Will Mac Mini spur petite-PC revolution?

[MacBytes]

Category: Opinion/Interviews
Link: Will Mac Mini spur petite-PC revolution? (http://www.macbytes.com/link.php?sid=20050127125310)
Posted on MacBytes.com (http://www.macbytes.com)

Approved by Mudbug

[Photorun]

No, seriously, I'm asking. There's isn't a creative brain cell in the entire vacuous and devoid of imagination peecee world. Without Apple, they'd still be making giant metal boxes with built in acromatic monitors and big hard plastic keyboards that weighed 80 pounds, oh, and built in 5.25 floppy drives. Apple innovates, the peecee world follows, has been that way for well over 20 years. Watch in the coming weeks for almost as small, aesthetically FUGLY peecees with lackluster specs, comparing themselves to Apple (of course, they always do, and in this case imitation ISN'T the sincerest form of flattery, it's just pathetic peecee pandering to their already ignorant masses of sheep) and, I'm sure, these ugly, woefully bad copies will be a bit cheaper. They'll probably have shared video memory, and some other not-so good things but dumb peecee lusers don't get this and will feed on them like the soulless joe six pack masses they are.

Morons for morons in a world of morons, wheee!

(Wow, I'm extra snarky today with a side sauce of snark! But soooo RIGHT!)

[clayj]

This is an area where a PC company with outstanding design skills (Sony, for example) could make a real dent. Sony already knows how to make excellent consumer electronics... combine that with a PC, and they could easily make a "PC mini" comparable to the Mac mini in every way except software (Windows XP vs. Mac OS X).

[brap]

Oh, really.

Research, research, research... smaller is cooler in the PC world, and has been for a long time. I bought my first Shuttle 2... wait, 3 years ago. Now I know many people who've gone the same way.

Then take VIA, and their incredible Mini-ITX systems (and that insane Nano-ITX motherboard prototype they have). This has been coming for a long time, but as usual Apple have put it together with the least fuss, and the most class. A Mini is actually going to cost the same as a high-end VIA Nehemiah-based system, something I was considering prior to MWSF...

[24C]

This is an area where a PC company with outstanding design skills (Sony, for example) could make a real dent. Sony already knows how to make excellent consumer electronics... combine that with a PC, and they could easily make a "PC mini" comparable to the Mac mini in every way except software (Windows XP vs. Mac OS X).
If one company can make small, Sony can, but the problem with small has always been heat...something most higher spec Windows machines generate with abundance. If you apply laptop technology in a rejigged case, you might get close, and if you get more critical of the Mac mini, you could improve on it. You don't have to be Einstein, sadly now the cats out of the bag.
Whatever happens Apple has a 9 month lead time, and if the Mac mini keeps garnering good press and sales, those PC copies will come late this year, as it happened with the iPods, BUT we all know which has the better software/ user experience.
It might be an interesting scenario Dell mini vs. Mac mini, but IMO it'll be like old times G4 PowerMac vs. P4 Tower, and the arguments will continue as to what is better :D

[bigandy]

of course it will

look at the way people are trying to clone all macs, from the powermac to the powerbook!

[neoelectronaut]

I would think so. In '99 everyone copied the iMac. In '05 everyone will copy the Mac Mini.

[Lacero]

Apple can make the Mac Mini even smaller, by using 60GB 1.5" hard drives, and SO-DIMM RAM. They could move to a 970FX chip with throttled speed, and miniaturize the motherboard further. Maybe 6"x6"x1"?

[1macker1]

PC users don't care about the form factor. Most just put their machines under their desk. I'm not getting the hype behind the Mini's form factor, but i'm behind the hype of the price.

[clayj]

Apple can make the Mac Mini even smaller, by using 60GB 1.5" hard drives, and SO-DIMM RAM. They could move to a 970FX chip with throttled speed, and miniaturize the motherboard further. Maybe 6"x6"x1"?I think there comes a point where you have to say "This is small enough." Look at the Mac mini... its power brick almost weighs as much as the machine itself, and the machine almost disappears on any shelf you put it on. My focus, were I to be the one making decisions, would be to increase the available power/storage/memory in the same form factor.

As far as heat dissipation goes, couldn't a thermal conductor be inserted into the power cord? Then you'd have a several foot long radiator pulling heat out of the machine and dropping it into "open air", or even into the power outlet's ground. (Or is that a bad idea?)

[nagromme]

Yes, mini Windows PCs will take off amazingly, just like all-in-one Windows PCs ;)

[macnulty]

soulless joe six pack masses

beg to differ, many are doctors, lawyers, assorted Phd's and MBA's, architecs,
accounts, teachers, movie producers, musicians, and on and on and on, some can even spell

[24C]

beg to differ, many are doctors, lawyers, assorted Phd's and MBA's, architecs,
accounts, teachers, movie producers, musicians, and on and on and on, some can even spell
I am very happy for them, but I use an Apple, and I can do virtually anything (not by my perception, that's what others say about me), but it has nothing to do with why I use an Apple or why hordes of people use a PC.
Perception, ignorance and having too are the first reasons that come to mind for the latter.

If you are going to criticise someone's spelling, IMO it would be a good idea to finish the words off with a few more letters, for example architects and accountants. ;) Must be that spell checker playing up :D