Mac mini controversy

Posted by Pierre Igot in: Macintosh
January 13th, 2005 • 7:18 am

There have been various people in the past couple of days ranting about Apple and the Mac mini and how the new product is a major mistake on Apple’s part. This includes Bill Palmer, Jack Kapica for The Globe And Mail, and Seth Jayson for The Motley Fool.

They do have some valid points, including the implausibility of Mac mini sales in Apple stores — where the cheapest display available is a $999 20″ flat-panel display. Ouch. Apple has always been about selling the whole package to consumers. (Pros can assemble the pieces themselves, and they can afford the pricier displays too.) How are they going to be able to provide prospective customers with what looks like a good deal?

Apple will need to stock its own stores with cheap CRT displays and cheap non-Apple keyboards and mice. Otherwise they won’t be able to sell the whole package. And trying to sell anything less than the whole package to consumers doesn’t sound like a very smart idea to me.

On the other hand, this might provide a good opportunity for other Apple resellers and for on-line stores other than Apple’s own store. They have always carried a range of cheaper options, and they just have to come up with some attractive packages for customers — which they couldn’t do with Apple’s previous big mistake, the Cube.

So things are not as clear-cut as some people would have it.


2 Responses to “Mac mini controversy”

  1. LoonyPandora says:

    With the recent reduction in price of Apple Keyboards and Mice, they are actually quite reasonable. Still a little on the expensive side (£15 each, in the UK) – but not the ridiculous £50 that they used to be. I think that was definitely a move made with the Mac Mini in mind, as I’m sure Apple wold like to make some profit from sales of keyboards/mice, rather than none at all.

    Regarding the display issue… that is certainly something to think about, who knows what Apple have planned? – From what I can tell, they sell plenty of 3rd party products at the AppleStores, so why not monitors?

  2. Pierre Igot says:

    I had no idea that they had just cut the prices of the keyboard and mouse by 50%! Cool, finally they’re reasonably price — for the type of features that they offer (i.e. the bare minimum).

    Based on what I’ve read elsewhere, they already have third-party CRTs at the online Apple store, so it’s probably a good sign :).

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