New Apple Gear was announced today at MacWorld Expo. Unfortunately for me I had a test today. This divided my attention pretty badly. Well that's all behind me. On to the new gear. First up, the iPod Shuffle.
A brand new iPod that's available now. It weighs .78 ounces and is smaller than a stick of Trident gum. Because it's Flash, its completely skip-free (no moving parts for the storage). It doubles as a USB thumbdrive (from what I've seen). The best price is ... well the price. 512 for $99 and 1GB for $150. This is very competitive compared to other mp3 players in this price range.
Cons: The only con I can think of is the lack of screen. This might put off some buyers at first glance. Without a screen you can't tell what music song is coming up without actually listening to it. The more I think about it, the less of a concern it is. Personally when I'm actually using my iPod on the go (target activity for this iPod), I never look at the screen. When I'm walking or running, I just use the remote, which has the same exact controls as the iPod Shuffle. The other reason it isn't much of a concern is the way Apple decided to market the iPod Shuffle. Just like the name implies, the iPod Shuffle is all about shuffling your playlist. You have the choice of playing your playlist in order, or completely random. iTunes even has an "autofill" function which will fill your Shuffle with a random assortment of songs. For the would-be joggers and outdoor types this iPod is marketed to, it's perfect.
Next up, Mac mini
Yes that's the whole computer. It's hard to see just how small the mini is. This picture should give you a better idea.
The computer is smaller than most external burners! The specs are respectable for the form factor and price. The mini is available with either a 1.2 or 1.4 GHZ G4, 256MB of RAM standard, and a Combo Drive. A SuperDrive (DVD+-RW) is optional.
Cons: I have a few cons with this machine.
1. RAM - We all know that OSX loves RAM. The more the merrier when it comes to it. With 256, the computer will run acceptably, but not very well. This isn't anything new, Apple usually sells their computers with the bare minimum of ram, giving the consumer the option of upgrading when they want to. The reason this is a con is that from what I can see, there is only 1 slot in the Mac mini. This slot, from the factory will have the 256MB stick in it. This can be replaced, but only by removing the stick. The only way to get 1GB of RAM into this puppy is to buy the super expensive 1GB DIMMS. I guess it won't be as big a problem when the sticks come down in price.
2. Hard Drive: This is a desktop, and as such I expect to be able to upgrade atleast the most basic parts of it. I'm not sure if the hard drive will be user replaceable. Also to get a hard drive into something this small, I'm afraid they may have used a 2.5" laptop HD. Not only are these drives typically slower, but they're also much more expensive than the normal 3.5" IDE or SATA HDs.
3. Graphics Card: ATI 9200. This graphics card is really nothing to write home about. It would be nice to have a more powerful chipset, especially considering that the graphics hardware is not replaceable. I do understand that this is geared as a low-end entry level or second mac. Thus it doesn't need a great graphics card for games and such.
In Conclusion: I believe this Mac will be an absolute hit. It has all the sexiness of the doomed cube, but with a very reasonable price tag. I'm seriously contemplating getting one. As soon as I buy an LCD of course.
