Two Tuesdays ago Apple sent an email to “the media” inviting them to the Town Hall auditorium at Apple’s Cupertino, California campus. The invitation bid them to “Come see fun new products from Apple” on February 28th. There were no other clues in the invitation as to what might be introduced. Apple has used this approach in the past to generate hype and “buzz”, and it works very well for them.

Problem is, the frenzy of speculation and rumors almost always reaches such a high pitch that there’s no way Apple can meet the expectations of the prognosticators. So, the approach is a two-edged sword. There’s lots of press and hype and sound and fury beforehand, but unless an earth-shattering product is ultimately revealed, the press settles into a “post-event-depression”, and the significance of the actual product announcements can be diminished.

After-the-fact, some members of the press even cautioned Apple that this kind of event really needed to have a bigger “payoff” in terms of big-bang product introductions. I find this interesting, as all Apple did was issue the invitation – silently, they didn’t participate at all in the hype-storm the media willingly created and nurtured to sell whatever it is they’re selling at the moment.

So, this week was no exception. Rumors whirled of a “true” video iPod with a larger screen, new iBooks (certain to be called “MacBooks”) with Intel processors, a Digital Video Recorder (DVR – think “TiVo”) built into a new, Intel-based Mac mini, full-length downloadable movies for sale on the iTunes Music Store, a perpetual motion machine, a car that gets 100 miles to the gallon, and the cure for the common cold.

Here’s some of what was actually introduced on February 28th. A new Mac mini with Intel inside. In what most pundits see as the real opening salvo in Apple’s entry into the war for what I’ll call the computer “deskcouch”, the new Mac mini gets the “FrontRow” media interface (and accompanying remote control) already available on the iMac and MacBook Pro. However, Apple also announced a new version of FrontRow that allows for wired and wireless streaming of music, photos, and now video from one Mac to another.

As it comes with Airport Extreme installed, you could place your new Mac mini (diminutive as it is at 6.5 x 6.5 x 2.5 inches) on your home entertainment shelf, hook it up to your TV, and (assuming you have an Airport Extreme or other 802.11g-based wireless home network) watch and listen to media stored on a bigger main computer. Even a Windows PC, as long as the videos and music are “stored” within iTunes. Pretty cool.

There are two models of Mac mini to choose from. The entry-level model ($599) runs a single-core Intel processor, and has a “Combo Drive” that plays CDs and DVDs and burns CD. For $799 you get the faster dual-core processor (same as in the iMac and MacBook Pro), a “SuperDrive” that plays and burns both CDs and DVDs, and twenty more gigabytes of hard drive space.

Absent from the Mac mini is the rumored DVR to record TV. I think that Apple has avoided this feature because they’re selling shows like “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives”, and adding a DVR would cut into these sales, as people could record for free what they’re now paying for.

Lost in all the “media center” hoopla is the fact that the mini (which, of course, comes with the iLife digital media suite) is a rock-solid desktop computer as well. Remember, though, the Mac mini is BYODKM – bring your own Display, Keyboard, and Mouse.

© 2006 Peter F. Zimowski