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yikes! they went and did it again...

and right AFTER Christmas too... darn it

it is MACWORLD day again...
what is in store.
!!

A bare bones stripped to basics MAc.. how cute.

Or a personal life function device.
Entertainment coupled with basic work functions and connectivity.

But you could edit video and audio with Firewrire interface. And DVD burner is an option.

Not a toy for sure, but very good for the price.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by David L. Donald on 11 January 2005 at 01:48 PM.]</p></FONT>

The Mini-Mac sure is an interesting innovation.

I didn't see that one coming.

Check out the quicktime video of the macworld 2005 show.
OS X Tiger is killer.

Jobs is a visionary if anyone is.

12,000 apps and incredable things it can do..
and people still think Windoze is better...
it boggles the mind

Oh yeah... the joggers dream... the iPod Shuffle

240 songs
easy interface
USB to ITunes,
Mac & PS compatible
random or song by song loading
less than the weight of 4 quarters,
smaller than a pack of gum,
with neck lanyard attachment
rechargable 12 hours, PLUS AA batt. adaptor for portabl recharging on the road..
$149.... retail list

120 songs $99
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by David L. Donald on 12 January 2005 at 06:34 AM.]</p></FONT>

David, you're a regular Apple commercial. (And I love it. I'm on an Apple.)






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<font size=1>Bill, steelin' since '99 | Steel page | MSA U12 | My music | Steelers' birthdays | Over 50?</font>

Well, when you add all the necessary accessories you still have an average priced computer with many boxes and cables. Why not get it all in one box?

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-johnson

It's a real enticement for people who are sick of PCs. They can keep their monitor, speakers and keyboard, and just replace that big buggy tower with a cute little box. Goodby spyware, goodby viruses ... Hello world!

I work with a guy who's a certified Windows developer. He rarely talks about anything that isn't Microsoft. Today he told me he's getting one of these to play with. At that price, he just can't resist it.

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<font size="1"><img align=right src="http://b0b.com/Hotb0b.gif" width="96 height="96">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra SD-12 (Ext E9), Williams D-12 Crossover, Sierra S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop 8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster (E13, C6, A6)</font>

I had 3 NeXT computers with IRCAM sound cards many years ago.
I am on my 15 and 17th apple comuter at the moment.
thinking of #18

I have a twin processor PC I built myself from scratch for Maya 3D animation, a real power abusers uint,
but I rarely use it, and NEVER on line.

For me one of the BEST Christmas presents I ever got was when Apple merged NeXT and Jobs back into the fold...

And now we have one of if not the most innovative comuter companies on the planet.

But all you need to do to understand is watch that MacWorld 2005 presentation.

I worked on PCs/windows for 15 years then started my own business and bought a Mac. There's no comparrison betwen the clunky, virus-laden, blue-screen-of-death PC world and the elegant, innovative, beautifully thought out world of Apple products. I'm never going back. I do wish Apple would stop trying to drive sales through releasing new hardware every year and a half.

Moore's Law states that CPU speed doubles every year and a half. If that's true, Apple does have to keep releasing new hardware at about that interval to stay competitive.

I've not bought an iPod yet because of price, and because I'd use it mostly at the gym (or maybe street jogging) where I'd fear for its well being (getting dropped, wet, lost). Now that they have a really small, ridgid memory version, I'm getting interested.

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<font size=1>Bill, steelin' since '99 | Steel page | MSA U12 | My music | Steelers' birthdays | Over 50?</font>

I have an old Nubuss, Mac 8100, and it still has some use in it.

I do scans, with two scanners, and was using it as a internet server, and word processor.
Works great with old OS 8 and an occasional change of hard disk.

Unless you are a true power abuser in a number crunching frenzy, you can upgrade every 3-5 years and never look back.

Just because there is something newer and better doesn't mean the old one is suddenly useless.

The only issue with older vs newer Macs was the change of total underlying OS to a Berklee UNIX based system, but that change is almost fully in place.

So now it's just system upgrades periodically and occasional hardware moves up.

<SMALL> you still have an average priced computer </SMALL>

EXACTLY! Apple's hitting the majick price point for the average consumer (at long last I must add) previously they have been priced "high" in many folks opinion...

They've always been "cool" computers, but now one can find out how cool for much less than before.

As to the price point on the iPod mini- Apple really should have announced that before Christmas. They have a habit of playing things too close to the vest.
There will likely be disgruntled folks who spent much more for the HD based iPods who are kicking themselves for not waiting.

I really hope they are as good as they look.
Several PC users I know, including me, have said that they are going to switch to Mac and get one.
They really will need to be as slick and reliable as the best Macs can be. Otherwise there will be a huge backlash by the disappointed.
Mac fans have always believed that they are 100% reliable, even in the face of the evidence of failing power supplies, cooling fans gone mad, unexpected crashes and broken cases. PC converts will not be so forgiving.
Incidentally, I have a 15 year old Classic Mac in my attic library- it works slowly, but fine.

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Cheers!
Dave

I play a solo gig every friday night. I carry an ANCIENT (early 90's) Mac 180 powerbook to run MIDI files for my backup. I carry a spare 180 with the identical show loaded for backup. Bought the spare for $27 on ebay! Like Dave, I still have my first Mac, a Classic. It's got the MIDI show in it as well. The home studio is a blue and white G3 with a G4 upgrade and three hard drives. I run Logic Audio. Somewhere in the mid 90's I went with a Power Computing tower (remember the Mac Clones?) It STILL works, too. That's 5 Macs at home. Some of them may be slow but they still work for a living. The day job as a Graphic Artist puts a G4 on my desk, as well. I bought the wife an HP running Windows XP for Christmas... I can't do a thing on her computer without getting lost.! Why, Why, Why Mr Gates?

Dave Van A.
The HD based iPods hold thousands of songs and have a much stronger editing interface.

I can see having the bare bones mini pod and a big one.

<SMALL>I can see having the bare bones mini pod and a big one.</SMALL>

me too, speaking as a techno music weenie

but for the average listener...

In the end they are better off with the bigger one,
if they could have afforded that in the 1st place.
Not that it is very large, but it does have a huge capacity.

But for a jogger / sailor, etc. the smaller is great

The smaller is almost small enough to hand to a club owner and say here listen to the band, I'll pick it up tomrrow.
And get a listening a lot faster than just handing a cd. They will want to check out the little box, so give it a listen.
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by David L. Donald on 14 January 2005 at 04:38 AM.]</p></FONT>

I don't think I've ever met a club owner I would trust with an iPod. It would probably end up in the barrel with the broken beer bottles!

David offers a nice concept - the demo-POD (could call it a "Gig-Lure"). The Mac v. PC battle will go on for a while. I'm 50/50 - office runs entirely by voice recognition (Dragon Naturally Speaking, 8.0) on a PC (XP Pro), but creative work tends to be on a Mac (lower latency for sound recording, easier all around). When Apple imbeds good quality voice recognition software in its operating system, I'll be 100% Mac (again). - Bob

Windows(TM)(R)(C) gives me a headache.

If you use computers as a creative tool, be kind to brain: let yourself concentrate on the creativity, and not the tool-- use a Mac.

But, with all new releases, give these li'l guys a few months on the market before purchasing... wait for the patches and fixes. Consumers have taken over the role of beta-testers-- it's cheaper and faster to let thousands of users work the machines and find the bugs, and then issue updates.

I've got a question-- can you use a USB microphone to record directly into an iPod, or can it only download from a computer?