The Rasputin of Macs, the Mac Mini is dead...again

I always thought the iMac was the midrange Mac...oh and if this above statement isnt valid, as in, if there was such thing to be created as a consumer/midrange mac called "The Mac," people would probably make the misconception that its a 128k Mac....(sorry, i just posted this for randomness)...but why would Apple want to bump off the Mac Mini? It is essentially designed for people who are probably not gonna use any intense applications: to be used as a small powerhouse with decent storage...

i'm intrigued by the rasputin comparison. they say the ladies loved rasputin, and it wasn't for being "mini."

Has anyone else noticed the pattern over the years?

- Users and bloggers focus on their personal desires for the next Apple hardware release.
- They wax ecstatic about their favorite dream features.
- Others chime in, add to the wish list, negate someone else's, and pontificate on what Apple should do to this or that machine.
- Apple announces new products, after the usual flood of rumors, speculation, "artist's conceptions", and page-hit bait.
- Apple stock usually takes a big hit (not last time, for some reason) the day of the announcements, usually due to the standard Apple under-promising of future growth, which the herd invariably assumes is bad news, even though they've seen the same low expectations set 4X/year for many years, only to be followed by a report of record earnings for the previous quarter.

- Enter the whiners and naysayers:

"Apple is killing Firewire! They are so stupid, I'm going to buy a PC!"
"My business is wrecked because I bought the $899 laptop rumor, and Apple did not deliver on it!"

And the favorite old saw by those with nothing better to do,
"Macs are elitist junk that is just pretty to rip people off!"
"The Mini is dead! Stupid Apple!"
"The iPhone is not 3G!"
"The iPhone has 3G, and I don't like that either!"

Meanwhile, in spite of all of their purported bad decisions, etc. Apple is outperforming every other computer maker by a longshot, not to mention re-defining and taking a significant chunk of the cell phone market in record time. It seems to me that Apple mgmt. knows a little bit about running a successful company, and does not make capricious decisions when it comes to their hardware design.

They make hardware for a general audience, not just a few geeks with a misplaced proprietary interest in their favorite company. No Firewire on the new MacBook? So what!? If you can't afford another 2-300 to get a faster machine with Firewire, buy the old white MacBook and hush! Apple has no obligation to you personally to include your favorite features.

I don't necessarily agree with every decision that Apple makes, in hardware or software, but overall, their products are far and away better, for me, and many others I know, than any other brand. It's tough being good, as it breeds the notion that anything less than perfection, for everyone, is unacceptable.

Cool off a little, hotheads, add up the time you spend ranting on web sites, then go figure out something more productive to do with it. Go outside and plant a garden or something, just stop whining about things you have no control over! If you don't like a product, don't buy it!
Fer chrissake people

I think the Q&A's of the conference call can be read into a little... For instance:

" - Q: Cheaper Macs? A: We chose not to server a certain customer base. We don't know how to make a $500 computer that's not a piece of junk. Our DNA will not allow us to ship that. We can continue to deliver value to customers we do choose to serve."

This can either mean that the Mac mini is dead... What other Mac is close to that $500 mark.

Or the technology is just not there yet and Apple is holding off for a higher powered chip to add to the Mac mini.

Which brings me to the netbook...

Currently, we're looking at a 1.6 Ghz Atom for most netbooks. Does anyone else think that Apple may believe that this is not enough for a Mac?

" - Q: Can you comment about the pricing of the Mac line? And thoughts about netbooks? A: The netbook: not a lot of them getting sold, one of our entrants into that category is the iPhone. Browsing, connectivity, etc... the iPhone is a pretty good solution to that. We'll see how the netbook evolves, and we have some pretty interesting ideas if it does evolve. "

I cut the mother out of that response to get at my point. By the netbook evolving, maybe he's referencing the technology that makes the netbook which needs to evolve. So, PA Semi or whomever comes up with a more powerful processor, someone adds a sweet chipset to the mix and maybe Apple will bring about the next generation of netbooks.

This theory directly relates to the Mac mini thought.