The Computer Vet Weblog

I’ve been one of the Windows Faithful forever. I’ve been using it since the 3.11 days, and I’ve really never used anything else. I have dipped my toe into the Linux waters, but I always lost interest. And Apple? I’ve always said I’d only buy a Mac if they dropped the price—a lot.

Well, what did those bastards at Apple do? They dropped the price. A lot. They’re selling this slick little Mac Mini for $500 now, and that just might be my price point. Well, the price point that I can justify putting on the company credit card, at least. Yes, I’d get mine on the company dime, which means it would have to stay in my office and be used for things like seeing how well Macintosh clients will integrate into our network and other thrilling stuff like that. That probably won’t stop me, though, from slipping it in my pocket (at only six inches, it’ll probably fit) and taking it home at night.

I’m one of the target markets that people are going to be watching, apparently, according to this article. A small company, one-man IT department, running completely on Windows. We wouldn’t buy a Mac at $1,500, we wouldn’t buy one at $1,200, so will we buy one at $500? Will this daring pricing move help Macintosh penetrate this market? Can Apple make inroads into a Microsoft stronghold? Stay tuned for the exciting story!

Of course, I’m not even sure I’ll get one yet. And apparently they won’t be available for another week, so I have some time to make up my mind. It is a nice looking little computer, though, especially since it reminds me so much of a sliced-up version of the Mac Cube. In fact, the Cube can act as a handy protective big brother to the Mini.

But the Cube cost two grand; the Mini is one quarter that. Which makes sense, since it’s one quarter the size too. And then of course there’s the name similarity to another Mini I’d like to have. So, one day soon I might be posting from Safari. And trying to figure out just how well Mac and Windows work together

:: I was listening to the Chris Pirillo Show (the one where he was chatting with Robert Scoble at his dining room table for three hours) and I heard an interesting point. The new “Tiger” update to OS X, OS 10.4, is due out sometime in the next couple of months. So, really, there’s no point getting a new Mac until after that’s released. So I guess I’ll sit tight and wait!