Dan Knight
- 2007.05.30
More on Macs for Seniors
Following up on Making New Mac
Users with Old iMacs and Tiger, Bill Brown writes:
Yo again Dan,
Thank you for the kind words. I shall share them with my
compatriots in Mac.
Would it be safe to assume that you're turning off
Spotlight and the Dashboard?
In answer to your question, No we don't turn off Spotlight or
Dashboard. We run 'em suffering whatever the consequence. Or
purpose is to train Mac basics, and these are a part of what we
train. To date we have had no significant growth of the crap on the
drive. But, then, we don't create a lot of clutter in our classes.
For each new class, we create a new user account. At the end of the
class, we dump this user account and start a new one for the next
class. This seems to keep clutter and growth to a minimum.
Our classes consist of eight one-and-a-half hour sessions on
Friday mornings - three classes a year - Fall, Winter, and Spring.
We have been doing this since the SE and System 7.0.1. Currently we are
booked through the end of the year.
What do we get out of it? Free senior center coffee, more Macs
to fuss with than anybody could dream, and lots of yucks.
And your site is a part of our training.
Bill
Bill,
Thanks for the kind words, and kudos to you and
your gang for helping these seniors stay in touch with friends and
family in the Internet age.
Dan
If the Mac mini and 17" iMac Are Dead....
Richard Eppert responds to If
the Mac mini Is Dead, What Will Replace It?
Hi Dan,
I liked your article on Low End Mac about the Mac mini (and thought you were spot on
too). I also have been wondering about this rumor. And if you add
to that one of the rumors of the demise of the 17" iMac, this makes
me wonder what's coming down the pike from Apple.
What if Apple is working on an entirely different form factor to
fill the void for both of these computers? I would like some of the
options and pricing you suggested, but something that would really
be important to those of us in high ed (and K-12 too) is a computer
that is a lot more easy to secure than a mini. I would have used
the mini in more public computing spaces, but I just feel like it
is just too hard to secure them. The security slot just doesn't
work that well with most cables I've seen, and they are just too
easy to stick in a backpack.
Because of these issues, we've been using 17" iMacs instead. But
I wouldn't mind using a slightly larger and more easy to secure,
stand alone Mac CPU.
Just my $0.02.
-Richard Eppert
IUPUI University Library
Richard,
You raise a good point - I'd never contemplated
how easy it would be to steal a Mac mini.
And thanks for raising the issue of the 17" iMac, which most sources agree is on
its way out with the next iMac revision. I have mixed feelings
about that, as the 1440 x 900 pixel display is more than adequate
for most users, and the 20" iMac currently retails for $300 more.
Even if Apple found a way to slash $200 off that difference, it
would be a shame to see the smaller, lighter 17" model
discontinued.
Of course, Apple could be up to something
different. There are 18" and 19" widescreen LCDs these days....
Dan
The Mac mini Is 'Dog Food'
Mike Perlman writes:
I think you are asking Apple a lot. They apparently make more
profit with the iMacs.
Maybe they should make a "hackers machine" deliberately so it
won't appeal to mainstream consumers but instead offer a bit of
funky customization. Maybe a base machine with no HD, RAM, video
card, keyboard, or mouse. Just the OS X DVDs. They could offer
a special self build burn-in and go service at the Apple Stores.
Who knows?
The problem is - look at the MacBook sales. It is widely popular
and still comes at a good price premium. Compared to that the Mac
mini is dog food.
Mike,
Don't kid yourself - Apple is turning a profit on
the Mac mini. Sure, they make more profit from a $1,200 computer
than a $600 one, but with the mini Apple gets add-on sales (and
additional profits) for mice, keyboards, memory upgrades, and
probably some displays as well.
As for the MacBook, it's probably the ideal
notebook for most people who want a portable, and 'Books make up
well over half of Apple's unit sales. But the Mac mini isn't aimed
at that market; it's for people who want a desktop setup, can't
justify the cost of a Mac Pro (Apple's only other modular Mac), and
don't want to be locked into the iMac's fixed display (or can't
justify its expense).
I agree that Apple should sell a hacker-friendly
Mac, something I've been saying for years. After all, computer
geeks are the people others come to for advice, and if they're
happily using Macs, they're going to recommend them. If they avoid
Macs because they're not hackable enough (such as adding a video
card), they're going to recommend the other platform.
Dan
Death of Mac mini and iMac 17?
Robert Crane says:
If the Mac mini is killed and also the iMac 17, that might mean
that Apple is actually raising its prices:
Current difference between bottom end iMac 17 and basic iMac 20
is $400.00
Would Apple offer a basic iMac 20 with combo for $999?
I kind of doubt it.
Probably the basic I20 would go up to $1,099 and the SuperDrive
I20 could drop to $1,299
It's a good deal, but it would still be an effective price rise,
and Apple gets to simplify its product line by getting rid of Mac
mini and I17.
RKC
Robert,
Apple has a pretty simple product line: Pro
desktop (one model with a host of build-to-order options), 15" and
17" pro notebooks, three sizes of iMac (four models), the 13"
MacBooks (three versions), and the Mac mini (two versions).
I don't have a crystal ball, but I can't imagine
Apple no longer offering a sub-$1,000 consumer Mac. If they are
discontinuing the Mac mini, I believe it will be so they can
replace it with a more expandable, more affordable, and possibly
more profitable model.
Likewise, if Apple discontinues the 17" iMac, it
will either be because they can now sell the 20" iMac for a $100
premium over the current 17" models or because they have found a
better deal on 18" or 19" displays.
My best guess is that Apple will offer three iMacs
with the next revision: an entry-level 19" or 20" model with
integrated graphics at US$1,099, the same display with a separate
video section at $1,299, and a 24" iMac at the top selling for
$1,799.
Dan
Merging the Mac mini with Apple TV
Matthew Wright says:
Heya Dan,
I was thinking about this lately, and it seems to me that the
mini and the Apple TV are moving towards each other. The mini is a
fully functional desktop but still sorta limited for the price (as
you noted). Why not just spend another couple hundred bucks for the
entry level iMac, you know? In contrast, the Apple TV is cheap but
limited in what it can do (as in it really isn't a standalone
computer despite all hacks to the contrary).
My bet would be that Apple will marry these two in the
near-future, giving the next mini all the functionality of the TV
and justifying the price tag. If so, there will probably be an
"entry-level" TV that's pretty much the Apple TV as it is now (a
peripheral, really) and a high-end/pro Apple TV that is essentially
the mini as it is now with all the fun and functionality of the
Apple TV (a TV that doesn't need to be tethered to a "real"
computer - maybe even some DVR functions too). It brings the
successful tiered iPod model to what is essentially a new kind of
Mac. A friend of mine has already hacked his mini to be a better
Apple TV.
As far as the need to fill the low end desktop niche (and the
middle end for that matter), I don't know. I've never been
impressed with the mini for a viable desktop for what you get for
the price. If I don't get any expandability, I might as well
spend another few hundred and get a built in monitor in the bargain
(a la MacBook or iMac).
Just a thought.
As always, keep up the good work at LEM.
Best,
Matthew
Matthew,
Interesting speculation, as it addresses both the
well know shortcomings of Apple TV (it's not really a computer) and
the Mac mini (it's not especially good at working with your TV).
Perhaps Apple will replace the Mac mini with more of a hybrid, a
media center Mac, if you will.
That would be hot!
Dan
The Mac mini Replacement
Tom Gabriel says:
Dan,
Low End Mac is so consistently good, informative, and useful, I
stop by daily.
Your article "If the Mac mini Is Dead, What Will Replace It?" is
a solid grand slam. You ought to be in Apple's New Product
Department.
When you mentioned a Mac mini replacement with a six-inch
footprint, Cube-like design, PCI slots, and the rest, maybe even
starting at $399, all I could think of was, "I hope somebody from
Apple is reading this."
It really could work! In fact, I'd bet on long lines at the
Apple Store the day of it's introduction. I'd even bet that one of
the people in one of those lines would be me,
Great stuff, keep it up!
Regards,
Tom Gabriel
Tom,
If Apple were to produce such a computer, I'd
order one sight unseen. And I'd bet a lot of Windows users would
seriously consider it rather than buying a new Vista machine.
Dan
Mac OS 9 on Compact Flash
Gregory J. Smith writes:
I experimented with booting a Lombard of a CF card in 2003. My results
are here: <
http://homepage.mac.com/gregjsmith/files/40E1965C-468D-434A-A452-F4777E01528C-1047.html>
Gregory J. Smith
Gregory,
Nice project. It's great seeing how affordable
Compact Flash and these IDE adapters have become. With 2 GB
cards as cheap at $23 these days, I hope you'll given OS X a
try.
Dan
Addonics CF PC-Card for Old World ROM
PowerBooks?
In response to Addonics Compact
Flash Adapter Questions, David F. writes:
You mention the form-factor of old laptops (12.5mm) will support
a dual bank CF PCMCIA card....
But what about the drivers/firmware for legacy laptops?
I vaguely recall my experience with a friend's 1400 circa 2000 . . . I discovered
that she could not upgrade to a combo enet+modem PCMCIA card
because the (16-bit?) PCMCIA adapter was hard-wired to the
motherboard of older PowerBooks, so it couldn't be upgraded with a
modern (32-bit?) PCMCIA controller.
So this makes me wonder . . . do these new fancy
dual-bank CF readers only work with modern PCMCIA (aka PC-Card) or
do they also work with the 1st generation PCMCIA Apple was using -
which (might?) correspond to the difference between Old World vs.
New World ROM PPC laptops.
Your insight would probably help readers avoid a 'gotcha'.
Cheers;
David
David,
We're not talking about PCMCIA adapters or PC Card
adapters; the Addonics adapter plugs into the IDE bus and replaces
the hard drive. There are no issues with firmware or drivers. The
only issue is that the Compact Flash card should support "fixed
disk mode" (UDMA).
What you're thinking of is that the PB 1400
supports PC Cards but doesn't support the later 32-bit CardBus
specification. Thus, the newer CardBus cards are not compatible
with the older PowerBook.
Dan
Another Type of Flash Drive
Benito Flores-Meath writes:
I haven't used these, but instead of using an adapter with a CF
card, here you get an IDE drive in one step.
<https://www.buymemory.com/products/products.asp?Package=IDEFD#2>
Benito
Benito,
Thanks for the info. These Transcend 2.5" IDE
Flash Disks are more costly ($69 for 2 GB, $139 for 4, $208
for 8) than the Addonics adapters ($25-30) plus Compact Flash ($23
for 2 GB, $40 for 4, $75 for 8), and they would be less
flexible as well, as you can't simply replace a CF card but would
have to buy a new Flash Disk if you ran out of room.
On the other hand, you don't have to worry about
buying the right kind of CF card (UDMA) or card speed, and they may
be using flash memory with a longer lifespan than low cost CF cards
offer (the Transcend drives are rated at over 2 million
cycles).
Dan
Dan Knight has been publishing Low
End Mac since April 1997. Mailbag columns come from email responses to his Mac Musings, Mac Daniel, Online Tech Journal, and other columns on the site.
