How about a host, OS, AND hardware for $499? Off the shelf?

[stefancrs]

"You gotta' see this" e-mail list...

Or maybe I'm just not stupid enough to look.

The mob is though. So there. Why do you keep expecting average people to know that it's "dangerous" to open up unknown emails etc (they could come from a friend!!! it's probably something funny!!!!)? Most people have a serious lack of intelligence, and so do you if you don't understand that

[BONES]

I only know because it was all over the 6 o'clock news and the solution was so bleeding obvious. After that only an idiot would open an attachment unless they knew what it was.

[stefancrs]

I only know because it was all over the 6 o'clock news and the solution was so bleeding obvious. After that only an idiot would open an attachment unless they knew what it was.

Again, most people are "idiots".

[BONES]

But you've seen how they react when I call 'em on it!?!

[stefancrs]

But you've seen how they react when I call 'em on it!?!

Not really, no

[Urs]

The fact that I couldn't build a PC for $500 is purely down to the fact that I couldn't source components slow/old enough to compete with the minMac.

So, Apple is probably clearing out their inventories of pretty old parts, which were left from too optimistic mass orders in the past for now-deprecated products. Wow, that would be clever... turning old losses into greater margins

Now seriously. I think the form factor can't be overestimated enough. For Mac users, this is literally a completely new dimension. For instance, it's a cheap solution to start LAN parties for Mac users. C&C Generals will run just fine on it. I personally couldn't get warm with notebooks, but the Mini looks attractive to carry around in a bag.

Now, when I think about it, this is the first Mac that could be a "present", if one doesn't have the exchange for an iMac. It's also a cheap replacement whenever an old machine gives up. I know many people who're on old 240 MHz 8500s and 9600s with MacOS 9, because it's enough for them, and "anyway, I paid 5000 bucks in 1997, so why ditch it?". 500 bucks for a 5 times faster machine might be a good arguement. Buying a Mini doesn't really leave you with a bad conscience...

Also, it could open doors to use Macs in offices, instead of migrating from Windows to Linux. Who knows, maybe if some studies are revised, the TCO for Win, Linux, OS X might now turn in favour of OS X? - I know SysAdmins keeping to insist that Mac are overdressed and expensive. They might want to think different now and spend their saved time out in the sun, instead of observing traffic on open ports in their terminals...

As for audio... even if you don't use it as a Logic node, Wormhole client, Jack server or anything "distributed audio", you can still use it like any outboard gear in your rack. Add Midi and a decent FW Audio solution (Asteroid? ), and use it for a couple of remote Zebras

A cool solution comes to my mind: Stack a couple of Minis, install RAX or Numerology, iMidi, Virtual Desktop and soft synths, there you go. Not even the need to add extra displays, midi interfaces or KVM switches... that might be the ultimative cheap processor upgrade for a lot of laptop musicians whose iBooks got a little aged for their live setups...

(Does anybody know if the updated mLAN driver allows for connecting two Macs over Firewire? - I think a Yamaha employee is now working full time in Cupertino to get it straight?)

Ok, you gotta soup it up with a gig of ram, certainly. Whenever I or one of my friends bought a Mac at a German reseller, it was just like the built-to-order options in the Apple store. But they use cheaper Infineon ram instead of the Apple branded, or they just swapped graphics devices at no extra cost, just the difference in value. They keep the original parts and sell them seperately. This may be different in other countries tho, where Apple can enforce their hilarious reselling strategies...

But maybe I'm just so excited because I love the design

Cheers,

Urs

[Montana]

{{
last generation CPU [G4]
last generation RAM [PC2700 DDR]
last generation HDD [ultraATA]
last generation AGP [4x only with just 32Mb RAM]
last genration optical [Super-drive is what? 2x?]

And all for only US$500 + monitor + + + +

I wish I could get that kind of money building outdated, non-upgradable PC's!}}}


hahahaha.

It's the worlds most expensive door stop.

[Montana]

""however, audio work CAN be performed on this machine. i'm running a 1.2 ghz G4 currently and i have to push reason 2.5 so friggin hard it would make anyone's head spin to get the cpu usage OVER 50%""


Same thing on my old p3 650. Reason was designed for low spec PC's.