Who knew that the new movies in the iTMS would *really* be yesterday's big news?

The real reason the Mac mini is such a disappointment is because it tries to be a jack of all trades and a master of none. It's got entry level specs yet it's now more expensive (in parts of the world other than the US it's quite a bit more than $100 more expensive too). It's aimed at being plugged into a big screen TV but it lacks HDMI, DVR, TV tuner, standard connectors like a regular SP/DIF or phonos that every hifi and AV receiver out there has so you need to buy expensive converter cables, it has a slow puny hard drive (it's still a laptop drive regardless of whether it's SATA or not) which is hardly ideal for storing digitized movies. It's got a crappy graphics chipset so even the small number of Mac games that are out there are not going to play well. Which given this kind of computer is probably aimed at those on a budget like, oh students maybe, is one of the things they will want to use a computer for. This is why it sucks, and I'm as much of an Apple fan boi as any of you guys, but lets be realistic, it's not a good update. Especially when compared to the value you get with the Intel iMacs.

I agree with the others who point out: the mini is not a PVR because people are already buying millions of video files at $1.99 a pop to watch on a 2.5" LCD screen on a device that cost them $400. If you really wanted to, you could get a Tivo and the Archos AV500. But no, you already have a gazillion iTunes songs and a handful of iTunes videos, maybe a whole season worth of videos. If only there were a docking device with optical audio out and digital video/analog video out. Oh wait, that's called a computer.

The mini was just updated to play your new iTunes content (released just last year, remember?) on your home theater system, which is what people want to do with all those files they've been buying or ripping or converting or whatever. That's it. It doesn't play Doom 3. If you really were into Doom 3, you would have finished it and the expansion pack a long time ago on your gaming PC. But, it does let you buy more iTunes files from your TV, and it gives you that remote control, user interface, multi output functionality that people would pay a few hundred dollars for if they were all accessories.

Think about a family of four. The parents get iPods. The kids get iPods. You're all using the same computer and the same iTunes installation. Why? Because there's no other way to do it. All the files start getting mixed up. What's the solution? Get your kid or your spouse the cheapest computer that will keep your entire music / video / picture library in one place but interact with every other version of iTunes running on your network. And depending on who you are and where you get your content, that library may already represent hundreds of dollars of investment.

The mini is an iPod accessory with all the bells and whistles, including wifi, bluetooth 2.0, iLife, Front Row, and -- it can surf the internet and play the best games man has yet produced (Solitaire, Minesweeper, Shanghai, and Tetris). It's expandable through USB and firewire with essentially unlimited storage. The real world performance tests will show that the mini is just powerful enough to play downloadable QT movies (when they are released) or DVDs on an HDTV with surround sound when audio processing is offloaded to a Dolby receiver. Those specs are not going to change. Repeat: those specs are not going to change. This is the only computer you need to do obtain, store, and distribute digital multimedia content to a personal network and to portable media players. And, it's upgradeable (about $400 worth of upgrades it seems).

$600 for this isn't a bargain, but since when did iPod accessories come at a bargain? It's in the right price range. I mean, look at the cost of the speaker system and leather sleeve. Besides, it's got the classic iPod accessory design. The front? A DVD/CD player/burner. Where do you dock your iPod? Well, you can just set it on top and use the cables. Oh wait, Apple already sells a dock that will lock like it's made to sit on top of the mini! Amazing.

Sigh, THE IPOD CASES ARENT OVERPRICED, NOR THE NEW MAC MINIS.

Not that I'm gonna buy another mini, cos the one I already have is still more than good enough for the use I put it to but, if I were in the position for one it would still be a great buy because I have a 19" screen, I have a keyboard (an apple one at that) I have a mouse. It may not be as good a spec as an iMac but for a beginner mac or a second mac then it saves me a rather hefty some of money. Fine by me.

Also why the hell do people keep saying boom box? It's not a bloody boombox, it's a (supposedly) audiophile quality speaker system for your iPod. It's not really meant for people who own a shuffle or a Nano. It's for people who can afford to pay for a quality set of speakers to plug their iPod into - ideally for a bedroom, study or kitchen say. I won't buy one but see nothing wrong with apple selling one, other companies do, why shouldn't they share the pie? They baked it after all!

The case again is not for your average iPod owner - it's a premium, high-end product for people who can afford to pay for it, same as the Gucci cases are, same as the diamond encrusted cases are. Apple's more budget offering is the iPod sock.

Apple's stuff has never been cheap. Full stop. You can say that it represents great value - and it does, and maybe these are not as good value as other things they sell. Well don't buy them then! Stop whining because every product they release isn't some huge revelation and something you want to rush out and buy. Some people will love these products and those are the people they're selling them to. They won't expect to sell an iPod Hi-Fi to every iPod owner, hell 1 to every 1000, every 10,000 owners/buyers would be seen as wildly successful most likely. Shockingly there are things in this world that everyone thinks are too expensive - I don't think Bentleys are worth the large amounts of money they cost but I don't go moaning about them.

Apple announced an event, they didn't say it was big, they didn't imply it was big. For NEW products and the first Intel versions of products that's what they do - it gets them a whole lot more publicity than they could any other way - at little cost. Seems pretty damn smart to me.

Opinions and impressions can stand scrutiny, criticism, and debate. They are your opinions, C.K., and are as valid as anyone else's, but please, please edit your posts for factual errors. Critics should only be able to attack your opinions, not your truthfulness. That really goes for all of the TUAW bloggers, who have an increasing track record of making false or misinformed statements in their posts, and not bothering to correct them once someone points it out. I know you don't get paid for edits, but as you can see from this thread, your core readers are increasingly getting disgruntled with the site. (*wonders to himself if that's somehow intentional to drive page views up, and certainly hopes that to the list of flaws, we can't add "shills"*)

Cheapest iMac: $1299
Most Expensive Mac Mini: $799

$1299 - $799 = $500, not $400.

I guess the announcements being overpriced or not is up to consumers individually. The new minis seem fairly priced to me. They include airport and bluetooth, and an upgraded CPU. I am not an audiophile in the slightest, I have no idea whether the hifi is overpriced. I've heard the Bose Sound Dock at Sharper Image, it sounds pretty good and is priced at $300 on their website. Maybe the hifi is $50 too much, I don't know. As for the $99 ipod case, it sounds like a lot for what it is - but there's probably a market for that as well. I know my girlfriend buys $99 refills for her leather day planner - I have no idea how much the actual planner cost, but those types of things can be expensive.

To clarify, what I wrote wasn't meant as criticism really, I am not feeling overly critical. Just had a silly thought. I wasn't knocked off my seat after yesterday's announcement, but Apple hadn't really given me any reason to anticipate anything exceptional either.

Id like to integrate Maggie Gyllenhaal's video.

I wonder if Sir Jonathan wasn't off being tapped on the shoulder by Her Majesty when the iPod Hi-Fi design was being finalized. Surely, the location and docking structure could have been better done. It looks like a lone ice cream bar in a grocery cooler.

Between that and the leather iPod holster, their design chops appear to be slipping.

yap, lol best criticism/comment I've ever received. Love it.

However, the main problem is it is all overpriced. SO, you left out the key element of me not bothering to use Match.com to try to meet Maggie, b/c of how expensive it was (then going on to argue all these other bits in my ranting fashion).

In other news, the girl I met last night from match.com didn't look as much like Maggie Gyllenhaal as I had hoped.

Now remind you, she didn't ever tell me she looked like Maggie Gyllenhaal. But what happened was I found this interesting girl off match.com, and after exchanging e-mails I asked all my friends to e-mail drawings to me of what this lady might look like. My favorite drawing was the one which was a spitting image of Maggie.

Like I said, this girl looked nothing like Maggie! What the hell? Now I'm so upset, I hate match.com, I hate the new girl from match.com, I don't hate Maggie (yet) but I'm close! This is BS! Ive been hoodwinked!