Heaven help me. I’m may have to start calling John Hoke “The Mac Pusher” because everytime I visit his blog there’s seems to be some new pebble of Mac Crack on display. The latest is enough to make a gadget-loving guy such as myself stop and think: a new Mac G4, for under $500.
Code named “Q88,” the new Mac is rumored to be small, portable and “headless,” i.e. it comes solo, with no display. ThinkSecret says the 1.75″ tall device will be targeted at Windows users looking for a second PC and who may have a new affection for the company after using its iPod music player. Another rumor site, AppleInsider, backs up these claims, but says the pricetag could go as high as $600.
The sites say the bare-bones PC will include features such as 256MB of RAM, two USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire 400 port and will support AirPort Extreme. AppleInsider says the product is already in production at a manufacturing plant in Asia. The validity of these claims is subject to debate. But the ThinkSecret cites a reliable “source close to Apple” as saying “This is going to be the basics, but with just as much of a focus on software as any Mac could ever be.”
Hmmm. So, if I wanted to keep the PC for gaming and do everything else on the Mac, this might e a lower-cost way of doing just that. However, I’m holding off on thinking much more about it until sometime next year, after we make our move to the burbs, since I might have more space for another computer then. Still it’s something to keep filed away in the back of my mind.
But it might be a good idea not to start the crack attack just yet.
But before planning a shopping trip to the local Apple store, readers should recall the frenzy that took place at the end of 2003, when sites were abuzz with rumors of a $100 iPod. Instead of the bargain iPod fans were hoping for, Apple used Macworld Expo to announce its iPod Mini, which came at a much higher price of $249.
My guess is that Apple will come out with something fitting this description but that it will be in the under-$1000 range, rather than under-$500. I’d look for it to be in the $700-$900 range.
LOL!
MacCrackPusher
Funny thing is that I also push Linux … just not as much as I used to.
One thing about your last paragraph… Apple already has a sub $800 PC – the eMac … and while it has its issues, it is still under $800, so I see the next price point to enter is the sub $500 pricing.
If you look at it, the Q88 is an eMac without the CRT monitor (which Windows users already have mulitples of …) so that Win Users could go get a KVM switch and hook their new Macs to their current equipment….
I was never one to believe in a $100 iPod, it would kill it by making in too cheap… one of the selling points of the device *is* the price.