A Mac mini for me, please!
Ever since the advent of Mac OS X, I’ve been wanting to get a Mac, but just couldn’t justify the price. For some time now, I’ve been joking that my Linux workstation is “a poor man’s Mac,” but Apple has recently taken that joke away from me by releasing the new Mac mini, the first Mac that just about anyone should be able to afford. Priced at just ¥55,800 in Japan ($499 in the States), the “Mighty mini” has me thinking that a new computer might be in order—but hold the umeboshi, thanks.
On the other hand, I’m not at all dissatisfied with Fedora Core 3, the latest version of my flavor of Linux. Granted, it’s not quite as cool as a Mac, but it is considerably cooler than the world’s most ubiquitous OS—and less buggy, too!
With Linux getting better and better and Macs getting cheaper and cheaper, I can’t help but wonder how much longer the Dominance of Redmond can last.
One gotcha about the mac mini:
http://bumppo.net/archives/2005/01/index.html#000414
This is the story from Tuesday, 01/11/05
Basically, the mac mini tech specs page says that memory upgrades must be performed by an Apple Authorized Service provider.
more one the thing I just posted about the mac mini memory:
http://macintouch.com/mwsf2005notebook.html
Apparently doing a memory upgrade yourself won’t void the warranty, but they don’t recommend it
http://www.macworld.com/2005/01/news/minioverview/
Yes, yes, I’m aware of the shortcomings of the ultra-compact design, but you know what: I’m not worried about any of that. For the things my wife and I would likely be using it for (mostly just mail and Internet stuff), we could get by on the 512 MB memory upgrade, KVM switch, and so on and probably still come in at less than ¥80,000, which is still not bad.
If I were looking to serious development and/or creative work, I would naturally spring for the Power Mac G5, but I’m just looking for something inexpensive, unobtrusive, and cool; the Mini meets all of those requirements.
Definitely not trying to dissuade you. The memory thing is something that I would have definitely wanted to know before I ordered, so I thought I’d let you know. Mac OS X can be a bit memory hungry
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