Closing the book on Apple's Mac mini

[Stephen Tiano]

I've been following this discussion for a while, and it's led me to  
some funny--to me--observations. I started with an Apple IIe in 1985,  
moved on to a IIgs, and finally got a Mac IIx in 1990 and began to  
think about doing professional work. I've been a freelance book  
designer and layout artist for almost 15 years, designing and or  
laying out almost 55 books and a whole slew of science periodicals in  
that time. Also in that time, I've had the aforementioned IIx, a  
PowerMac 8100, a G3 PowerMac, and a G5 PowerMac (my current  
production machine). W also just got a dual-core Intel iMac for my  
wife, to replace the old G3 she's been on since I got the G5.

Looking back, I--strangely--least enjoyed owning the G3, which was a  
great workhorse for me from the end of 1998 till July 2005. But it's  
the only one of those Macs--except maybe maybe for the first  
PowerMac, the 8100 (I just can't remember what that one looked like)  
that was not a mini-tower. (I'm never quite sure of the size limit  
that distinguishes a tower from a mini-tower.) And it's ridiculous,  
because I've never gone under the hood of any of my computers. I buy  
them to use, not to decorate or upgrade. I buy the best machine I can  
afford at the time, with the most RAM I can afford to have put in.

So why would I care about having a tower or mini-tower?

It's got to be some sort of psychological thing, as--on my unrelated- 
to-publishing day-job--I work on a PC. I have, on this day-job, for  
almost 18 years. The computers, in that case, have--except for the  
very beginning, when they *were* towers--always been boxes, sometimes  
flat, pizza-style boxes. But I still have always regarded towers as  
"grown-up" computers.

For my next computer, when I jump into the Intel Mac world, after the  
G5's time has passed (prob'ly based on what my clients are using), I  
want to say I'll get a 24" iMac, maxed out with RAM. (My current  
monitor is the 23" Cinema Display.) But, even now, I'd love to have a  
30" Cinema Display. So maybe I'm already setting myself up for a Mac  
Pro next time.

I just find it interesting that I'm not the only one who makes kind  
of a superficial assessment that the tower or mini-tower is what  
makes a computer worth having. Never mind that my wife's new iMac  
screams and takes up so much less space, and is just otherwise, a  
design marvel.

Anyhow ...

Steve Tiano

===================================================
Stephen Tiano, Book Designer, Page Compositor & Layout Artist
tel. & fax: 631/284/3842
cell: 631/764/2487
email: steve at tianodesign.com
iChat screen name: stephentiano at mac.com
blog: http://www.tianodesign.com/blog
===================================================

> Well, no doubt about that! If I hadn't gone all-notebook quite some  
> time ago, I'd certainly go with an iMac! And I might actually get  
> one when my girlfriend and I move to a less space-constrained  
> location. However, it's my impression that for some reasons I've  
> never understood, some (hardcore?) PC users don't consider an all- 
> in-one machine a real computer. There are the folks who like  
> tinkering with the hardware side of their machine more than  
> actually using the machine. Those aren't easily convinced of the  
> quality of an iMac. And I've even had someone tell me that he won't  
> get an iMac because he can't do "case-modding" with it. Gosh,  
> already the thought of blue fluorescent lights in an iMac (or any  
> other Apple machine for that matter) makes me want to puke. ;-)
>
> So, I might not like it, but I'm sure a tower-based "old school"  
> desktop computer for an affordable price would bring Apple quite a  
> few new customers. Not sure if I wanted to have those customers if  
> I were Apple, however. ;-)
>
> Greetings,
> Nils