Apple Must Have A Lot Of Breathing Room

[ChickenHawk]

Well, this seems to be the pattern with Apple. They can bring us some of the most innovative, breakthrough products ever... and then every once in a while, when they have enough money to waste, they pump out some of the biggest shitstained flops-waiting-to-happen ever.

And now is that time again.

Introducing, the iPod Shuffle, and the Mac Mini:

<IMG SRC="http://images.apple.com/home/2005/images/shuffleheroa20050111.jpg">
The iPod Shuffle -- The fucking nerve... Is Apple seriously trying to SELL the fact that this thing gives its lost and confused users ZERO options? They're literally pushing its complete lack of features AS A FEATURE! How dare they? It's a memory stick with a play button. They didn't even put a fucking LED on it! Their tagline? "Enjoy uncertainty." Really? Well, when uncertainty doesn't start at $100, maybe I'll think about it, you fucking skeevy marketing scumbags. Who the fuck wants to walk around listening to songs they can't choose? WoW! IT's so UNPREDICTABLE! This product will be a perfect fit for my SPONTANEOUS, FREE-SPIRITED, YUPPIE LIFESTYLE! Hmm... I wanna hear that new song by So-and-So, I guess I'll have to hit "Forward" a couple HUNDRED TIMES until I get to it! Boy, this sure was worth a hundred bucks! FUCK YOU, APPLE.

<IMG SRC="http://images.apple.com/home/2005/images/macminihero20050111.jpg">
The Mac Mini -- Oh look! It's an iMac... without a screen, mouse, or keyboard! This product was a bomb the first time, when it was called the G4 Cube. Hello, Apple? You already made this product, and figured out that it had no target consumer. Three years later, you slim it down and expect a market for it to suddenly appear? Worthless.

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This message was edited by ChickenHawk on 1-11-05 @ 7:18 PM

[mikeyboy]

I agree with you on the shuffle, but the Mac Mini is positioned to be the first budget priced Mac, and for that reason, I think it has a decent shot and has the potential to increase Apple's PC market share. For the first time, someone who prefers the Mac can pick one up for $500.

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[Hottub]

My guess is they are trying to cater to the technologically retarted, or the older crowd who "don't know a thing about these gadgets"

They have failed before, they will probably fail again.

Now that I've got my rant on,

How the fuck do I get a command prompt on my stupid-ass G4?

Why would I drag a CD I just wrote to the trash, in order to eject it?

Why the fuck do I need a suitcase for my fonts? Dopey artsy-farsty mother fuckers don't include them anyway!!

I hate my mac and only use it if absolutly necessary!!

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v381/artemisentreri/hottub.gif" border=0 align=right>
so does that mean that it was
"THE ORANGE BOWL OF FAILURE?"
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This message was edited by Hottub on 1-11-05 @ 7:14 PM

[Death Metal Moe]

I have no problem with Apple. Hell, I learned basic computer skills on them, and played my 1st computer games on them.

But you APPLE ONLY people make me laugh. PC is cheaper, has more software, and is no longer hard to use. Just accept it.

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[mikeyboy]

Don't look at me. I hate using Macs.

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[Death Metal Moe]

Jesus Hottub, is THIS what you were talking about when you accused me of coming off like a douche in another thread? I DARED to diss Macs?

Get over it. PC is better. Period. Apple has lots of great shit, but for my home computer, PC is the only way.

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[Death Metal Moe]

Now, to actually talk about the topic Chickenhawk started.

Sorry to disagree with you Chickenhawk, but the Shuffle is actually pretty nice. If I hadn't received an iPod as a gift for Christmas, I would have bought one of the 1 GB Shuffles as soon as I had heard about it and could have afforded it. It's a cheap way to get a MP3 player from the people who do it right.

As for that Mac Mini, if you still have to buy a monitor, keyboard and mouse on the side, that kinda blows. But it's still a fairly low price for the generally overpriced Mac stuff.

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[Hottub]

Jesus Hottub, is THIS what you were talking about when you accused me of coming off like a douche in another thread? I DARED to diss Macs?

Get over it. PC is better. Period. Apple has lots of great shit, but for my home computer, PC is the only way.

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98% of peope think Steels was right
2% of people here still like me



They have failed before, they will probably fail again.

I hate my mac and only use it if absolutly necessary!!



Huh?
Reading is fundimental!

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v381/artemisentreri/hottub.gif" border=0 align=right>
so does that mean that it was
"THE ORANGE BOWL OF FAILURE?"
Staples
The Cruising Vessel (http://www.silentpix.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Myalbums&file=thumbnails&album=41)
Check out silentpix.com

This message was edited by Hottub on 1-11-05 @ 8:57 PM

[Death Metal Moe]

OK, you've only proven my assumption was wrong.

Why don't you substantiate your claims in that other thread? If you want to see a douche, keep this up.

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[ADF]

There's a switch on the back of the ipod shuffle where you can turn the "shuffle" off. Of course, you still have to go through all your songs one by one.

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[pOOpsHIp]

Make a playlist in iTunes, meatheads.

And don't buy a mac.

We dont need your stinkin bugs crawlin' round these parts.



<3%= fine with me.

[furie]

I agree the mini mac is a bad idea. it's basicly the old g4 cube, just re packaged. if you're looking for a desktop, might as well get the iMac. and if apple wants to continue to produce G4's just bring back the dome-mac. i have one and it suits me just fine. The G5 imac looks great, runs great, but too pricey for now.


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[Neogoon]

You guys are kind of missing the point of the mini. Its target audience isn't people who don't have computers -- Apple is looking for PC users who were (re-) introduced to Mac stuff when they bought iPods -- the thinking is that they will take advantage of the iPod's "halo effect" & iTunes, and from there, move on to iMovie, iPhoto, etc...all for under $500 (keyboards, mice and displays are cheap, and most folks have extras -- these are standard peripherals, not Apple-only ADB stuff.)

Will the mini strategy (and the shuffle) work? No idea. Note, though, it's not the same as the cube -- the cube started out at $1800, plus there wasn't that installed base of iPod users. The cube was cool hardware that didn't really have an audience outside of hardcore Mac fans.

Likewise, the shuffle isn't necessarilly targeted at people who don't have iPods (though at $99, it should find a lot of them) -- it's for people who want iPod-like features at the size of a pack of gum. If you want a screen to fit on it, you've got better eyesight than I do.

As to the rest of the anti-Mac flames -- if you don't like it, don't use it. I use both WinXP & Mac OS X at ork. Both have well-known advantages and disadvantages.

Finally, I like the footnote on the shuffle site:

2. Do not eat iPod shuffle.

Ceci n'est pas une signature.

[curtoid]

So, how much would it cost someone who doesn't have a computer to get one up, inlcuding a monitor, printer, keyboard? What's the cheapest we're talking about, including the $500 for the mini?



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This message was edited by curtoid on 1-12-05 @ 4:33 PM

[Neogoon]

So, how much would it cost someone who doesn't have a computer to get one up, inlcuding a monitor, printer, keyboard? What's the cheapest we're talking about, including the $500 for the mini?

Cheapest cheapest?
* Used 17" monitors with cables are going for thirty bucks on craigslist.
* People practicially give away used USB Keyboards and mice, though you can get new ones for under $10 each at compusa or wherever.
* Printers can be kind of iffy, I don't know if I would buy a used one. You can get color inkjet printers for under a hundred bucks, though honestly, I haven't needed a home printer for a while (thank you, work) so I don't know the current market.

http://dealmac.com/ shows Apple hardware deals (including refurbs); there's a current one with a mini with 512MB of RAM (an upgrade from the base 256MB, which is probably a good idea) for $559.

This might put me over the edge for a new Mac, though if I do, I am going to wait for the early adopters to jump in first to get some real user reviews and shake out any bugs.

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[Doctor Manhattan]

I don't think Apple makes printer (At least not since the 1980's I think), you'd have to get a 3rd party one no matter which Mac you got (Even if you spend $3000 on the G5)

How much was the G4 cube?

the iPod shuffle is a bad idea at least for folks like me, I couldn't fit very many R&F shows on it (I have about 4.6 Gb of R&F and another 4 GB of O&A shows that's I've collected over the past couple years.

Perhaps they're working on a new remote with a screen on it, I need to see what I'm listening to. I can't fly my iPod blind!

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This message was edited by SKW on 1-12-05 @ 8:54 PM

[LordJezo]

That f'ing mac dosen't even have a video card fast enough to run all the features in Apple's soon to be released Tiger version of OS X.

Hey Apple, thanks for making your product obsolete the instant you release it.

Bunch of jerks.

ooo.. almost forgot, get an iPod shuffle for a fucking penny if you already have an iPod (http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/portable-media/ipod/howto-hack-ipod-into-ipod-shuffle-029509.php)

Apple makes me so mad.

Oh, and give me more ram you stooges.



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This message was edited by LordJezo on 1-12-05 @ 8:54 PM

[Doctor Manhattan]

The iPod isn't twice as expensive as other companies' with comparable features (I mean the standard iPod, I have no idea about that photo model)

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[TheMojoPin]

This was already being discussed in the iPod thread before this thread was started, so let's use that one instead. (http://www.ronfez.net/messageboard/viewmessages.cfm/Forum/80/Topic/35636/currentpage/4/page/Ipod.htm#bottom)

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