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Their web site is already down.

Apr 14, 08 - 08:08 am Comment from: JadisOne

Pathetic. These companies are just trying to hop on the Apple bandwagon.

Hello ...er Goodbye OpenMac!!!!

Apr 14, 08 - 08:11 am Comment from: Ampar

"The shroud of the dark side has fallen. Begun the Clone War has."

Site down due to "massive influx" of users.

Well, whatever. The mere fact that their Mac clone was a mini tower should give Apple a hint that demand exists for such a thing.
Interesting that these cloners picked the one thing Apple does not make.

One of the factors that inhibits mass deployment of Macs in business is the lack of a mini tower in the line up.
IT guys don't think much of all-in-one computers like the iMac, nor of the tiny, impossible-to-get-into-bring-your-putty-knife-and some-choice-cursewords Mac mini.
Both are a pain to service.

A true mini tower from Apple would be a boon.

I would go as far as to say that such a beast is inevitable, once Apple makes headway into corporate America.

What do you think chaps?

One day I was thinking about the increased popularity and market share of Apple computers. Apple is the only one who makes the hardware and they do it in a minimalist way: not only in their design but also in the range of the models they offer. Consequentially, the more people buy Apple computers, the more of the same computers you will encounter. Now, imagine a market share of 30%. Users of Apple computers will more easily branded as lemmings, because they all use the same 3 or 4 models of computers. Where is the mindshare of being "different"?

What I wanted to suggest to Apple is to let 3rd party builders come up with their own models, built on Apple certified hardware components (maybe even let them buy those components solely from Apple). Result will be that there are more models to choose from (not all people will like the design sanctioned by His Steve) and Apple retaining their profit margins.

They still will be able to sell their OS (and MS shows this can be profitable) en Apple could position itself as the original and the provider of the most sophisticated premium designs.

But I can imagine that Apple has some problems with manufacturers that come up with cheaper models that outperform their own offerings: they sure will remind the time of the clones. Still, I foresee problems with the exclusivity of Apple computers when more and more people own the same computer models.

Apr 14, 08 - 08:25 am Comment from: Cubert

So, anyone want to place bets as to when will they receive their cease and desist order? I'm saying today.

Although I remember the incident, I had forgotten the name of the USS Yorktown, the warship involved. I wonder if Tony DiGiorgio still has his job, or whether the military in its infinite stupidity for order and control, fired him?

Apr 14, 08 - 08:37 am Comment from: OBill-Wan Kenobi

@ Apple should promote this

No offense, pal, but you obviously haven't grasped Apple's business model.

That being said, I'd give anything for a Mac mini tower. I'd switch every machine in my office (except my server) and dance the lambada around the parking lot. Oh, think of all the maintenance work I wouldn't have to do anymore.

Apr 14, 08 - 08:39 am Comment from: AAPLguy

@Ampar

"Done well, you have Ampar. Laugh I did, hmmmm....."

Apr 14, 08 - 08:40 am Comment from: Buster

This goes into that 'What were they thinking?' category.

Of course Apple will shut them down.

Site is accessible now,

Just put on the face of the computer an "Apple" label and you are good to go. I have some left over stickers...

Honda would sell more police cars in the US if they made a police car.

BMW would sell more fire trucks in the US if they made a fire truck.

The funny thing about all of the "Apple should sell an inexpensive ..." features is they all hinge on the writer's bias that great success only comes from selling the greatest quantity. As though the writer was trying to project his own version of success (the more people that read my words, the better writer I am) on to Apple.

But, they always fail to just be at ease with the simple zen of it all - make some manageable number of things, make them really well, people will buy well made things, manage the business.

All this rule the world stuff makes whoever thinks it can be done look foolish.

I once had three PowerComputing machines -- two for my office, and one at home. They did everything I needed them to do, and I'm sure that company would have continued to push the state of the Mac forward.

Somewhere in my attic is the MacWorld with the sad ad "Lost our license for speeding!"

I guess they should have added more bandwidth and server capacity to their servers before they released this.

Who cares if they cloned a Mac...
I think some of you are pissed off that you bought a computer for $2k
Let them sell whatever they want.

Apple should make Tiger run on PCs and give it away for free. Then, PC users wouldn't need to petition for XP to get its life extended, nor would they need to use Vista. Apple wouldn't need to support Tiger, since it's just a freebie, and PC users would get sucked into the Apple world. Next purchase, a Mac.

I really do think that Apple could eventually let the software be sold on cheaper hardware, but I know that there would have to be a number of lock ins.

the hardware would have to be a minimum level so it would be capable. And windows would have to be mostly dead in the world.

Can it be done? SURE, Will it? I do not think so. there are still too many guffus duffus PC users in the world that can screw it up. so. Dont think is will occur for some time.

Just a thought.

en

I've long urged Apple to release a model along the lines of the Shuttle. The xPC model I own would require only an Apple motherboard to meet our needs for a headless, expandable Mac. About the size of a small shoebox, it includes the full panoply of I/O ports. It could easily sell for $999 and still meet Apple's profit targets. Intel could easily design the board, the box can be made even smaller and more Apple-like by going with a slot-loaded optical. Heck, Shuttle could even do the work under OEM contract.

Wow, look at that, a cheap, crappy, piece of junk PC clone tower you could buy at Fry's. I'm sorry clones didn't work back in the late 80's or early 90's and they won't work now. Quality is non-existent and the hardware will be incompatible with all kinds of driver issues.
Without Apple's approval they don't stand a chance, and frankly I wouldn't trust anything that looks that crappy to begin with. A waste of money on a hacked together PC that will surely FAIL!

There site is still down and hopefully it will stay that way!

Apr 14, 08 - 09:40 am Comment from: scoodog

If only Apple would release a computer like this. A tower with a real hard drive and expandability that costs in the $500 range. I'd buy one.

And don't point to the Mac Mini -- it's specs are outdated but for some reason Apple hasn't updated it. That's one knock against Apple compared to the PC makers -- they are not keeping up as timely with incorporating the latest processors into their boxes. Good, bad, right or wrong -- it's just not happening.

And I love Apple. But they are perfect.

(Long Sigh)...Yep...You get what you pay for...

Apr 14, 08 - 09:48 am Comment from: shen

"The mere fact that their Mac clone was a mini tower should give Apple a hint that demand exists for such a thing."

let me get this straight, because someone makes a thing, it must be in demand.....

MS wakes windows, do you think it is in demand?

thank you for being proof that critical thinking is no longer taught in the educational system.

Why would anyone purchase one of these or anything from Apple at their inflated prices when today's Linux is the best OS available? Oh, and did I mention that it's free?

Next we'll hear that Apple has dispatched an Army of lawyers by plane....

Apr 14, 08 - 09:56 am Comment from: silverwarloc

"Do or do not. There is no try."

Apr 14, 08 - 09:57 am Comment from: DogGone

Going cheap will only cause grief. Look at Compaq,look at what is happening to Dell now. Apple is too clever to go for the low end market just to gain market share.

Clone makers nearly killed Apple because they went for the high end high margin sector rather than the low cost area as people had expected. Someone in those companies did the math and worked out where the money was.

I agree that a mini-tower would be a useful addition to Apple's lineup. There are enough users out there who want the expandability. Problem is if Apple sell that for 1000, who will buy the MacPro?

I can see something like this happening to the poor saps who actually buy this thing...

1. Buy computer for cheap.
2. Crappy hardware creates problems with OS X.
3. They call Psystar to get problem fixed, only to have Psystar tell them that it is a software problem.
4. They call Apple, who turns their back on them for using Apple software on non-approved hardware.
5. Poor saps stuck with a crappy computer.

I think M$ and/or DELL is behind this, they are trying to "educate" customers on how expensive Macs are, that you can have a Mac at fraction of the current price, that you should say "no" to Apple's high margins.

Who are they fooling. You get what you pay for, look at Dell.

Apr 14, 08 - 10:00 am Comment from: silverwarloc

@Get Serious:

The only thing that is free in your linux box is the source code. Then you will have to account for service and maintenace. Additionally, you will need to put the time in to config your computer. If you are a sysad type, sure, it would be no problem for you. However, most of us are not like you. We just want our computers to work. Besides, who has time to config a computer? Espicially linux or windows.

Apr 14, 08 - 10:03 am Comment from: Petey

Apple should sue those bastards!

Apr 14, 08 - 10:03 am Comment from: jonklein611

Wow their server is getting hammered. Down and out, tried a ping, heres what I got:

208.68.239.66

Reply from 208.68.239.66: bytes=32 time=67ms TTL=46
Reply from 208.68.239.66: bytes=32 time=65ms TTL=46
Reply from 208.68.239.66: bytes=32 time=156ms TTL=46
Reply from 208.68.239.66: bytes=32 time=121ms TTL=46


Talk about some lag! How long till the site drops off totally?

Apr 14, 08 - 10:11 am Comment from: Davewrite

Apple needs a "Mid-Tower". I've read plenty of potential PC switchers are reluctant to ditch their monitors for an imac. Many people need more power than the mac mini but want less bulk than the Mac Pro (awesome as it is!) - office folks, PC gamers. Apple needs a simple but powerful mac with a video card you can change. Only reason I guess Apple does not have a mac mid-tower is that Steve has said he hates wires sticking out!

Apr 14, 08 - 10:11 am Comment from: Cubert

@Get Serious,
Yeah, try getting my parents or 90% of my friends to configure Linux properly so it will work. Ubuntu is the closest to being easy, but it was still a bit of a pain to do for an IT friend of mine who is very facile in UNIX, Mac OS X, and Winblows.

Apr 14, 08 - 10:13 am Comment from: Lazy European

@MDN: It's not just a big MacMini. This thing has a nVidia 8600 GT as a $110 option. And yes ... I am vagely interested in owning one of these things. Fills the void nicely.

Apr 14, 08 - 10:16 am Comment from: Cubert

@Davewrite,
You should be Daveright because I agree with everything you have said. There needs to be a monitor-less Mac positioned between the iMac and the Mac Pro.

Send in the dogs/lawyers first!

Apr 14, 08 - 10:22 am Comment from: Mr. Reeee

There IS a place for a mid-sized tower or pizza box Mac.

There's a huge void between the Mac mini and MacPro. A void that USERS have been asking for for years.

I would love a MacPro that's got half the slots, half the drive bays and half the SIZE of the MacPro: ta Half-MacPro. the current model is just too damn BIG for my space. I could use a MacPro to support one side of a desk. So, I settle for a MacBook Pro with a second monitor.

Sorry Apple, I do NOT want a shiny screened iMac or a Mac mini. The Mac mini would be perfect hooked up to my HDTV, but not as a serious work machine: I do VectorWorks CAD, 3D and Photoshop work.

Maybe an XServe is the answer? Just put a good video card in the thing.

Computer: 399, OSX Leopard: 129, iLife: 79, better video card: 110,
plus it's probably noisy. Did anyone see any mention of Wireless network, if not forget time capsule. Not so cheap anymore except in quality and no guarantee.

Actually, I think that thing doesn't look half bad. Not very Apple-like, but clean and, dare I say, attractive. And, I'd really, really like to see Apple make a minitower with Core 2 Duo, two 3.5" HD bays, a high-performance graphics card option, Firewire 800 & eSATA, and one or two PCI slots. The gap between the mini and the Pro is just too big, and the iMac is not a good option for users who don't want or need a built-in display.

This isn't new. People have been running OSX on PCs for a while now, folks. Check out OSX86 Project. I mean, seriously, all you people talking about how much quality is in the Apple hardware compared to PC hardware seem to forget that they're built on the same damn assembly lines as Asus, HP, Shuttle, et al. Exterior aesthetics aside, there's not only nothing special about hardware (that's a great thing for Mac users), there's nothing inherently more (or less) reliable about it either.

All that said, it's a bad idea for Apple to license out their OS. It just doesn't work in the vertical business model Apple uses--they need to sell boxes to stay profitable. Why would they change that?

This is where Apple's business model hits the wall of the real world. The fact is that Apple makes the best notebooks, the best handheld computers, the best all-in-one machines and the best giant tower machines, bar none. If you were in the market for any of those types of machines, you'd be nuts not to buy or at least consider Apple's offerings. But the world is full of computing devices that don't fit into these categories, and to these buyers, Apple has essentially given the finger. If you want a small-form-factor machine, the Mini is basically a joke. And if you want a mini-tower, small desktop case, or basically any machine that allows you to open the case easily, you're SOL. This is the same attitude that tells a porential iPhone customer to go to hell unless they want AT&T;. And I say this as someone who owns three MacBooks, a Mini, an iMac and an iPod Touch. I'd buy several of these merely because they fill a need for me, and Apple refuses to address this market segment. And the issue is NOT price. I'd gladly pay five times the price of one of these machines to get the real deal from Apple, just as I've gone on record as saying that I'd gladly pay $2,000 to get a Verizon iPhone. Alas, it is not to be. Sigh.

@OBill-Wan Kenobi
I'll do the same, but my dance would be done here in Budapest!

I run a business, and I have 'given the finger' to all the cheapskate, crappy, "can you do it for cash" customers out there.

I charge high rates, insist on large deposits to start work, dont advertise, only work for recommended people.
Since I changed my 'business model' to lose the low-end customers, I make 3 times as much for about the same amount of work.

Its still stressful and hard work, but I get the reward I deserve.

The low-end crowd can go elsewhere.

The day Apple make a cheap 'headless Mac' is the day I start charging $40 an hour again......it aint going to happen.

Psystar? Shouldn't that be shyster?

It's an Apple creation, to judge demand.

Apr 14, 08 - 11:08 am Comment from: Ampar

"Psystar, a tiny computer company, claims to be selling a cheap "Mac clone" tower . . ."


And this tiny company's one clone tower that was also trying to serve their website has obviously burst into flames. Either that or Apple Legal is using it for a makeshift picnic table on the company jet back to Cupertino.

Apr 14, 08 - 11:08 am Comment from: FatMac

Why not write a Virtual Mac, Parallels, or other program to get the Mac OS onto existing cheap PCs? It seems like they're reinventing the Dell wheel. Consumers want a Dell that can run Mac Software. Trying to get them to become enlightened to the Apple world of supreme excellence aint gonna happen for a while.