Newton Poetry

I always wonder about the Mac Mini.

Every time I see one I want to touch it, and I’m always on the look-out for a cheap enough model to buy. But I wonder how the Mac Mini’s sales are doing.

When it was launched, people predicted the Mini – then a G4 – would sell pretty well. Then, last summer, sites predicted the death of the Mini. Since Leopard was release, the Mini just hangs in limbo.

It’s a shame, too, because people love the pint-sized Mac enough to mod the heck out of it. Media centers, car computers – you name it, someone has put a Mini inside it. But how well does it sell overall?

The original idea was to offer up a below-$1,000 Mac so that Window users, who already own a capable monitor and keyboard/mouse set, could jump ship easily and cheaply. The Mini could run OS X and MS Office software and anything else you could throw at it, and users could expect a machine to help them “learn” the Mac OS without whipping through 40 Photoshop filters at top speed. You knew it was a modest system. You didn’t expect a whole lot.

As it stands today, though, people are switching to Apple – but mostly through the notebook route. What’s the Mac Mini’s role in all this? A new MobileMe-only device? A music server?

Plus, OS X 10.5 requires more powerful hardware, and the Mini’s modest specs seem to not up to the new iMac’s standards, I guess I’m just worried the tiny Mac will get lost in the (non-iPod) shuffle. If sales are sluggish, would Apple just drop it? Would the monitor-less experiment be over? And what about the dreaded xMac?

If anyone knows, I’d love to hear about it.

For a guy that was no fan of social networking sites Myspace or Facebook – or computers in general, once upon a time – Brian Floe sure thinks along those lines.

Floe is the creator of MyAppleSpace.com, a growing social site dedicated to Apple fans.

Why not just create a “Mac Lovers” group on Facebook?

“Why not just buy a PC and put an Apple sticker on it?” Floe says. “Mac users especially always want the next big thing, not the second best thing. We have high standards.”

Good point. That’s why Floe says MyAppleSpace is “a little space for the rest of us.”

More… »

This week marks the tenth anniversary of the Apple iMac.

I’m lucky enough to own one of the Bondi Blue beauties; it’s mostly my finance and gaming (WarCraft II) machine. I like to mess around with Photoshop on it, and I also got a copy of Adobe’s proto-web WYSIWYG editor PageMill to play with.

I’ve got mine running OS 9, but they originally shipped with OS 8, I think. It’s my truly “classic” machine, and also my Newton MessagePad hub. It still runs like a dream, humming along at 233 MHz with 160k of RAM.

So thanks, Steve Jobs, and thanks, Jon Ive, for bringing such a wonderful machine into being.

Here’s an idea.

Since Europeans are worried about the overstocked pre-3G iPhones they won’t be able to sell after the 2.0 iPhone is released, how about we sell the old models at a fraction – say, 1/3 – of the price. Cheaper than refurbs, even.

And the refurbs? How about $99 each.

It’s hard to understand second-gen iPods still going for almost their original price now that the video versions are out. Same with several-years-old Apple notebooks.

My feeling is, Apple should sell the outdated versions at rock-bottom prices for no other reason than to get Apple products in the hands of non-Apple customers. I love Mac refurbs. I love the idea behind them. But those white iMacs just aren’t going to sell like they used to. Get them out of stock, onto the desks of poor Windows users, and spread the Apple virus.

Same with iPhones. When the 3G model comes out, practically give away the EDGE iPhones just to (a) get rid of them and (b) get them into the hands of eager teens or soccer moms or whoever else hasn’t ponied up $399 for a brand new model.

// Found via Slashdot

It takes some strong willpower not to give in to temptation and grab a new 20-inch iMac for $999.

Apple’s refurb site is an endless source of lust for me. I’ve grabbed a few iPods as gifts off the refurbished list, and the deals are great.

What stops me from grabbing my tax rebate check and ordering a new Leopard-powered beauty? For one, I don’t have enough room in my apartment for a dedicated desktop machine. My iBook gets me by just fine, and I have a Bondi iMac G3 that gets me by as a “gaming machine” and Newton hub.

After seeing one of the new iMacs in person (the monstrous 24-inch model), however, I can’t help but yearn for one. My plan is to purchase an iMac after I purchase my own home, which may be a year or two into the future – or when I get my own apartment (I have a roommate, who has his own computer).

In the meantime, I’m hoping some angel stops by Apple’s site and surprises me on my birthday this weekend. Hope springs eternal!

Time for some links:

• Download iPhone apps to iPod Touch for free [via Simplehelp]
• iTunes now #1 music retailer [Ars Technica]
• Celebrity Mac/iPhone/iPod sightings [Macenstein – they have a whole series going, but this one was one of my favs]

Sometimes, geek dreams really do come true.

First, some background: I bought an Apple Newton – the first PDA ever invented – almost a year ago, just to play around with it. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to sync it to my Macs. The Newton uses an old serial cable that no one uses anymore.

Then I found a serial-to-USB adapter, but the Newton’s batteries soon ran dead, with no hope of recharge. So I bought some Sanyo Eneloop pre-charged batteries, and have finally been able to mess around with the MessagePad.

And for the past few days, I’ve dug the adapter out and tried syncing it with my laptop and my iMac – with no luck. Then, tonight…

Whala. There it was. I messed around with the hookup settings late tonight and finally, my Newton and iMac are talking.

More… »