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Dvorak on the iMac Mini

Vector

Vector

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 13, 2002
835
1
Everyone's favorite columnist John Dvorak has voiced his opinions on the release of the new iMac Mini.

Surprisingly he is rather nice in his article unlike the majority of his Apple related diatribes.
 
Amazingly nice for Dvorak. Aside from possible heat dissipation issues, he says:

The machine in every other sense is close to perfect.
Click to expand...

I do believe his column must have been hacked. ;)
 
Vector said:
Everyone's favorite columnist John Dvorak has voiced his opinions on the release of the new iMac Mini.

Surprisingly he is rather nice in his article unlike the majority of his Apple related diatribes.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. I was looking forward to reading Dvorak's reaction. I have to say I'm a bit surprised. Basically, he's saying that if the Mac mini doesn't exhibit any kinds of heat or reliability problems, he'll have no problem recommending it to people, especially new users.

Has someone kidnapped the old Dvorak?
 
Dvorak sez:

Once this unit gets into the field and passes the tests of the real world, I'll have no trouble recommending it as a machine of choice, especially to new users. And I haven't done that with an Apple product for years.
Click to expand...

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Hell HAS frozen over.
 
I'm conservatively optimistic about it as well. I know he would never go out on a limb for anything, so that's almost a ringing endorsement.

Now, if I can go into CompUSA 6 months from now and not see a stack of boxes labeled Mac mini, I'd be happy. (After seeing the same thing with G3 iMacs and eMacs, avoiding that with Mac minis would be good.)
 
Does anyone even still listen to this old badger? I know we don't, because, as we all know, he so frequently insults or completely misses the point on many of Mac-Heads favorite toys.

But does the mainstream media or PC consumer base as a whole still have any respect for this old man? I can't imagine liking him even if I didn't love my Mac.

And I still hate the Dvorak keyboards.
 
Who is this Dvorak? I have been living in Steve Jobs RDF field for the last 7 years, so please enlighten me. THanks.
 
I actually don't see why Dvorak shouldn't be praising the Mac mini. It answers all the usual objections. Everyone said Macs were too expensive; the Mac mini is cheap. Everyone said the Cube was too little power and expandability for the price; the Mac mini is enough computer for surprisingly little money. People said that there should be a consumer-level headless Mac; now there is.

And where the Cube wasn't the right product for the right price at the right time, the miniMac is. Apple put the Cube out when people had never seen a computer that wasn't a huge tower or box. Now, with things like the Shuttle PC gaining popularity, it's not such a foreign idea--but this time, you can't get a PowerMac with better specs for less. And people know about Apple now--they know and like their iPods, and they know and hate Windows.

He's right; this is as close to perfect as Apple could possibly get, and if it works as advertised and there aren't overwhelming first-release problems and it's passably fast enough for casual gamers.....well, this is the "put up or shut up" Mac the analysts have been calling for all along.

Time will tell. Here's to keeping our fingers crossed....
 
Well, I sort of agree with Palmer, and I think Apple should have definitely spent the $0.25 to include a couple of USB<->PS2 adapters.

But, had they done so, then I disagree with the rest. The mini would then be exchangeable with their old PC, they could get a monitor at 20 places within a mile of their house, and the included software would blow them away.

But I agree - a couple of adapters would have been a very good thing to add.
 
jsw said:
Well, I sort of agree with Palmer, and I think Apple should have definitely spent the $0.25 to include a couple of USB<->PS2 adapters.

But, had they done so, then I disagree with the rest. The mini would then be exchangeable with their old PC, they could get a monitor at 20 places within a mile of their house, and the included software would blow them away.

But I agree - a couple of adapters would have been a very good thing to add.
Click to expand...

Vendors are already offering a FREE keyboard and mouse with the purchase of the Mac mini. No argument there. You can also get a low priced LCD. No argument there. :)

Bill Palmer is missing the point, Apple is not the only place making LCD, Keyboard and Mouse. :rolleyes:

And Other vendors are giving free stuff with it. :)
 
m a y a said:
Vendors are already offering a FREE keyboard and mouse with the purchase of the Mac mini.
Click to expand...

yes: macmall, at least, is already offering free KB and mouse (after mail-in rebate)

I do think some switchers will be surprised to not find a cheap monitor for sale in the Apple Store. But I'm not sure if they'll be a majority, or how much they'll care. It'll just probably seem odd; I don't see it as a deal-killer that they have to buy any monitor they want from another store.
 
I'm pretty sure that Palmer, as well as some other people, are missing the point of the Mac mini completely. They didn't make the mini with the goal of selling Apple keyboards, mice, and Cinema displays with them. Especially with the cinema displays, the people the mini is targeting probably don't need or want a $1700+ display. The idea, which I'm sure someone has pointed out already, is that people who already have an entire Windows PC, or an older Mac, and who may have been contemplating switching due to an experience with the iPod or just their experiences with Window's problems, can easily and cheaply swap out the box and use the majority of the peripherals that they already own. The target audience isn't generally going to be someone who is happy with what they have, but they want to inexpensively make the switch to OS X and the iLife suite, and a freedom from the viruses and spy/ad ware that have plagued Windows increasingly over the last couple years.

It also provides a way for current Mac users to either upgrade an older Mac (like my parents beige G3) or to inexpensively add to the Mac they already have. One good example of this is with my family. My sister is going off to college next year, and wants a mac (I have a G4 iMac) and my parents really don't want to spend a ton on her. So now that the mini is out, they can spend $500 on a more than adequate computer for my sister (and most other normal computer users), and just use the monitor and keyboard/mouse that we already have for one of our two older macs.
 
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