Meet the $500 Apple Mac mini
p2pnet.net News:- Think Secret was right and the pundits who said Apple boss Steve Jobs would never, ever go cheap, were wrong.
There is a $500 Apple G4 – without a monitor, mouse or keyboard.
And there’s also a $100 flash-based mp3 player called the iPod Shuffle - without a display
The basic $500 Mac mini is two inches tall, weighs 2.9 pounds and comes with Mac OS X and iLife ’05.
It’s sold with a 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 processor, a 40 gig HD and ATI Radeon 9200 graphics with 32MB of dedicated DDR memory. There’s also a $600, 1.42 GHz, 80 gig HD version.
Both models come with a slot-load Combo drive for watching DVD movies and burning CDs, a FireWire 400 and two USB 2.0 ports.
The iPod shuffle may not have a display, but it does have its own lanyard (wow!), “so it’s ready to wear right out of the box”.
iPod shuffle works with iTunes’ AutoFill feature which selects songs from a user’s music library. It comes in a 512mb 120, $100 version, and a 1gig model holding up to 240 mp3s for $150.
Apple is suing Think Secret for providing invaluable, free, advance PR.
We haven’t seen mention of the Asteroid break-out box which got another Apple aficianado, PowerPage, into a lot of trouble
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See:-
$500 Apple G4 – Apple Introduces Mac mini, Apple, January 11, 2004
iPod Shuffle – Apple Introduces iPod shuffle, Apple, January 11, 2004
free, advance PR – Of Apple and ’slavish devotion’, p2pnet, January 7, 2005
Asteroid – EFF backs Apple victims, p2pnet, January 10, 2005
January 11th, 2005 at 9:38 pm
Wow! I can pay $100 for an mp3 player with no screen and half a gig of memory! Where do I sign up?
This is an example of what a bunch of brainless sheep ipod users are. Steve Jobs could tell them that the new iPod Suicide was going to be the hottest new product, a white chair that automatically administers a lethal injection to your favorite music, and there would be massive lines waiting to buy one from Macworld.
Call me crazy, but I like to know what I’m listening to, and even knowing what I’m choosing next. This product is a white thumbdrive that can play music. Whoopdi frickin dooo!
January 11th, 2005 at 10:46 pm
you have to remember these things are for apple users, not normal people =)
January 12th, 2005 at 12:31 am
yep thats exactly what we are … brainless sheep (sarcasm) before you talk crap about a product, I strongly suggest you take the time to try it out and see how it works. that would be logical thing to do, but what do I know, I’m just a brainless sheep. instead of taking the time to sound like a complete retard, I suggest you run along and play some games on your computer
January 12th, 2005 at 6:31 pm
Yes, I should take the time to see how it works before judging it. It’s not as if I’ve ever used a shuffle function on an mp3 player. I laud Apple for its amazing innovation in playback modes. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine they would create the possibility of randomizing the order of track playback.
And, hate to break it to you, being critical of a crappy product is not being retarded. People going out and buying a piece of electronics that is clearly a fad and is missing essential components (most of all a screen, but lets not forget sound equalizers and so on), often getting multiple units, that’s retarded.
The fact that people are rushing out to buy this thing simply because it’s an Apple product is why I imply that you’re brainless sheep. There are several other flash players on the market that have better features, and even include screens, but because they’re not “iPods” they’ve been ignored or claimed to be inferior to the iPod. Just beacuse people buy iPods doesn’t make them the best, just means that they have a lot of money going to advertising and marketing.
Anyway, we all know that metaphorically in the world of digital audio players, the iPod is the automatic transmission car, whereas the iRiver H100 series is the manual. Anyone can sit down with an iPod, easliy use it and get mediorcre sound quality and utility. The iRiver on the other hand, requires a little more electronics intuition to master; however, once you’ve become adept with it, it’s versatility and fidelity of sound blow the iPod out of the water.
Enjoy your automatic tranny sheep. Baaaaaaaaa!
January 15th, 2005 at 10:33 pm
“The iRiver on the other hand, requires a little more electronics intuition to master; however, once you’ve become adept with it, it’s versatility and fidelity of sound blow the iPod out of the water.”
are you serious about this??? I say you need to get a life, seriously. you “mastered” your mp3 player??? its like trying to master Walkman or a portable CD player, come on who does that and why? Who has the time and the motivation to f* around with whatever you call “mastering” their mp3 player. I can think of a million better things to do with my time than to optimize my mp3 player. Music is best heard LIVE, and any real audiophile will tell you that next choice is vinyl (NOT a mp3 player so stop mastering it). Instead of “mastering” your mp3 player, I suggest you listen to some live shows if you’re so into hearing good music. That way you can directly support the artists you enjoy. Never used iRiver but you just demonstrated a flaw. Majority of people aren’t savvy enough with electronics to optimize them like you and they don’t want to. iPod is so popular because its sleek and anyone with half a brain can use it. Thats Apple’s philosophy since day one. Few can match Apple’s design, well in just about anything Apple does (you can call Apple products expensive or whatever but I can’t think of a single product that shouldn’t be in a museum.) Combine that sleek/easy-to-use iPod(x) with iTunes, a great mp3 program, and you have a clear winner. but what do I know, I’m just a “brainless sheep.”
you’re proving two things to me – one that you will not be buying iPod shuffle (haha). Two, you can’t seem to grasp the big picture.
Each product has an intended audience, and get this, some people might be actually happy with the new iPod. *surpise* Its just another mp3 player option for people to have. Just because you don’t like it and the spec’s don’t live up to your standards doesn’t make the new iPod a bad product. Thats why I suggest trying it out before you criticize it, d’uh. I think its a perfect product for gym use, its tiny and you don’t need a huge playlist when you work out for an hour. I imagine it would be ideal if you commute on the bus or subway. Some people don’t need 10,000 songs to get through rush hour, 240 will do. No need to carry the bigger iPod when this one would better match your needs. Most important of all (for Apple), lower price will allow more people to afford it and be introduced to Apple. Apple is using its current market position to reach a new generation! What are they thinking??(sarcasm) You may not be an Apple user but I am and I wish more people would be acquainted with what Apple offers, even if they become future users or not.
Its dubious to suggest specs make a product good or bad. There are such things as design, ease of use, and popular appeal that are just as important to other people. Life is not just about specs. Ford Mustang GT has the horsepower, a spoiler, and is cheaper than my Porsche but few would confuse the two together. But I expect you’ll probably tell me that you can tune it up that Ford to be just as good (ha)
You don’t like the Apple or iPod, thats great, but there are people that do and are perfectly satisfied with it, like me. In the future, I hope you stay away from offering personal disdain and stick to objective criticism when you talk about products. That would make the world such a better place. THE END.