For what it’s worth….

Ah, MacWorld. The event that shapes all things Mac until another appears. As MacWorlds go, this one was probably as momentous as the introduction of the iMac or OS X.

We declared our (sorta) independence from MS Office with the introduction of iWork. Just need a pesky spreadsheet program to round it off. Speaking of which, does anyone really think that Apple doesn’t have one ready to go the moment Microsoft declares no more updates to Office? My feeling is that Apple is holding back bits and pieces until they are needed. Why completely antagonize MS when they are still cranking out updates to the most popular Office productivity suite on the planet?

The Mac Mini finally answers the burning question; “Why doesn’t Apple make an inexpensive starter Mac to compete with the Dell crap boxes out there?” I’ll hold off on judging the Mini until I actually get to play with one, but some things disturb me about the little Mac that could.

1. Why only 256 megs of RAM? 512 is not that much more (especially in bulk).

2. Why a 1.25 GHz G4? A little faster (I find it hard to believe that a 1.42 GHz G4 and a 80 gig HD costs $100 bucks) and this would have been much better received by the PC press. I don’t know how many of you cruise sites like GEEK.com, but when announced there, the PC gamer freakazoids started yammering about how they could build a more powerful machine for $150 less. While technically true, I pointed out to them that not one of their DIY Frankenstein monsters would run OS X. Well, I guess I answered my own question.

3. Why no keyboard or mouse? This one is easy. I dislike Apple’s one-button mouse and alway buy a trackball to replace it with. A word of advice to anyone buying the mini. Whatever keyboard you get had better have built-in USB ports. The Mini only has two. Invest in a USB 2 hub while you’re at it. Go big and get a FireWire hub too.

4. No way to add memory without voiding the warrenty. HUH? What the heck is THIS all about? Only one memory slot and you can’t replace Apple’s measly 256 meg without bringing down the wrath of warrenty voidness.

5. 40 or 80 gig HD?????? You want to go bigger, you need an external drive (or delve into the innards of the Mini and again void, void, void!) that costs much more than internal ones do.

By the time you add up all the extras you need for a decent midrange system (though almost all of it does not need to be purchased from Apple), you’re almost into iMac country. Hmmm, maybe Apple is smarter than I thought!

iLife 05 will be a must buy for me. Other than still just one video track for iMovie, everything else looks great.

My last thought about MacWorld. IDG needs to swallow their pride and move it out of Boston. Not that Beantown isn’t a great place, but it’s too far north for many of us on the East Coast.