Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iTS, Peripherals, Video, Other Events, Mac mini
Who knew that the new movies in the iTMS would *really* be yesterday's big news?
Yesterday morning, I posted a prediction that proved incorrect. Apple didn't announce movies in the iTMS to be the big announcement of the day. Nevertheless, I feel that the Academy Award Nominated Short Films appearing in the iTMS yesterday actually ended up being the biggest news of the day. As I noted yesterday, it's the first appearance of non-Pixar/Disney shorts in the music store, so it paves the way for more great content (although all of the films are presented by the Sundance Channel, so it is kind of like another TV network releasing shows on the iTMS).
As for all the other announcements from yesterday, I can sum them all up—explain why they are all dud announcements—in one simple word: overpriced. $1.99 for the new short films in the iTMS is a bargain. Everything else was overpriced. Overpriced like the $99 leather iPod cases that don't actually provide the user with any access to the controls of the iPod. Overpriced like the $349 boombox that still needs the addition of a $300 iPod to make it as cool as it can be (and even then it is not that cool; I mean "Hi-Fi" is a 70s term, and the boombox is an 80s device; how is this expensive iPod peripheral indicative of Apple's innovation?). Overpriced like the $599 and $799 Mac minis. One of the great things about Apple's Mac mini line should be its affordability, and yesterday, we saw little value added to the Mac mini line and yet the most expensive one of them runs just
I, like Jan, am under-whelmed by yesterday's announcements, and I agree with Damien that Apple clearly dropped the ball and our disappointment is not the creation of our fanaticism, but rather Apple's failure to live up to the innovation we've come to expect from them.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
John said 10:05AM on 3-01-2006
Explain their lack of innovation please...
I think the bonjour sitution on the Mac Mini is pretty key for future updates.
And please get over it... so I do not have to read negative headlines all day.
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John said 10:08AM on 3-01-2006
Oh update.. for a similar device with amazing audio quality like the Bose Wave Radio you are looking at 500 dollars plus
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LD said 10:08AM on 3-01-2006
"yesterday, we saw little value added to the Mac mini line"
So sad, another TUAW blogger that just doesn't get it.
How could you possibly say there was little value added? A significant CPU increase (twice as fast), remote, up to 2GB RAM, optical in AND out, faster SATA hard drives, more ob-board USB ports, gigabit ethernet, and wireless. The only non-"new" thing was the wireless stuff because that was at the same $599 price point as before. Even if you scratch that there was significant value-add.
Perhaps it's Apple's fault for not making it clear. It just floors me that every single TUAW blogger is slamming the new Mini despite its significant new features.
The boombox and leather cases deserve to be slammed, those are lame.
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C.K. Sample, III said 10:09AM on 3-01-2006
John, I clearly state above that I do think the Bonjour bits are innovative, but they aren't according to yesterday's announcement going to be Mac mini-specific. They're simple software updates away for the full line of Front Row savvy Macs.
Giving us some real Mac mini media center features (like intergrated PVR functionality, video ins to go alongside the audio ins, etc) would have been innovative. This was predictable.
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jc said 10:11AM on 3-01-2006
Maybe if you saw Apple as a business and not a relegion, you could come to the simple understanding: If you don't like it, don't buy it.
There is a serious danger in placing anything or anyone too high on a pedistal. At some point it either becomes out of reach, or you will feel the need to knock it down.
The best way to speak to a business is with your wallet... if you like what they are doing, buy it... if not go somewheres else. All of this 'hurt and dissapointment' only shows how greedy and selfish we really are.
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John said 10:13AM on 3-01-2006
I disagree.. I think you will see the mac mini morph into full media center. What would you rather see next to your TV a mac mini sleek design or a tower? The tower takes up too much space so does the iMac.
The Mini will have things we all want. So we will turn it into a digital media center and buy the other computer for the complete package.
My predicition of course which is why i see this in a good light.
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diablojota said 10:14AM on 3-01-2006
Well, I disagree on the pricing of the mini. It is more expensive as bluetooth and airport is now included in the model, so the pricing is equivalent to a G4 mini with similar features.
However I do agree with the Front Row update. It doesn't add much as the other macs will get this functionality as well.
I feel that Apple could've released these products without the hype that surrounded it. I know that the rumor mill churned heavily, but what they released was a but underwhelming and overpriced.
I have my iPod connected to my stereo which provides plenty of sound.
What I really want it a remote that will work with the iPod with more functionality, like being able to scroll through the songs and playlists while the iPod is cradled.
As for the previous poster, bonjour on Front Row is good, but not related to the mini and also not warranting the price increase. I think if Apple is going to charge 599 (despite added wireless) they should begin including the keyboard and mouse as this would truly be a small expense to them.
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djSyndrome said 10:16AM on 3-01-2006
"Giving us some real Mac mini media center features (like intergrated PVR functionality, video ins to go alongside the audio ins, etc) would have been innovative. This was predictable."
Your complaint wasn't that the mini wasn't innovative, it was that it was overpriced. As LD stated above, the Mini is now a much better value than its predecessor, even if it's lost the "under $500" tagline. The only step backwards for the mini (IMO) is the integrated graphics, but lets face it, no-one is buying these to play Doom3 anyway.
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Joshua Ochs said 10:23AM on 3-01-2006
Personally I agree. The mini update amounts to a speed bump and an Intel switchover. It also ends up a muh less rounded machine due to the intel Integrated graphics, and raises the entry-level price point, which is the whole POINT of the mini.
I'm recommending people skip the mini and wait for either the iBook or next year's mini. This one was rushed to market and is a pure Intel design, through and through. Hell, from Apple's own marketing of last year:
"Go ahead, just try to play Halo on a budget PC. Most say theyre good for
2D games only. Thats because an integrated Intel graphics chip steals
power from the CPU and siphons off memory from system-level RAM. Youd
have to buy an extra card to get the graphics performance of Mac mini, and
some cheaper PCs dont even have an open slot to let you add one."
http://web.archive.org/web/20050401054016/www.apple.com/macmini/graphics.html
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alex said 10:23AM on 3-01-2006
*sigh*. with this series of repetitive self indulgement whiny bs. you lost another reader :)
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LD said 10:26AM on 3-01-2006
Keep in mind, the integrated graphics aren't bad. The reviews of that chipset have been positive for everything except gaming. Of course, heh, gaming on a Mac :)
Gaming is not what the Mini was, is/ or will be used for so I don't understand the graphics complaints a bit other than the shared system memory which is compensated by the new 2GB max limit.
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James Donevan said 10:33AM on 3-01-2006
To say the anticipation generated by the assorted rumours did not cause you disappointment is patent nonsense. Of course you were disappointed and inevitably this blurred your perception of the new products. Try tempting a child with a chocolate cake, then give him an overpriced piece of chewing gum. Try tempting an adult with a BMW, then give her an overpriced bicycle... not much different with the various bloggers.
The fact is that Apple released some pretty humdrum products that it felt would benefit its product line. Arguably overpriced in several instances, I agree. Uninspired in several instances, I agree. But worthy of page after page of agonising by the bloggers here? No. Overprice by Apple, overkill by TUAW. Move on folks, they is nothing to see here.
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Chase said 10:34AM on 3-01-2006
"Giving us some real Mac mini media center features (like intergrated PVR functionality, video ins to go alongside the audio ins, etc) would have been innovative. This was predictable."
I think I remember everyone "PREDICTING" that there would be a pvr mini. What no one predicted was that the mini would remain an entry level computer as Apple created it for. Apple will continue to be innovative. You will likely see it as a stand alone device, similar to the mini, but its own line, with more capabilites than a cannabilized mini. That way, Apple keeps the mini line for low-line consumers.
I'm really getting sick of the TUAW writers turning on Apple this way. They are testing their boundaries. The market will show they made a bad choice with the case and hi-fi, and they'll move on. So should you.
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Steve said 10:36AM on 3-01-2006
--quote--
our disappointment is not the creation of our fanaticism, but rather Apple's failure to live up to the innovation we've come to expect from them.
--end quote--
No, it's their failure to live up to the expectations you placed upon them. The mini got a nice boost as has been posted here - more ports, optical sound, faster speed, wireless+BT included, remote capable and included, in the same form factor. What exactly do you expect? Does Apple call it the MacPVR? Nope - you do.
As for the Hi-Fi - first of all C.K., what is this obsession with labeling it as 80's? It's a speaker set for crying out loud, as far as I know that's still relevant today. You didn't see any digital music speakers in the 80's. It's expensive because the focus is on high fidelity (hence the name). If you're not an audiophile, it's clearly not for you. I'm okay with critizing the design. But just realize that Apple isn't always going to make products that appeal to everybody - no company does.
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arkowi said 10:39AM on 3-01-2006
CK,
I may go down as a moron for stating this...
but I don't think Apple is ever going to do a PVR...for two reasons.
1. Too many competing formats. I have dish, you have cable, someone else has cable card, his neighbor has OTA HD. If you have ever hooked a Tivo up to an usupported cable box with the IR transmitters and a rubber band, you would see why it is just not somewhere Apple is going to go. It is not elegant.
2. Why is Apple going to want their customers to setup a PVR and record Lost when people are buying it for 1.99? Apple already gave birth to PAY internet television distribution, it has proven successful, why take a step backwards? Instead, I would rather see them up the quality of the iTMS videos to at least DVD quality.
That is not to say that they will not do a media center. In fact, I will go ahead and say the new mini is the media center I have been waiting for.
If you really just want some video inputs, get one of El Gato's thingies. They work great.
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dvddesign said 10:42AM on 3-01-2006
Well, we all have to look at it this way. I would wager that the hifi and the mini were the pulled items from the macworld keynote.
If we had seen these products debut back in Jan, we probably would have had a less than venomous reaction that we're having today to these products.
While I agree that all three of these items are rather bleh and expensive, we know that there's more stuff coming soon, likely in April.
I have about as much weight as anyone else in guessing what will happen, but we'll likely be seeing a 6G ipod and a full blown tower based successor to the Power Mac G5 in the next 12 months. And with both of those out, we really won't have much room to complain about anything.
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Carsten Rose Lundberg said 10:44AM on 3-01-2006
--quote-- and even then it is not that cool; I mean "Hi-Fi" is a 70s term, and the boombox is an 80s device; how is this expensive iPod peripheral indicative of Apple's innovation? --/quote--
This brings back reminiscence of when the 1G iPod was annouced ...
"All that hype for an MP3 player? Break-thru digital device? The Reality Distiortion Field is starting to warp Steves mind if he thinks for one second that this thing is gonna take off."
Have more laughs at the original thread http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=500
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C.K. Sample, III said 10:44AM on 3-01-2006
Everyone who has commented about the graphics card regarding gaming, noting the mac mini is not for gaming: but it *could* be. I *could* have a nice mac mini with a nice changeable graphics card sitting underneath my nice HDTV and play WoW nicely scaled on that big screen with a wireless keyboard and mouse. Sure, I can do that now with this model, but they *could* have made it a lot better and kept the price lower, imho.
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HS said 10:51AM on 3-01-2006
They aren't turning on Apple, they just don't get it. I don't understand how they could get their knickers in such a twist over this, I really don't, and it's just plain silly. And it most certainly turns me away from this as my source of various Apple-info as it has grown to become.
Apple released things yesterday that I will most likely buy, but lets forget that, lets just try to make some people see why not every single announcement from Apple has to make the world turn around. Sometimes the small things are good. Sometimes the small thigs pave the way for bigger things. Sometimes the small things are just inbetween the big things, and I don't see how anyone could start crying about it since the small things doesn't replace the big ones.
I don't mind though, I just think it's silly to act this way and turn people away from an otherwise good site.
By the way, Apple OBVIOUSLY needed to hold a press-conference like this to get you people down on the ground. Seeing how you guys think Apple would have to top themselves every single time they announced something, and that's kinda impossible. This way most people will now be a little more sober the next time Apple announces a tiny gettogether at their place to show people something new. According to you guys Apple shouldnt be allowed to make good things doesnt shatter your view of the world, and if you honestly say that that is not because you got drunk on your own thoughts about what you wished for without any real basis in facts then you should take a couple minutes and think it through. AFTER you stop crying over how mean Steve was yesterday that is.
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Bob S. said 10:51AM on 3-01-2006
You kids. "Hi-fi" was a '50s term, and boomboxes were all over the place in the '70s. (If they were "an '80s device," it's because they were *still* around.)
As for the Apple stuff, if it were interesting, it would've been introduced at the Expo last January. Having a separate event was a sad attempt to stir up a little interest. I'd guess that the Intel desktops will be introduced at the developer bash in June.
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