OK that’s cool. I was sorta wondering if I could use it as a media center.
And unless Microsoft puts out a version of Visual Studio and SQL Server for the Mac, I’m guessing my Mac/Windows usage is going to stay heavily weighted towards Windows. What part of “I must use Windows to make a living” do you Mac guys not understand? 
Heh. My main keyboard is 15 years old. It is definitively NOT USB.
But that’s OK, I’m sure I have a few lying around that are USB if I need 'em.
You could always buy an AppleTv and hack it so that it doubles as a MacMini. 
Piffle. I secure windows machines for a living, doesn’t mean I spend any more time there than I have to. Don’t assume my likeing them consigns me to rabid fanboi status. I use unix and windows, too. I access my windows only stuff using parallels or remote desktop. I spend the bulk of my interactive time in front of os x, and my batch time in front of Debian/Ubuntu.
You computer nerds scare me sometimes.
Because I’d much rather spend a few hundred bucks on something I know will work correctly than spend hours of my free time screwing around with an unsupported possibly illegal software hack.
So tell me more about using a Mac Mini as a media server. I assume I’d need one of those fancy new TVs with an HDMI or some other special input, right? From there, is it just a matter of downloading video to iTunes then playing it through the TV, essentially using the TV as a giant monitor?
Why? It’s no worse than having an enthusiastic Heart Surgeon.
What’s a ‘more proper’ thing to be ‘into’?
Oh no, there’s nothing “wrong” with it. I’m just making light of the situation.
I don’t get why or how people are so fervently Mac or Windows people, but that’s probably my inability to understand. Meh.
What’s to understand? You might as well ask why people like particular sports teams or cars or authors or restaurants. People become advocates for things they like, and hope that other people will like them too.
Right, but I don’t get the degree of it. I can see favoring one over the other, but I start to glaze over when people get a little more uppity over it. It’s like asking a Yankee fan about the Mets and vice versa, I guess.
Actually, I see it another way:
Someone came in here asking a question, and you haven’t constructively added to that thread.
I dunno what you intended to say, but what I heard was ‘I don’t understand it, so I think you’re all dumb.’
I was making light of it. You hear what you want to hear and there’s pretty much nothing I can say that’ll change your mind. Shall we stop hijacking the thread now?
If yer not going to use a Mac for anything other than the iPhone SDK, the Mini will be peee-lenty for you. You won’t need to toss in the extra cost for a monitor, keyboard and all that shiz, and you’ll have essentially a 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo, Mac OSX Leopard, iLife suite, and it comes with 802.11n, and bluetooth off the rack.
Boom, $600. As easy to network (if not easier) than any other computer… and… that’s it. Otherwise, it’s a full fledged mac, that isn’t very much upgradable (comes with a Gig or memory, only goes up to 2), and doesn’t have a dedicated video card. But developing for the iPhone should be perfectly fine on one (let alone surfing, emailing, and dishing out video).
I hope you make some killer iPhone apps… Good luck!
Yeah, me too. Anyone got any ideas?
Careful with suggesting ‘putting the third button to use’ - some of us do already. I have it set as open-in-new-tab in Firefox, and my mouse has an ‘extra middle button’ for the thumb, which makes it very fast to click and middle-click on various links. I still have the clickable scrollwheel as well.
This said, I do fully understand what you mean, the foXpose extension in Firefox is just fantastic and if alt-tabbing was like this it would be a huge improvement.
In most cases I’d agree… but in the case of the Mac Mini, opening the case to install more RAM is not trivial. To me, it would be worth the extra money to not have to do it myself.
You have to remember, to some, operating systems are like a religion. You are beholden to the OS you were raised on, then hold disdain for all others that can’t see that your OS is the one and true OS.
Windows is like Christianity. There’s a lot of different flavors (almost too many to keep track), and are susceptible to a lot of criticism due do it’s dark and dubious history, and overladen doctrine. They’re also the largest religion in the world, and their faith doesn’t like to play nice with a lot of other faiths. But there is the simple truth that the tenants of the faith work, even thought most of the philosophy seems to be borrowed from older OSs, yet implemented in a much more mechanical and unnatural way.
Mac OSX is like Buddhism. An OS built on philosophical ideologies, with a prominent Dalai Lama showing us all the “way”. Apple thinks that with the right mixture of hardware and software, transcending the typical computing experience, one can experience true awareness, and likely nirvana. However, many computer users are skeptical that there is any such thing to begin with. But most are willing to admit, there is a certain organic, if not mystical aspect to the faith in general… but this has usually hurt them more than help them, since in the past, other OSs point only to these seemingly “unpractical” aspects. Yet, now, more than ever, most are discovering the more liberated ways of the Mac, and are making a conversion.
Or something.
Lemme think about that 
Athena: Are you wanting to make a game, or a practical app? As an iPhone user myself, I can’t wait to see what will become available this summer through the iPhone App Store. It will essentially turn the iPhone into a small computer.
Personally, I’d love to see some sort of astronomy app, not unlike Stellarium. It’d be great to whip out my iPhone at night, no matter where I am, and check out the sky with that by my side. Pinch and zoom into planets and stars. Move the sky around with your finger. And it can set your location using the locator.
.
cmyk, that alone might get me to buy an iPhone. Throw in some data reports too, like moon phases, Messier objects, locations of Jupiter’s moons, sun/moon rise/set times for the day, etc. Grab satellite pass times from heavens-above.com.
Don’t worry, Athena, the math’s reaaaallly easy… ::muffled snicker::