs so far. On pace for 1.25 billion.

01:36 PM - Mac mini is in stores January 22nd.

01:34 PM - The Mac mini fits in the palm of your hand. Hook it into your own keyboard and mouse, or Apple's. Comes with Panther and iLife 05. Price point:$499 $599.

01:34 PM - The Mac mini looks like a 3" tall CD drive. A short cube. All the connections, DVI and VGA.

01:33 PM - Introducing the Mac mini -- ThinkSecret was right!

01:32 PM - "Why doesn't Apple provide a stripped down lower cost Mac?"

01:32 PM - iWork available January 22 for $79

01:27 PM - Phil is out to do a demo of Pages. Start with a blank page or a template. Import photos in pages through iPhoto library (iLife is integrated). Designed by the Keynote team. Word processing with a sense of style.

01:21 PM - iWork announced, to replace AppleWorks. Built from the ground up for OS X. Includes major update to Keynote: 10 new themes, animated text, powerful animated builds, presenter display, interactive slideshows, self playing kiosk slideshows.
PagesOther part of iWork, advanced word processor. 40 Apple designed templates.

01:21 PM - iLife 2005 will be priced at $79. Goes on sale a week from this Friday. Free on all new Macs.

01:18 PM - Traffic update: about 100,000 pages an hour. Please donate if you have found this useful--the webhost enjoys being paid. (PayPal button sidebar left). Update: Thanks guys, keep em coming. We sprung for a dedicated server for our coverage.

01:15 PM - John Mayer is on stage showing the new GarageBand (he helped introduce the first version). Notes, "I didn't win any grammy's for playing the piano."

01:14 PM - GarageBand '05: Up to 8 track recording. Real time music notation (taken from Logic), pitch and timing fixing, recorded tracks now can act as loops, create loops, vocal transformer. Also a new Jampack (#4)

01:09 PM - iDVD '05: 15 new animated themes, OneStep DVD creation (video to DVD in one step), All DVD formats(+R/W).

01:05 PM - Spotted on stage, small metallic box with Apple logo...

01:04 PM - The president of Sony is on stage talking about HD. Steve is a fan of Sony's prosumer HD video camera (just $3499).

12:58 PM - iMovie 05: Faster, non destructive trimming, more transitions and effects, mpeg 4 video, Magic iMovie (auto movie). Biggest feature: HD.

12:45 PM - iPhoto '05: Better searching, More formats, far more powerful editing, more book designs, better organization (folders, c

Re:Mac Mini

[mithras the prophet]

It's even better than one-button. Steve is officially selling the zero-mouse-button Mac.

Small Form Factor PCs?

[Mad_Rain]

I was thinking about getting a little Small-form factor box to run something like MythTv, something along the lines of a AMD64. But checking out the Mac mini just makes me wonder about how I could get that going. Anyone think that this box could be a useful solution to that kind of project? I think the fairly standardized hardware would make that pretty simple to do, but being a non-mac person, I have no idea.

And damn - just in time to consider when upgrading my parents old machines. ;)

Re:Small Form Factor PCs?

[Anonymous Coward]

Another thing to note. A DIN slot (car radio standard size) is 2"x7", the mini mac is 2"x6.5".

If it had a radio faceplate and a laptop drive, this would be the best car stereo ever.

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.

Do NOT Taunt iPod Shuffle

[SPYvSPY]

* Warning: Pregnant women, the elderly and children under 10 should avoid prolonged exposure to iPod Shuffle.

* Caution: iPod Shuffle may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds.

* iPod Shuffle contains a liquid core, which, if exposed due to rupture, should not be touched, inhaled, or looked at.

* Do not use iPod Shuffle on concrete.

Discontinue use of iPod Shuffle if any of the following occurs:

* Itching

* Vertigo

* Dizziness

* Tingling in extremities

* Loss of balance or coordination

* Slurred speech

* Temporary blindness

* Profuse sweating

* Heart palpitations

If iPod Shuffle begins to smoke, get away immediately. Seek shelter and cover head.

iPod Shuffle may stick to certain types of skin.

When not in use, iPod Shuffle should be returned to its special container and kept under refrigeration...

Failure to do so relieves the makers of iPod Shuffle, Apple Computer Corp. and its iCEO Steven P. Jobs, of any and all liability.

Ingredients of iPod Shuffle include an unknown glowing substance which fell to Earth, presumably from outer space.

iPod Shuffle has been shipped to our troops in Saudi Arabia and is also being dropped by our warplanes on Iraq.

Do not taunt iPod Shuffle.

iPod Shuffle comes with a lifetime guarantee.

iPod Shuffle

ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES!

Re:Yes, but...

[soullessbastard]

Disclaimer: I am a developer for Mac OS X OpenOffice.org and a founder of the NeoOffice project.

Just the fact that you can import and export doesn't exactly mean it's 100% compatible. Heck, even Office v.X/2004 isn't 100% compatible with Windows Office generated files. One of the strengths of OpenOffice.org and NeoOffice is the accuracy of their import and export filters.

I wouldn't suspect Pages would be successful converting Word documents that have embedded Excel spreadsheets and charts those that go trapesing off to do database queries with macros. I suspect Pages would convert them to tatters.

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. Office may be bloatware, but that doesn't prevent people from finding a way to use all of those features and then complaining when they don't work in another product. That makes true document compatibility a difficult task that can't fully be addrsesed by a word processing application alone.

ed

Proof of the iPod dominance in the marketplace

[amichalo]

An interesting note from MacWorld is something Jobs said about the iPod Mini.

Before the iPod Mini was released, the flash player market was double what it is today. That means the iPod Mini did NOT canibalize hard drive player/iPod sales but instead got Flash player buyers to spend more money on buying a Mini and claimed the upper end of the Flash Player market.

This means the iPod Shuffle is being sent in to sweep up the low end market where people are buying $49 128 MB players.

One reason for no screen on iPod Shuffle

[saddino]

As Jobs noted, the iPod Mini took a nice chunk out of the Flash MP3 player market and thus the Shuffle is meant to take the remainder (low end). However, if the Shuffle were to have a screen (and thus be fully functional) it would almost certainly eat into Mini sales. Thus, the lack of screen is not only a design (elegant) and engineering (fewer parts) triumph, but also a marketing coup (increase marketshare without cannabalizing sales). Impressive.

iWant iWant iWant!

[Yaztromo]

It's all so beautiful...[sniff].

Okay, the new Mac Mini is going to be perfect for my mother. It's certainly going onto the "iWant List".

iLife 05 and iWork I'm going to put on order today (if I can get through to the Apple Store -- that's for /.'ing Apple everyone ;) ).

Damn. I had prepared myself this morning to find out that maybe one of the rumours was true, but all of the major rumours turned out to be true. Joy oh joy! It's like having another Christmas all over again :).

Please allow me to point one last thing out: to all of those here (and elsewhere) who complained that Macs were too expensive, it's now time to put up or shut up. Buy the new Mac Mini, or never speak of the purported high cost of Apple hardware again.

Yaz.

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:Mac Mini

[Trurl's Machine]

What I can't quite make out is if the MiniMac is fanless?

I'm typing this right from the showroom in mini-MWSF in Paris. Silent work is also quite important for me. What can I say is that Mini Mac is totally silent when it works (I literally did press my ear to it). Maybe it has a fan that kicks in once in a while, like in iBooks, but when it just runs - it runs with no fan.

No

[Rew190]

The Mac Mini is aimed clearly at PC users looking to switch, but featurewise it is a disappointment.

It has OS X and is an affordable Apple computer. That is all it needs to succeed in the market Apple is shooting for.

Mac Mini Mod

[lsmeg]

OK, so how long till someone mods the Mac Mini to fit in one or two PC drive bays? :) Maybe route the usb through to the PC's usb headers, a custom bracket in the back of the PC for DVI... Hmm, that could actually work...

A number of points you miss:

[SuperKendall]

All of the points you got wrong are related to who is going to buy this in droves - people have have PC's who like iPods and are tired of the PC world.

In that world, the computer might be a little old - and slowed further by virus/spyware that have crept in. This computer will seem like a rocket.

Plus of course it's like 1/10 the size of a clunky Dell box, a plus for anyone.

The firewire port is also not a "slight win" for anyone that likes to play with video, which is all parents in the US.

It's a box for people that want to buy a computer without having to worry about a computer. It's for people who like iPods and wonder what else Apple can do. Shortly it may well be anyone looking for a high-end DVD player and PVR. It's basically a computer for anyone that has not got a PC yet, or wants something different - dare I say a PC for the rest of us?

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.

Re:The one mouse button

[jfw25]

Because the Firefox developers followed the Mac user interface guidelines on the Mac version, when you click a link in Firefox with a one-button mouse, it performs the action most commonly expected -- open the page in the current tab. If you click AND HOLD, or if you press the control key, it brings up a contextual menu which offers you a wealth of other choices (new window, new tab, download, bookmark, ...).

Many people find the hold-down-one-button paradigm to be easier to learn and use than multiple buttons. Other people find having multiple buttons easier to learn than multiple actions with the same button. Curse Apple for trying to make their computers useful to both kinds of users!