Slashdot Mirror
Will Mac mini Lead the Charge to Smaller Desktops?
elecngnr writes "Maybe size doesn't matter. ZDNet has a story about how the Mac mini may shift consumers away from the larger tower style desktops to smaller ones. Other computer makers, such as HP, have so far been unsuccessful in marketing small computers to consumers. However, Apple does have a history of leading the charge in paradigm shifts in certain aspects of consumer products (e.g. GUI's, color changes, the iPod, and the list goes on). It is also important to recognize that they have been wrong at times too (e.g. the Cube, the Newton, and the one button mouse). Time will tell which list the Mini will belong to."
Although it wasn't well worded, I don't think the OP was trying to say that all of those ideas from Apple were failures in the sense that they don't work or are bad ideas, but rather that they failed to inspire industry-wide trends. The one-button mouse works just fine for the Mac because it was designed with a one-button mouse in mind, so they continue to use it. Nobody else picked up on it, though.
This small form factor could turn out the same way, but I doubt it. Small seems to be the way to go, especially now that upgrades are getting less and less significant to most users (is 4 GHz really going to be better than 3.5?) If you can't make them faster, or if the consumers stop caring whether or not their computer is faster, form factor is a reasonable direction to push research.
I wish that my inferiority complex were as good as yours.
-RenderHead
Now I agree with the argument that maybe Apple should offer a better mouse out of the box, but, well, mice are pretty cheap.
--- Ban humanity.
You won't void your warranty by upgrading your RAM by yourself.
I'm not an Apple guy and even I notice many people like you who enjoy spreading this FUD around. I mean, come on. Hack about it's power or low system specs or anything else, but don't spread FUD like this.
It's more effective to go after real issues and not create un-true ones.
From another site:
I spoke with the product manager for the Mac mini today to clarify a few facts.
1. Yes, it will boot headless, meaning with no display or video device connected, enabling you to have what I like to call an iServe.
2. While it is strongly recommended that you only have an Apple Authorized Service Provider crack it open and install RAM, hard drives, Airport and Bluetooth, it will NOT void your warranty if you do it yourself. As is standard operating procedure, however, anything you break while attempting anything on your own is not Apple's responsibility and will not be covered under warranty. I think that is pretty much common sense.
3. Airport and Bluetooth can, in fact, be added after purchase. AirPort Extreme card and Bluetooth module attach to the Mac mini's motherboard via a special connector and will be sold together as a kit for $129.mac mini insides
4. RAM is the most accessible upgrade once you get the case off. That much is clear from the picture.
5. All upgrades other than RAM are not as accessible, but accessing them won't void your warranty, with list item #2 above in mind.
"Leo Fender was in a 'state of grace' when he designed the Stratocaster." -- Paul Reed Smith
So the question is, why hasn't anyone invented this yet?
Psst. They have.
Flat panel with built in computer... check.
Wireless capability... check.
Plays music, connects to Internet... check.
Bluetooth Wireless keyboard... check.
Random and weird software I've written.
Not true...
Let's take Dell for example.
I had a friend worried about performing a RAM upgrade so he decided to call Dell and ask. Turns out, his warranty is only void if he upgrades the motherboard or processor. (I'm asumming the case would have to stay the same too).
When it comes to PC's... most companies understand the case will get cracked. In fact, I usually recommend dusting every six months... do that with the case sealed.
"You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't come to yours." -- Yogi Berra
Umm.. how about straight from the horse's mouth (er.. keyboard):
http://www.apple.com/ca/macmini/specs.html
Look at footnote number 5 down at the bottom:
Memory upgrade must be performed by an Apple Authorized Service Provider.
The Mac Mini is FAR smaller than ANY mini-ITX I have seen and also WAY more powerful. Most small form factor PCs use low power processors that are weak at best - the G4 in the Mac Mini is throwing out some impressive results.
Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
...because all the mini-itx stuff hangs on so tightly to legacy crap.
I have been looking for YEARS for a legacy-free mini-itx type (SFF) motherboard and have yet to see one.
By legacy-free I mean: no PS/2, no parallel, no VGA, no serial (9-pin or 25-pin). I want USB 2.0, DVI, and gigE. Give it a mini-PCI and/or mini-AGP and I'd be happy.
I've seen Via *announce* a line with just VGA/USB/Ethernet and the rest as headers, but nothing else that fits the bill.
My only "issue" with the mini Mac is the 10/100 Ethernet instead of 10/100/1000. That, however, is what I consider a very minor flaw in what otherwise is my dream machine.
The only other Apple product I owned was the Newton, so it isn't a Mac fan-boy thing.
The mini-itx industry was just too damn hung up on legacy crap for me to ever really be more than just mildly interested in their products.
-Charles
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
When they say that, they are saying that if you buy an Apple memory upgrade that's the only way they will sell it to you. However, if you feel like installing your own memory in the system, you will not void your warranty by installing the third-party memory provided you don't break the mini when doing so .
That's an important distinction. Once you've installed the memory, that memory is not covered by the Apple warranty, and if you break the mini while installing it you can void the mini's warranty. But let's say you install your own 1GB DIMM and all goes swimmingly well. Then, a couple of months later, the hard drive dies.
That hard drive repair is covered by Apple's warranty. They have to - there's a handy law that says so. But if the DIMM you installed is causing the Mac to crash, well, you better hope your RAM provider gave you a warranty for the DIMM - because Apple won't replace it (duh).
-- Josh Turiel
"2. Do not eat iPod Shuffle."
They don't work with iDVD 04, but the Mac mini ships with iDVD 05 which does support external writers (and even if you find one that it won't work with directly, iDVD 05 can now create a disk image which you can then burn using whatever software you want).
Yaz.
No, it is not a flaw. It is built into the design of the OS and to the interface guidelines from day one. What you may not realize is that everything that is accessible from a right click contextual menu on OS X apps is (or should be in the case of 3rd parties) completely accessible by some other method that does not require a multi-button mouse. The menu is optional for those that get used to using control-click often (and it's just control--nothing else!) or who choose to have a multi-button mouse.
This is not the case for Windows or X11. For those of us that do use those systems regularly (myself included), a multi-button mouse make more sense because we've been forced to use it to access complete functionality of applications. The mind-share of the one-button mouse users are even smaller than those of us devoted to OS X, but the design of that mouse and it's use in OS X is most definitely not "flawed". Just different. Maybe too different these days, but there you go...
I get along fine with my PB when I don't have the space to attach an extra mouse. The thing that bugs me more than having to use control is the fact that the function key is where my finger wants control to be, but that's a problem with many more laptops than just Apple's.
Maybe not even then.
The Mac service guide specifically says that a dealer who opens a mac mini should use a 1.5 inch beveled putty knive (there's even an apple part number for it - 922-6761). Page two of that guide is how to sharpen the edges of a standard putty knife for this purpose.
So if you break a clip (assuming that they're that flimsy) by performing the same procedure that a dealer would, how are they going to tell? You can just say the last dealer did it... not that they'd ask.
I play UT a lot, and have a 9200 in my G5 tower. It handles fairly high resolutions just fine.
The Mac mini would handle most gaming (ESPECIALLY at TV or HDTV resolutions) just fine.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
While I agree with most of your post, this is incorrect. The iMac G5s use standard 184-pin DDR DIMMs.
The G4's might've used SO-DIMMs, but I haven't had one open.