New Apple Lust Objects

http://www.apple.com/macmini/

"Now, when you’re finished recording a performance on a real or software instrument, you can turn your recording into a loop."

"Now, when you’re finished recording a performance on a real or software instrument, you can turn your recording into a loop."

"Now, when you’re finished recording a performance on a real or software instrument, you can turn your recording into a loop."

But I wish there was an upgrade model, say at $149USD, that had Bluetooth headphones. Wires are the bane of working out or running with music.

I've never seen the Apple Store website so hosed. This is nuts.

very neat, but shouldn't there be more ins?

I'm done reading about bitching. Slashdot, engadget and now ILX too. Do you people not notice what the retail price is? Go buy a fucking iMac G5, they've been out for months.

That box will do, mail, word processing, web, a wide spectrum of games (not 3d heavy obv), low end movie editing, compressing, watching, mid range photo editing, music making, and all sorts of other things admirably well. This is going to make a great (and great value) first or second computer for loads of people.

it is under rammed with RAM but then all Macs are and they'd be more expensive if they weren't. That's what crucial.com is for.

teeny, wouldn't you get more usb ins with the keyboard?

...and you can daisy chain firewire

xxx-post

That said, the mini is a giant step in the right direction pricewise.

Depending on the PC software you use, there might be crossgrade options. I'm pretty sure they had one for Cubase SX / Logic 5 PC users to move to Logic Pro 6 when it came out. Abelton offer a peridoc Acid to Live crossgrade as well.

http://images.apple.com/macmini/images/designinsides20050111.jpg

I am just kind of amazed at the amount of what I see as complete ignorance and misunderstanding about these new products' capabilities and target market going on in the media. I guess it's typical tech-journo-not-getting-the-consumer-at-all assumptions about the users, or maybe I'm the fool here. From The Register:

Apple's new tiny solid-state iPod, the iPod Shuffle, is more of a curiosity. It weighs only one ounce and has no display, and is priced at $99 for 512MB or $149 for 1GB. Apple hopes that iTunes users will have a list of "today's favourites" which they'll want to take with them, but will change frequently. So 'iPod Cache' or 'iPod On The Go' are equally appropriate.

It's not a bad assumption, and it certainly makes sense to capitalize on both the iPod's name recognition, and Apple's own synchronization software, which is head and shoulders above its rivals. The risk is diluting the brand. The iPod earned its reputation by being the jukebox that carries all your music ("Five thousand songs in your pocket"), in comparison to low-cost, low-capacity flash players which only carry a few songs. Apple must be hoping that there's a substantial market of potential customers who'd like an iPod, but can't tell the difference between the two.

Uh, iTunes store? uh, AAC? uh, low cost flash players compatible with AAC/iTunes music store? Uh, lower price points boost market penetration/the iPod shuffle wipes out the last bastion of competition in the arena right now? FFS

Ah yes, there is that slight hiccup.

The reason I will buy one is because the iPod (and even the mini) are not good for use when exercising. They are passable in the weight room but useless on a bike or running. And I don't need more than 100 songs to get a good workout in, even when I'm training for a marathon.

And frankly, the above reason is exactly why a lot of people buy flash-based players. A part of me would prefer a card-based iShufflePod, but it's a minor inconvenience. I'm pretty excited about it, actually. In fact, I'm not really sure that I'll be using my iPod that much after I buy an iShufflePod.

I totally agree w/ you Ed, but the idea that most folks can afford an AMD64 class machine if they have half an idea what they're doing building a system isn't ridiculous at all. Apple can't boast the same thing...

(I know, I know, broad generalization that really doesn't include laptops at all... Not considering Apple's target market, etc., etc.)

Oh, and that Mac Mini, for what it is, looks pretty badass.

That's why I think it would be totally cool if they made just the little mp3 player with a USB jack on one end that could read file systems the same way an mp3 discman reads them off of a cdr. Cause then you'd at least have the option to use it as a front end for a very large USB hard drive or a tiny stick... It'd probably appeal to a lot more people if that were the case (and it would be EVEN SMALLER, which after all seems to be Mac's new reason to exist).

Not at all. I know someone who was going to buy a cheapo Dell just for academic work that will now get one of the minis.

The MacMini maxed out to 1GB of RAM will do everything most people need for years, even Photoshop and InDesign (etc.).

Shame there's no spreadsheet though. It wouldn't have to be that advanced. Arithmetic and accounting functions only, no real need for geometric or statistical functions in a home spreadsheet.