Might Apple introduce a headless iMac next month?  MacRumors.com has a report on the front page, talking about the possibility of a release of one.  I’ll let you go there to get the details, but let’s just say I’m not exactly thrilled with the idea.

Apple has always said that they believed strongly that consumer Macs should be all-in-ones.  If they were to release such an iMac, they’d be contradicting themselves.  Yes, they’ve done it before, but never as blatantly as this would be.

If Apple releases a $500 G5 iMac, and still has Powerbook G4s, wouldn’t that be ridiculous?  I mean… A faster computer for $500 than for $2500 is just ridiculous.  If Apple were to make such a machine, I think it might hurt the sales of their G4 models, if they still exist.

The good side is that it would convince more PC users to switch, and would make an affordable G5 for those who want one.  I mean, in some ways, there are as many negatives as positives, but I just don’t like the idea of an iMac being more powerful than a Powerbook, and costing less than a fourth of the price.

With the news that there may be a budget Mac on the horizon what is actually left for Apple’s current budget machine, the eMac?

Well, the eMac has been Apple’s “budget” machine for a while now though starting at $799 isn’t exactly budget machine price. The next leap up is the iMac G5 which starts at $1299. While this is cheaper than the previous iMac it is still out of the reach of many customers. But the iMac G5 has only just arrived and it is not likely to leave us. The eMac however hasn’t been updated in a long, long time.

So will Apple dump it if they do bring out this new budget Mac, or will this new Mac be the new eMac effectively changing the meaning of the ‘e’ from education to economy? Or maybe the eMac will go back to being an education only computer. The main reason it was finally released to the general public was because people wanted a budget Mac.

Maybe one thing we’re forgetting and one that may be the eMac’s saving grace is price difference. Apple would be releasing this budget Mac at $499 to try and get people onto the Mac ladder. It is cheap yet it is a Mac and it runs OSX. It gives people a low cost option to get started with Mac’s. But if you go from a Budget Mac to an iMac that is a $800 jump, hardly a small step up the ladder.

So that’s…
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PC Magazine
John C. Dvorak puts his foot in his mouth again. He starts with a flawed premise:

The Mac platform is essentially stagnant. That becomes obvious when you look at the declining market share numbersónot from research firms, but from the W3C, which monitors online activity. As of December 2004, the Mac share as measured by online activity is 2.7 percent (Linux is 3.1), with all the rest going to various flavors of Windows. I’m now convinced that this stems mostly from Apple’s inability to make the Mac a commodity computer by pricing it to compete with PCs made inexpensively in China and selling with razor-thin margins. Here are the reasons Apple can’t sustain its position.

He then tries to justify the premise. Some of his reasoning does have merit, but not nearly enough to justify his position.

The company figures it has certain market niches locked down. This includes computer users in advertising agencies, news bureaus, and various professional organizations as well as creative artists and writers. I also…
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Oopsie.

The complaint alleges that “an unidentified individual, acting alone or in concert with others, has recently misappropriated and disseminated through Web sites confidential information about an unreleased Apple product.”

MacRumors reports that it is presumably over either iPod Flash details, an Apple-Sirus deal, or an iPhone device.

The moral of the story? Don’t leak product details!

Reuters Article | MacRumors Article

[B]UPDATE![/B] The Mac Observer reports that three rumor sites have been subpoenaed: AppleInsider, PowerPage, and Think Secret. Stay with Deep Thought for the latest on the Rumorgate scandal (well, it’s not really a scandal, but using the word “scandal” boosts interest ).

Link to Article

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been hoping for a Powerbook G5 to be announced at Macworld.  Basically, I’ve noticed that more and more often, apps are requiring a G5.  The iMac is already a G5, and it’s a consumer product, and yet, the ‘Power’ laptop line has no G5.  To put it bluntly, Apple is completely contradicting itself with the lack of any kind of G5book.

With the G4s, we had a PowerMac, then a PowerBook, then an iMac/eMac, then an iBook.  At the rate we’re going, the cheapest desktop Mac may be a G5, and the most expensive portable one may not be.

Anyway, I just figured I’d rant and say to apple, “You better come through this January, so that I can plunk down $3,000 and get a Powerbook that’s actually… powerful.”