The Mac Mini....er... why?

Now since being in Second Life I seem to have met no end of Mac users. One of which being my neighbor in world. So when I heard they Mac Mini was out and about, I thought strangely, I really REALLY want one. I don't have an Ipod, and never touched a Mac before in my life, but oh my god, I REALLY want one now. What the heck is all that about?

So $500 for a new Mac Mini eh? I trotted off to see the specs at the Apple site, but then whole thing went limp.
1.25Ghz CPU
256MB RAM
32MB video card
DVD-ROM/CD-RW
40GB HD

Come on, this is the base unit?? Even the Mac people floating around in Second Life say there is not enough memory, but hey, I STILL WANT IT!!

I don't think I am going to buy one, although I am desperately straining with the merest inkling of ANY excuse that I may be able to muster. However a nice top of the range Powerbook (eeeek!) would be better value, because it costs more than God can afford but will actually do something worthwhile.

Looking at the Mac Mini specs though, it does seem you get useable software WITH it, so perhaps some might like to take that into account when writing it off...(Damn I really have to go get my credit card now)

SCREEEEECH!

No, after using my tabbed Firefox browser to get all the links while writing this, I see that a fully loaded Powerbook is ...ok ... sit down...$4,049
• 1.5GHz PowerPC G4 with 128MB Graphics Memory
• 2GB DDR333 SDRAM - 2 SO-DIMMs
• 80GB Ultra ATA drive @ 5400rpm
• SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
• AirPort Extreme Card
• Backlit Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
• 17-inch TFT Display

Nah fanks! I could go to AlienWare or Falcon Northwest and get a whole pants full of creamy goodness for that, AND they would have software available.

**UPDATE**
The massive Krysss.com towers computers, have been churning away over this one and concluded...

The MacMini is constantly touted as being Apples' cheapest Mac to date. I DON'T CARE how expensive everything else is that they make. Firstly, it's been the single biggest factor in why I DON'T buy Macs. Secondly, rather than making tiny under specified computers, SOOOO cheap. Why not drop the price on the rest of them? I would like to try them out, but not on a system so feeble it is not going to enlighten me with what ever the mystery of Mac happiness is all about.

I think the Mac Mini is aimed squarely at the Mac owner who wants a second machine and after shelling out for the first one, would never in a million years, be able to justify a second.



You shall be mine... oh yes, just as soon as they become cold with the Mac crowd and it is unkewl to own one. I only want to try one, not throw money away.