Apple invited people to a smaller-than-usual event, and promised very little: "fun."
That's subjective--nothing is "fun" to everyone.
Now, OUTSIDE parties blew the hype out of control. iBooks! Movie store! Tablet Macs! Video iPod! There's the source of the "disappointment."
The iPod Hi-Fi looks like a good value and good at what it does. If you don't NEED what it does, then no harm done. Apple CAN survive having some products that don't change the world, but merely do a job well.
The Mac Mini looks GREAT though--many upgrades over the old model--and complaints that a low-end machine must be for 3D gamers don't make sense to me. I choose to wait for REAL reports of the GMA950 performance before I whine. Apple claims the new Mini CAN play 3D games and supports hardware-accelerated Core Graphics. Which games? How fast? We'll know soon--but high-end 3D is not the goal of a low-end Mac.
I think a lot of complaints stem from Apple not having a MID-range headless, below the PowerMac. So people try to make the Mac Mini into something it's not. I hope Apple adds a mid-range headless sometime, with a higher GPU.
But what the Mini IS is a very fast and capable consumer system for iLife, Internet, general productivity, and lightweight gaming.
