When they ran as a headline "Mac mini, maxi success ?" a few days ago, our
MacGeneration french colleagues probably answered our existential questions on the future of the Mac mini. Judging by the first weeks in the life of the Apple computer whose price is finally adapted to the market, there seems to be a Mac Mini effect that may be the same as the iPod effect. Indeed, though a "BYODKN" computer (Bring your own display, keyboard & mouse) might initially look complex as a first purchase, it actually had four main assets : the retailers, the switchers, the fans, and...the brokes.
As for the iPod, the manufacturers have displayed much imagination for long to propose accessories. As for the Mac Mini, if we can already plan future accessoiries "designed for Mac Mini" (keyboard, mouse,...), the industry seems to seize this little Mac that is both efficient and affordable not simply to produce accessories but rather to integratee it. We rapidly saw
Cyndustries propose a "Cynthia Mac", a sort of modular synthetiser produced around the Mac Mini, and today we see the retailers propose complete configurations that are built in relation with the youngest one by Apple. For a few days, one of the biggest French retailers,
Playback, has proposed a "playback mini" configuration composed of a Mac mini 1.42Ghz, a keyboard and an Apple mouse, a TFT 15 inches screen and a digital interface with softwares, that vary according to
the three configurations that are under 1,400 € each. The interface is somewhat becoming the accessory, but it's more "pro" than an iPod case!
The integration of the Mac mini in these "music configurations" that are proposed by the retailers may boost the sales (just remember the time when such a set cost around 2850 euros two years ago, without the TFT ). Indeed some pro-mac musiciens, though not very well-off, are probably going to make the most of this opportunity to replace the center of their home-studio, our PC musician friends can also be tempted by a price that will allow them to taste the delights of Logic quite openly. As for the beginners in musical computing, schools and other training centers, this new formula may look tempting since it manages to solve the intricate equation stability + performances = popular price.
If the
Mac Mini goes the same way as the iPod and that it manages to be like the VW Beetle in the automobile industry, and if he succeeds in attracting musicians, Mr. Jobs may win his bet. As for me I would then stop being an amateur clairvoyant.
When they ran as a headline "Mac mini, maxi success ?" a few days ago, our MacGeneration french colleagues probably answered our existential questions on the future of the Mac mini. Judging by the first weeks in the life of the Apple computer whose price is finally adapted to the market, there seems to be a Mac Mini effect that may be the same as the iPod effect. Indeed, though a "BYODKN" computer (Bring your own display, keyboard & mouse) might initially look complex as a first purchase, it actually had four main assets : the retailers, the switchers, the fans, and...the brokes.
