Are you nuts or stupid? Nevermind, I know the answer to that.
Saturday, 6 October 2007
Posted by austin in: Apple, trackback
So, Mac OS Rumours “reports” that the Mac Mini will be killed in October and replaced with a “Mac Nano”. TUAW picks up on it and gives it enough legs to reach Digg’s frontpage.
Personally, I don’t care if Mac OS Rumours is right or not; I don’t listen to them. The idea of this move makes no sense anyway given that the Mini was just given an update in August. What interests me are the comment threads on TUAW and Digg.
Take, for example, the first comment on TUAW, asking where the mid-range headless with upgradeable components is. Or this one from Digg. What about this one calling for a Mini with an upgradeable video card?
I gotta wonder whether these people are nuts or stupid. Actually, I don’t really have to wonder at all. Like it or not, Apple is about control. You’re never going to get a consumer-level Mac with much of an upgradeable anything. They’re not trying to compete with Dell, so they don’t need a minitower model for consumers. The Apple model distribution is simple—and that’s on purpose. The pricing is roughly accurate: you spend more, you get more. Contrast that with Dell, where spending more doesn’t always get you more—it gets you different. (It always took me a couple of hours to figure out the best base-model machine to configure from at Dell for the best bang for the buck. It doesn’t take long at all with Apple.)
Insanity is colloquially considered to be trying to do the same thing repeatedly while expecting different results. You can keep wishing that Apple will cater to you and not to what will actually make them money, but it won’t do you any good. So, keep wishing. You’ll keep me laughing at you.
Comments»
This is what I’ve always liked about Apple with the Mac. Apple makes sure all the hardware they provide in the machine works perfectly with their software. If you go to the forums of other PC manufacturers there are tons of posts along the line of “…I installed such-and-such piece of hardware, and it’s unrecognized by Windows” or “..I upgraded my video card and now I get a blue-screen”. You don’t have to worry about this with Mac. Mac’s aren’t made for people who want to be on the cutting edge of hardware, upgrading components a couple times a year (gamers). This may cut down the potential user base, but it also explains why Mac users love their machines, it all just works.