[Mack]

John Dvorak at PC Magazine has an interesting article about the Mac mini as a harbinger of a small form factor trend. He theorizes a trend toward small, stripped-down boxes used mostly for web browsing and email. The article is here.

It is kinda funny in one spot. He says:

That said, perhaps such computers are being mismarketed. Do we really need a big hard disk and expandability and FireWire if the thing is going to be the front end of a dedicated Web browser? It's in this space that I think these machines are going to play. What all the computer makers should consider is doing a plain-vanilla small box that takes the Mac mini idea, strips out all the expensive componentry, and maintains a small hard drive only because people expect a hard disk. Above all, this would minimize heat! Essentially you'd have just the following components:

Midrange CPU
512MB main memory
Small 40GB hard drive
USB 2.0 I/O for keyboard, mouse, printer
VGA port

That would be it, with the USB and VGA ports being the only real overhead outside of the processor. There is no reason this box could not sell for $295.

For a machine intended solely for web browsing and email, the omission of a way to actually connect to the internet is interesting.

[Eriamjh]

Don't forget omitting an optical drive.

How would you install anything? How would you burn CDs?

He's an idiot. But we knew that...

[Xisiqomelir]

Remember when he used to write for Macworld? Or was it Macuser?

[cc_foo]

Yup, all this mini business was Dvorak's idea all along. I knew it.

[discotronic]

That man is a genius!!! What would the world of Apple be like without him?

I love the last line in the article:

If indeed the market for small PCs skyrockets, you then have to ask yourself, "Why the heck does Apple have to be the company that once again lights the fuse?" How humiliating.


He lives to bash Apple.

[funkboy]

Dvorak simply drums up trouble. He is not worth reading.

[mitchell_pgh]

I wonder why people still think he is relevant. He has been proven wrong time and time again. His backwards thinking simply illustrates why he doesn't have a real job.

[vinster]

Aaarrgh! JD just doesn't get it, does he? I ordered a Mac mini to function as a media server. Therefore, I need as big of an HDD as possible, a decent video card, an optical drive and FireWire (for my EyeTV).

I would think if a computer company wanted to make a device for e-mail and web only, they'd just design an all-in-one box with integrated monitor and keyboard.

P.S. Best not to link to any of his stories (he writes this trash to generate page views).

[Dave N]

"The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a ‘mouse.’ There is no evidence that people want to use these things."

(John C. Dvorak, SF Examiner, Feb. 1984. )

[eddiecatflap]

yeah , i have that as my sig

the guy's a total wally

[thesearcher]

Originally posted by Dave N:
"The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a ‘mouse.’ There is no evidence that people want to use these things."

(John C. Dvorak, SF Examiner, Feb. 1984. )

I'm not defending the guy, but at the time, that statement was true, right? An awkward statement, but still true.

[mintcake]

I suppose, if you take it literally, then no. In the same way as there was no evidence that people wanted cars before cars came along, or cheese on toast, or iPods, or Hello Kitty lunchboxes, or the internet, or or... you see where I'm going with this.

Hang on, the internet was Bill Gates wasn't it?

[thesearcher]

That's what I meant by awkward.

[glideslope]

Originally posted by Dave N:
"The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a ‘mouse.’ There is no evidence that people want to use these things."

(John C. Dvorak, SF Examiner, Feb. 1984. )

He has not changed at all. What a fool.