[ManOfSteal]

Which has the better design and is cooler?

[mitchell_pgh]

The Cube was "cooler" but it was priced to fail.

The Mac mini is designed to succeed where the cube failed... I see good things with the Mac mini.

[Apple Pro Underwear]

people saw the cube and were like OH SH!T, is that a computer?!


THIS Mac mini is the size of the Cube's bottom acrylic base.


Two marginal words:

BLING BLING!

[TheBadgerHunter]

The cube was a thing of beauty. The mini is the bastard love-child of the Cube and G5.

It should have been white like all consumer macs. Guess they think it appeals to switchers more.

[The Godfather]

Cheap enough for Walmart

[C.A.T.S. CEO]

I realized when I frist time saw the Mac mini that it is the frist mac that didn't start with power, i, or e.(tell me if I am wrong)

[Kenneth]

I say the G4 Cube. Back in 2000, who could build this kind of computer and bring it to the world?

[demograph68]

I think the Mac mini is designed for efficiency where as the the cube is designed to be more aesthetic.

[Lateralus]

Yeah, the Cube had more of an affect, and I still believe it is the most beautiful thing Apple has ever designed.

The Mac Mini is cool, but it is no Cube. Different machine for a different market.

[Macola]

Originally posted by Lateralus:
Yeah, the Cube had more of an affect, and I still believe it is the most beautiful thing Apple has ever designed.

Agreed, but with one huge, ugly power brick. Any idea what the power input is like on the Mac mini? Couldn't see it in the pics.

[Turnpike]

you can see the power brick in the quicktime VR thing linked from the Mini site

[demograph68]

Originally posted by Turnpike:
you can see the power brick in the quicktime VR thing linked from the Mini site

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally posted by demograph68:

Everyone knows that brick would sit on the floor.

[Eug Wanker]

The Kewbe is the nicest computer ever sold IMO. But it's frickin' huge compared to the Mac mini. See here:



Note the mini *inside* the empty space beneath the Cube.

P.S. I thought the Cube was hard to upgrade, but now it seems like a cakewalk compared to what is required to upgrade a Mac mini.

P.P.S. I posting from my silent 1.7 GHz Cube with 1 GB RAM and 120 GB drive.

[PurpleGiant]

Mini: So small it's hard to concieve there is a computer in there.


And at it's price point, I'm racking my brains trying to figure out what I could buy one for

[cjrivera]

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
The Kewbe is the nicest computer ever sold IMO. But it's frickin' huge compared to the Mac mini. See here:



Note the mini *inside* the empty space beneath the Cube.

P.S. I thought the Cube was hard to upgrade, but now it seems like a cakewalk compared to what is required to upgrade a Mac mini.

P.P.S. I posting from my silent 1.7 GHz Cube with 1 GB RAM and 120 GB drive.

Where the heck did you get a new mini already?

[Link]

DO NOT EAT IPOD SHUFFLE!!

[DeathMan]

Originally posted by cjrivera:
Where the heck did you get a new mini already?

Answer the man's question.



I voted for the mini because:

1) RDF is strong now, I just got done watching the stream
2) Its so small *and* so inexpensive
3) Assuming the high cost of the cube was partly to do with its construction, it was poorly designed, in the sense that it cost so much to build. From a purely aesthetic POV, I like the cube, but from an overall design perspective, I'm going to say mini.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

I think for its time and the fact that it used desktop parts the cube is cooler.

[DeathMan]

Originally posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO:
I think for its time and the fact that it used desktop parts the cube is cooler.

I think you're right. The question is messed up, cause cooler doesn't necessarily mean the same thing as better designed. The cube is by far the coolest computer I've ever used. And I don't just mean fanless operation.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Originally posted by DeathMan:
I think you're right. The question is messed up, cause cooler doesn't necessarily mean the same thing as better designed. The cube is by far the coolest computer I've ever used. And I don't just mean fanless operation.

I loved it as it had a desktop hard drive, LOTS of desktop RAM slots, first slot loading drive, top of the line processor and NO FAN. Even more impressive is that it is 5 years old!

The Mini has ONE RAM slot and probably a slow laptop harddrive and low end processor.

Cool but hardly as impressive for its time.

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

Better designed? In coming closer to matching the needs of the target audience, the Mac mini, hands down.

The Cube was an overpriced bauble that really only appealed almost exclusively to the hardcore Mac 'faithful'. But it was a bit much for new uers who may have wanted to go with a Mac, but found it too radical, not to mention way too pricey.

The Mac mini seems pefect for those wanting to check out the Mac platform, who want to pick their own monitor (I'm amazed, many people actually put the monitor on as high or higher a level as the CPU for the outward representation of what their 'computer' is.)

An affordable headless Mac for the masses has been long overdue. This is a computer one could actually talk their computer-fearful family/friends into getting.

[DeathMan]

Originally posted by CRASH HARDDRIVE:
(I'm amazed, many people actually put the monitor on as high or higher a level as the CPU for the outward representation of what their 'computer' is.)

And its going to become more and more the case, as the demands we put on our computers (math wise) lessen, and manufacturers need to find new ways to differentiate their products.

[Lancer409]

sorry. double post. neighbors wireless cutting in and out on me. macnn wont let me delete the post .. sorry again.

uhm...

-1

[Lancer409]

mac mini ..

most of you guys probly think it's unattractive .. you gotta see it in person. sure it doesnt have scuff prone acrylic on it, but it is very attractive. It is INSANELY small. i've seen cubes back then, and while small, this thing is mindblowingly so. i did a double take and walked back over to see it. took a bunch of pics of it too. I couldnt believe how small it is. The top with an apple logo doesnt look like white plastic (i think). the lighting wasnt too bright, but i bet one can do something really cool to it. (can you say backlit lid?!?) i bet if you put a light source under it, you could get the whole top to glow. oh yeah .. and it's mind bendingly small too...


one last thing...

a rarer species of "apple cube"

[Sherwin]

I voted Cube on account of it not being silver.

[Angus_D]

Originally posted by C.A.T.S. CEO:
I realized when I frist time saw the Mac mini that it is the frist mac that didn't start with power, i, or e.(tell me if I am wrong)

yeah, you're wrong. Before the original PowerMacs in 1994, none of them started with Power, i, or e.

[tooki]

Yeah, the original-style all-in-one cube Macs (Macintosh, Mac 512K/Ke, Mac Plus, Mac Classic/II, Mac Color Classic/II), the entire Mac II series, the whole Mac Centris series, the whole Mac Quadra series, the whole LC series, the whole Performa series. The Mac Portable. The Mac TV. The Twentieth Anniversary Mac. The Apple Workgroup Server series. The Apple Network Server series.

So there were a few models (like 100) that preceded "Power", "i" and "e".

tooki

[Oneota]

Originally posted by Angus_D:
yeah, you're wrong. Before the original PowerMacs in 1994, none of them started with Power, i, or e.

And let's not forget XServe!

[yikes600]

The Cube is better designed. When it came out it was cutting edge technology, not old stuff like the Mac mini. Even today we have 1.7GHz Cubes running Radeon 9800's. Pretty amazing and versatile. If I had to choose one today, I'd pick a stock Cube over old laptop parts.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

The Mini is just a iBook without the screen and a brick for a power supply. What is so impressive about it?

Geez.

[Eriamjh]

Part of a good design is that it is priced right to make a profit and sells.

I think the Cube is what happened when Apple tried to make a small, quiet computer that had everything everyone thought they wanted. It had an upgradeable processor, upgradeable video card, 3 DIMM slots, used a 3.5" HD, and no internal fan (to make Jobs' silent computer). It also cost $1799. Nobody liked that price. All those "nice" features drove up the cost... rather unnecessarily.

No one bought it. Not until it was discontinued and selling for $1099 or less. They were snapped up. The Cube is probably the most desireable Apple failure in recent times.

Now, 4-5 years later, another device that is everything the Cube was has come along. However, it has a soldered CPU, soldered GPU, one DIMM slot, uses a 2.5" HD (probably cause Jobs wanted it as SMALL as possible this time), and has a fan inside. This device lacks a keyboard and mouse (valued at less than $60 at this time) and only costs $499 or 28% that of a Cube in non-inflation-adjusted dollars. 27% that of a Cube!

This time it will sell. Why? Because we TOLD Apple to make it. And the price is right.

4 to 5 years from now the Mac mini might not be very usable with a 1.25 or 1.4GHz G4. There are those running Cubes right now with 120GB HDs, 1.5GB of RAM, and maybe even 1.5Ghz G4s. They might get another 2 or 3 years from their Cube, but they paid for it in upgrades.

If iPods sell Mac minis, so be it. I think Apple has a hit. But no one is going to be cherishing their mini-Mac when it is tired and slow while trying to run OSX 10.8 <insert cat-name here>.

So be it.

Long live Apple. Hello 5% market share!

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Originally posted by Eriamjh:
No one bought it. Not until it was discontinued and selling for $1099 or less. They were snapped up. The Cube is probably the most desireable Apple failure in recent times.

They sold 140,000 of them and most of the sales were right when it launched.

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO:
I loved it as it had a desktop hard drive, LOTS of desktop RAM slots, first slot loading drive, top of the line processor and NO FAN. Even more impressive is that it is 5 years old!

It wasn't the first slot loading drive. The iMacs had had slot-loading drives since October of 1999. The Cube wasn't introduced until July 2000.

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by tooki:
Yeah, the original-style all-in-one cube Macs (Macintosh, Mac 512K/Ke, Mac Plus, Mac Classic/II, Mac Color Classic/II), the entire Mac II series, the whole Mac Centris series, the whole Mac Quadra series, the whole LC series, the whole Performa series. The Mac Portable. The Mac TV. The Twentieth Anniversary Mac. The Apple Workgroup Server series. The Apple Network Server series.

So there were a few models (like 100) that preceded "Power", "i" and "e".

tooki

You forgot a few:

Mac 128K
Mac XL
Mac SE series
Mac Portable
Mac Duo Dock (not sure if this one counts)

Sheesh, how could you leave the SEs out? They were great!

[chris v]

Ive spent the last couple of days fixing up my Cube for my daughter. I still love that thing. It's a breeze to work on. Easier to swap hard drives than a G4 tower if you ask me, though the video card does have that extra riser. It's running 10.3 quite nicely, with 896 MB Ram, a 60 GB hard drive, Airport, and a Geforce 3. I'll upgrade the CPU one of these days.

Sure, it pales next to my new dual 2.0, but it's five years old this summer, and still kicking.