January 13th, 2005

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Technology
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Trouser Rubbing at MacWorld

I finally got around to watching Steve Jobs’s yearly State of the Union from MacWorld. Each year he whips the cultists in the crowd into a frenzy about the latest Apple technology. This year, the cream of the crop is unquestionably the Mac Mini.

The thing is a real, live computer running OS X, but it’s absurdly small and starts at US $499. Now, you’ve got to bring your own keyboard, mouse and monitor, but those are plentiful and cheap. I wonder if this could be the kind of thing that brings average citizens in the developing world online. I know $500 is still ridiculously expensive for them, but (in size, simplicity and price) we’re headed in the right direction.

My friend Tom (who I also must thank for the title of this entry) said he’d heard the suggestion that they ought to be selling these badboys at a loss for $100 or $200, and cash in on things like peripherals, iTunes and OS upgrades. By the way, here’s what the Mac mini’s guts look like.

The first problem I’m seeing with the basic model is that you can’t easily hook up a printer. Let’s assume you don’t have Bluetooth or Wifi (both extras). You plug your garden variety keyboard and mouse into the two USB ports–where does the printer cable go (there’s the FireWire port, but how many printers support FireWire?)? I know solutions include Bluetooth peripherals, USB hubs, etc, but isn’t that going to be a problem for switching consumers who want to get up and running out-of-the-box?

Colour me underwhelmed on the iPod Shuffle. Yes, it’s nice looking, but, as this review points out, “there’s really nothing new” to it. The zealots will no doubt line up to buy one, but it’s just a rare example of Apple coming late to the party.

Comments: 10 Responses so far

Steve2
January 13th, 2005
1:20 pm

You can plug the mouse into one of the USB ports that are usually on either side of the keyboard, leaving the second port on the cpu case free.

As to the iPod shuffle, there has for many years been a portable device that will play random songs from a restricted set. It’s called a Ray-D-O.

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Cameron
January 13th, 2005
2:53 pm

The Mac mini is exciting as it is the first low cost system offered by Apple. USB hubs are plentiful finding their way into keyboards, monitors, and external units – I don’t think that will be much of a barrier.

As for the iPod shuffle, it is basically the same idea. Yes it has been seen before – but then so had hard-drive based MP3 players before the iPod was released. The shuffle brings a small, lightweight, low-cost iPod to the market … one that plays Protected-AAC files sold on the iTunes store. Personally, they have finally reached a price range that I can consider one and I imagine many other people are in the same position. If not buying one in addition to their current model, one designed for more active lifestyles.

This years MacWorld brought Apple into the entry level market … it will be interesting to see how it fairs in the more price-competitive world.

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donna
January 13th, 2005
3:01 pm

actually, I’m pretty seriously considering getting a shuffle. Sure, they’re crippled versions of regular ipods, but they’re also $200 cheaper. Tiny, inexpensive, reasonable storage space? Seems pretty reasonable to me. All of the other portable mp3 players in that price range only have 64mb or 128mb. That’s not enough to get me to work, then to school, then home without repeating songs. But 512mb? That’s something reasonable.

The last time I bought an mp3 player was… well, the very first portable mp3 player. The RIO 100 (I think that was the model number…). For $350, you got 8mb. I could fit 4 short, low quality songs on it. And it was dog slow, being from my pre-USB days. With the shuffle, I might just be ready to buy a new one and retire my discman. (Who am I kidding — I never use my discman…)

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donna
January 13th, 2005
3:02 pm

I should really say “reasonable” more often. Sheesh. My vocabulary is crippled today.

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richard
January 13th, 2005
4:15 pm

There is something new with the iPod Shuffle… The price. It’s a bit more affordable than similar items like this MPIO 1GB system:

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0665000FS10050863&catid=10205&logon=&langid=EN&dept=19

It was also designed to be a player only, without putting in a substandard 2×16 character LCD like you might see on other systems; screens that are barely useable at best, and are a battery drain at worst.

It’s intentionally stripped down to be cheap and light. They’re evolving, not creating, and it’s working for them.

I could use a solid-state player for my wife, who doesn’t vary her playlist as much as I do, and the only sticking point is that 64MB wasn’t enough – 1GB is perfect. The iPod mini was just silly – a tiny fraction of the space for nearly the same price…

The $500US mini mac is something I’m considering. I’d get a full size G4 or G5, but the price is just insane. I can live within the confines that the system puts on the user, though 1GB max memory is expensive with only the one slot… As for ports, that’s where USB hubs come in (AC powered ones if possible), or use an Apple DVI monitor with the extra integrated USB ports…

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Lynsey
January 13th, 2005
4:39 pm

I like Apple and my iMacG5. Big question is what happens in year or so when Steve Jobs is gone?

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Darren
January 13th, 2005
4:45 pm

Err…where is Steve going?

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Lynsey
January 13th, 2005
4:47 pm

pancreatic cancer…all that coughing…lung mets

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Rob
January 13th, 2005
5:54 pm

I am a long-time Mac fan, but my first generation G4 is too slow, so the Mac Mini is a perfect choice for me. I still prefer the MacOS to windows, and really enjoy using the various ‘i’ apps.

On the iPod shuffle, I echo many of the same sentiments as above. My $300 Rio has 64 MB of RAM, and I never looked at the screen. I have a 20GB iPod now, but I see a huge market for the “2nd” person in the family for this unit. My girlfriend is the same as Richard – her music collection is not as vast as mine, but 512MB or 1GB is certainly great for her for the price!

They are both winners in my book…

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Jin Ho
January 13th, 2005
11:40 pm

iPod Shuffle’s newness are not technical but packaging:

* Best pricing for optimal space and size (One of the cheapest 1 Gb flash memory I can find). Even if I don’t need to listen to music, I need a 1Gb thumb drive. Heck ! even my friends who pirate movies/music will buy one just to transport their err… findings conveniently.

This was also the same reason the original iPod sold well. People bought them to rip out the hard disk because it’s cheaper than buying the hard disk separate.

* Style, build-quality, battery life (if you listen to the music)

* Uncomparable user experiences.

That’s it. I already heard Apple Store sold out 20,000 units within 4 hours. 1 guy bought 24 of ‘em.

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