Switched On: Mac mini, the best media center that isn't
posted January 19th 2005 2:20PM
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a weekly column about the future of technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:Apple creates consumer solutions that reflect deep insight with unparalleled integration and attention to detail. However, that focus sometimes requires sacrifices when compared with Microsoft's far-flung initiatives and longer-term ROI window (or, as the company calls it, "patience").
Such has been the case with living room computing. Apple has repeatedly dismissed this notion, with Steve Jobs insisting that consumers want a passive TV experience. That may have been true at some point, but television itself is changing. Picture-in-picture, electronic programming guides, video-on-demand, digital video recording, and the display of other media via network interfaces, DVDs, and flash cards are transforming the medium even more profoundly than the content explosion that cable wrought.
That said, this emerging market has tested even Microsoft�s patience with almost a decade of misses. As recently as Media Center Edition 2004 (which for some reason seems so last year), the ten-foot PC user experience was flailing aimlessly in the market. In the 2005 edition the operating system, however, has started to see some signs of momentum, especially when wrapped in an attractive and richly featured box such as the HP Digital Entertainment Center. Black, bulky, and filled with more ports than the wine list of a top-rated restaurant, it embodies one vision of living room content management.
There are others, though. The media center concept would benefit from a platform with high reliability, strong integration, an inventive developer community, software design acumen, and a retail channel that could effectively explain its benefits to a high-income customer base. Also, much as Microsoft has introduced Remote Record to schedule Media Center recordings, an online service with account information would be a useful asset as well. Know of any Cupertino, CA-based PC companies that can provide all of this? As it has proven with iLife, Apple � unlike any other PC vendor � understands that consumer content isn�t simply about moving bits from one room to another.
The apparent result of a mandate to shrink different, the Mac mini is a pioneering computer that, unlike previous small consumer Macs, is going to make a really terrible aquarium. It is intended to attract those who might not be ready for an iMac, but who are perhaps i-curious. With a little software and a few hardware tweaks, though, it could be a superb set-top box.
At a third of the price and a smaller fraction of the size of the HP living room offering, the Mac mini is closer to the price of an XP Media Center Extender than the Media Center PC that its capabilities approach. It has ample computing horsepower to play and optionally record DVDs, store thousands of music files, and produce beautiful OpenGL-based high-resolution photo transitions that are beyond the scope of today�s best digital media receivers. Rip. Mix. Ken Burns. It lacks video capture and an IR blaster, but these could be added through FireWire or USB at the expense of a little bulk. There are also several capable PC remotes on the market, but Apple could probably design a more elegant one.
While the Mac mini�s hard disk options fall a bit on the wee side for a digital video recorder (especially if Apple continues to embrace its new high-definition religion), there are still plenty of TiVo-based DVRs being sold with capacities of 40GB and 80GB. The computer costs as much as an entry-level TiVo device and lifetime subscription before rebate and, unlike with TiVo, one could easily add an external hard disk for more storage. It�s a foregone conclusion that at least one company, perhaps Elgato Systems, will develop some combination to turn the Mac mini into a capable Windows Media Center competitor, but it will be impossible for anyone but Apple to market such functionality with the support that, say, the iPod has received.
There is at least one good reason for Apple to delay. Currently, TiVo and Microsoft are pushing the FCC to enforce mandatory adoption of CableCard by operators. While not a panacea, CableCard opens the market for alternatives to cable-supplied digital set-tops, much like a SIM card enables a choice in GSM cellular handsets.
From a user experience perspective, it eliminates the ugly and unreliable infrared blasters that both TiVo and Microsoft today use to work with digital systems. From a market perspective, however, it may be tough for third parties to compete with offerings from cable cronies Scientific Atlanta, Motorola, and Pioneer if cable companies continue to offer subsidized options the way wireless carriers still do.
At some point, though, open-minded Mac fans or anyone who wants alternatives for networked home entertainment should hope the Mac mini media center finds the same hole in the reality distortion field through which flash-based MP3 players and headless consumer Macs recently maneuvered.
Ross Rubin is director of industry analysis at NPD Techworld, a division of market research and analysis provider The NPD Group. Views expressed in Switched On, however, are his own. Feedback is welcome at fliptheswitch@gmail.com.
Can't you just add the ATI usb2 tv capture box, an external firewire hdd, and the Elgato app and still come in waay under the cost of a MCE box?
Yes external bulk added, but not much, and you could hide all the external stuff...
Just wait until cablecards hit, then shiat will get crazy. Cablecard to PCIexpress adapter anyone? Bring it.
The mac mini better make for a good media center device, because at its price it is lacking for being anything else.
It's quite a puzzle that Apple used 2.5" laptop drive technology and not 3.5" desktop (if that's what they did). I know you can always plug another box on the side with another PSU but the possibility of upgrading a Mac Mini to 300-500Gb would make it very interesting. And with 2.5" drives that's unlikely in the lifetime of the product.
First company to put out a great product will reap great rewards. For the last 8 years I have been trying to build my own Media Center type PC with disappointing results. Currently I have a Windows Media Center 2005 PC with an Xbox Media Center Extender. This is better than anything I have cobbled together myself, but there are still enough annoyances that I don't think it's ready to take off. If Apple were to leverage their eleganty simple hardware and OS they could really push this market forward. MS is on the right track, but they still need another version or two to fix things.
I would think one of Apple's arguments against a true media center is similar to their reaction to a video iPod: content. Certainly the hardware would be the easiest part of the equation. One vision might be an "iMovie Store", where I could purchase select shows and movies in different formats and qualities. Perhaps a more compressed version would cost less than an HD or DVD quality copy. And I could choose between a cheaper copy with an expiration DRM built-in or a higher priced version I could own. It would download overnight and I could enjoy it on my mini connected to my TV and Bluetooth remote. Certainly a good amount of free content would help drive viewers. iPhoto and iTunes complete the media center for me. Sorry if this might sound like Microsoft's product but I've never used one or seen one in action.
I have the media center 2005 edition with an xbox extender. I do not use the DVR function of it becuase I have a DVD recorder that costs alot less than anything comparable and is alot less hassle as well. Consumer electronics still have an edge on the "average joe" who just wants to record the 4th round of the British open or a few CSI episodes a week. If a company can create a product that is as easy to use as a VCR than they will compete with the sonsumer electronics side. It may be that they are not looking for that share of the market and only want to focus on the more tech savvy user that uses multiple tuners and enjoys HDTV and wants to record at 1080i. Time will tell I guess...
The Mac Mini may not have the greatest specs for a
Media center right out-of-the-box but I have a great idea for any media related company out there:
Create an add on for the Mac mini that is the same
shape, color and style. Include in this box:
DVR/PVR card
Additional audio capabilities
decent size hard drive 80 - 160 gig
Firewire 400 and/or USB 2.0 interface
This box will sit under the Mac mini and add great capabilty and add a great software package and you will have a great add-on to the
mac mini.
Price: $399
what do you guys think?
I actually purchased it for this reason. It's going next to my TV with an add on card.
Oops, and everybody I already have a great media center - broadband connection + bittorrent, and a hacked xbox + xbox media center. Can't beat it.
The Xbox Media Center's deficiency (as well as the Mac mini) is the lack of a remote control that turns on and off the actual unit. A Mac with a consumer electronics footprint (which I dub the "Mac media"), CableCard slot, dual tuners/encoders to MPEG4, DVI & HDMI input/output jacks, SPDIF, FireWire400 (minimum) & USB 2.0 ports, video output to 1080p (since some of the flatscreens now support it), and an optional breakout box for analog input/outputs + component jacks would shake up the industry. Sell a stackable box with the same footprint with slots for 3.5" hard drives to be connected via Firewire and you have the killer app. Of course, Apple would want to license some of TiVo's IP, but this would be the Microsoft "Media Center" slayer. With HP, Gateway and Dell all selling flatscreens, why isn't Apple yet?
I still fail to see the advantage of buying a "Media" PC instead of investing in a TiVo / DVR for video and running whatever audio (iPod, etc.) through the home theater receiver. Am I missing something? Is there some great advantage of having your TV running on WinXP or MacOS? Just seems like trying to kill a fly with a sledgehammer. And not to mention that the one thing I'm still working on a solution for - HD - is not served well at all by the PC-based machines.
I see the Mac Mini as more of an interface to a media centre, rather than being one itself. Surely it would need more raw power for the task of compressing video - faster CPU, FSB, HDD for a start, even more so with HDTV floating around.
It's definitely up to the task of displaying whatever content is available elsewhere on the network, in the same way that my Xbox is. So I guess that if the Mac mini is to be at all useful in this home entertainment role, it needs an Xserve mini to do all the heavy lifting.
If Apple would come out with an equivalent to Snapstream's BeyondTV (which is excellent other than it runs on XP...) as well as an online movie stream/download store, I would be a very happy human.
lb
It's easy - archiving and access. I have my Tivo hacked up to let me pull off the recordings. I have 3.5TB of storage that stores the video_ts folders of my DVDs. That way I can just open them up with the Mac DVD player. I have access to the entire season of Lost. If only elgato's stuff didn't suck for non over the air HD stuff I"d be set.
The only hardware sort of missing is the DTV card, but it is the software that is most crucial. Doesn't the mac mini have wireless networking - in that case the remore solution could be a pocket pc... but you still need the software. A classic mac application - stylish, simple, functional - would crack it. Won't be long I am sure.
What I want to know is when they are going to ad remote display capabilities to the Airport Express. I mean sure my laptop may be a little big for a remote but with all the big-giant, remotes I have lying around, I don't care.
one of the apple people i talked to at Macworld this year insisted that there was in fact 3.5" ATA and SATA versions of the Mac mini floating around in prototype form for quite some time. the SATA one almost even got released as the 'Best' option in the traditional 3-space (Good / Better / Best) Apple Store pages. but according to him the price would have ended up being $699 and they didn't want to have that much an increase as a distraction to the base model $499 price. and it was taller and louder due to bigger fans.
don't know if i entirely believe him... but i don't really have any reason not to. the other various apple peopel i talked to all had insight and comments leading me to believe that they are in fact real apple employees / developers / etc vs. just booth drones.
"filled with more ports than the wine list of a top-rated restaurant" - hmmm I didn't see any PCI slots on the HP Media Center offerings so maybe this statement is a stretch ;)
none-the less, pundits panning this device from Apple because of similiar boxes on the PC side should read Jim Lynches comments here: http://blog.ziffdavis.com/extremetech
The exec summary- brick sized (smallest Apple PC since the cube, cheapest entry to things Mac, OS 10.3, ease of use.
$500 for this or $400 for a generic PC. maybe, just maybe
I can resist no longer.
I haven't owned a Mac since one of the 1984 originals, and that was one that Apple seeded for development. But, damn it, I ordered my mini today. Too...cute...must...order.
In the UK, an Elgato EyeTV 410 will recieve free to air digital TV and can take a pay-per-view card. It'll send unencoded TV streams (supporting HDTV) which the elgato software can encode for realtime TV playback - at it does time shifting, all for 200 of your UK pounds. Stick a DVD burner in the iMac mini and it's starting to look much better than an MS media centre, with no pesky DRM to worry about...
Media Center 2004 probably "seems so last year" because the 2005 version was out before the end of 2004.
Download the Firewire SDK 19 (linked above) and you can plug your mini into the back of an HDTV with FireWire (I have a Mitsubishi). The apps included in the SDK let you record (Virtual DVHS). Very nice!
With my PC cobbled together out of $200 worth of used, old parts, a $50 TV card and an open-source app called Media Portal, I can already do more than I ever could with the Mac Mini, PVR-wise. People comparing this thing only to Windows MCE are sort of missing the point. There are a whole bunch of "media center" apps for both Windows and Linux out there these days, many of which are free and OSS, some of which cost a nominal amount ($50 or so), almost all of which equal or exceed MCE in functionality out of the box, and can be extended further through freeware plugins. The hardware required to run them is nothing special, and if you've got a keyboard and mouse lying around to attach to your Mac Mini, you're already practically halfway there.
Now, these things are not always particularly easy to set up, though doing so is a one-time deal and then you're done. But then you're all talking about upgrading the Mac Mini in various ways and adding all sorts of extra hardware to it to give it functionality that it obviously wasn't built for to begin with. So that's a wash, as far as I'm concerned, and what you're left with is still the fact that a PC will give you more functionality for less money. Which is certainly not big news.
Am I the only one who thinks this doesn't have to be a full media center, but more of a front end? If apple is smart they will come out with Media center functions in Tiger on a G5 power mac. Let that will handle recording and storage of content and let the mini just be a front end. This way they have a opening to sell more iMac's or PowerMac's as well as mini's.
If they don't I know they have a Mac front end for MythTV: http://www.mythtv.info/moin.cgi/MythOnMacOsx why not just use the mini to stream from a MythTV server.
Just my thoughts...
I just don't understand why no one has attempted a full screen (10 foot) interface to iPhoto and iTunes. If I had a clue how to program I would, but I'd be happy to design the interface!
Oh lordy, we always come back to the same topic, don't we? Click my name above to see my how-to for Mac newbies on turning the Mac mini into a Media Center PC (sorry, no dancers yet though)...
http://solutionspheres.blogspot.com
But I'm glad to see the MythTV thing. Cool!
The real reason you're not seeing a MacTV: content creators. Jobs said himself that the cable companies are monopolies. Know who isn't a monopoly? Music companies (yeah, yeah, I hear you indie bands like S.C.O.T.S. out there-- I feel for ya, really) aren't really monopolies. So Apple was able to broker a deal with the music biz, but NOT the cable biz. So they're going to sit this round out, wait for the CableCard thing (and probably that nasty Broadcast Flag business) to get settled, then enter the fray. Think of this as MacTV v.1.0.
Except that I watch tv/play games/listen to music on my old PMac 8500... I'd be capturing video on it too if I could get my ultra-SCSI card to work in it again...
Anyway, here's hoping they make a USB version of the Pippin, to complete the experience.
I think it will Apple will have a hit with the Mac Mini. It's small, simple, looks like an ipod, and costs the same as an ipod photo.
#10 "With HP, Gateway and Dell all selling flatscreens, why isn't Apple yet?"
Actually, they do. They're called Apple Cinema Displays.
Is it just me or is the buzz already gone...
Mac-Mini will not be a huge hit a la iPOD. There's nothing new, innovative or attractive about the Mac-Mini to the average Joe... or me!
Small PC... so what??? I can get a PC w/ monitor keyboard and a mouse for $399 at Dell or Gateway. It's just like the Mini Cooper... small and cute does not necessarily mean big business!
I find it amusing that just because Apple managed to turn out an affordable product with weak specs(true to form), it's seen as something special... I give them credit for best hype!
Give it a month or so and you will see I'm right! ;)
Memodude, poster # 28, I meant "why isn't Apple selling Plasma and LCD television sets like HP, Dell, and Gateway?" With the iPod, Apple has more street cred in consumer/prosumer electronics than either of those three previously mentioned companies... Apple does not make a 46" Cinema Display...
Is it just me or is the buzz already gone...
---
Oh God.. LMFAO.. These things are backordered about 4 weeks...
Yeah.. the buzz is gone... Run a search for Mac mini on Google News.. you'll get about 25 new stories per day..
It's not just a computer.. it's a Mac. So it works. And it comes with software not available on the PC: iLife. This thing is slick.
Underpowered crap for Mac cultists and fashion lemmings.
Visionary product contradicting jealous ostrich-boys.
snap!
...
Jeff wrote: "The hardware required to run them is nothing special"
Well, you must be living in a parallel universe ;-)
Does the phrase "drivers" not apply in your universe? Second, how do you get MythTV to run on your machine? Answer: use the same hardware the developers use.
Sure, nothing special.
At first glance, Apple has launched a no frills computer.
It seems to me that what they have really launched is a platform for others to build on.
Just as the iPod has spawned hundreds of add-on products, so the Mac mini will provide opportunities for other manufacturers to accessorise it. But I'm not talking about stylish covers, I mean serious hardware to extend it's functionality.
The size of the Mini is such that if you make a similarly sized add-on box, the two of them will fit side by side in the space that a VCR would have occupied.
A previous poster mentioned an add-on box that offers a hard drive, TV & audio features etc. Somebody else mentioned the lack of a remote.
An enterprising manufacturer should be already working on a FireWire-connected box that contains a TV and FM tuner, large fast hard drive, audio and video ins and outs together with a remote control that works via WiFi anywhere in the house which will also have a small LCD screen so that you can use it to control iTunes wherever you are and still see what it's doing.
From my European perspective, it should also receive our digital terrestrial TV and digital radio ( DAB ), together with the analogue versions. Relying on a US manufacturer to offer those features might be optimistic, but Elgato already offers most of that, so my money's on them being the ones to watch.
However home entertainment is only one area that needs a platform like this. In car entertainment is already showing interest, as is home automation. Industrial control specialists are always looking for small, powerful computers to build in to machinery. The scientific community will find the Mac mini very appealing.
I'm quite convinced that it's not just a computer - it's a new platform.
Indeed it is a new platform
With this
http://funkycoldamoeba.blogspot.com/
Mac Mini can be equiped to be a new breed of all-in-one computer, with height adjustable double decker robotic desk and much much more.
Bring your own display, keyboard, and mouse? Time to truly include the desk in to the whole computer experience.
god, please stop posting links to your site. Nobody is going to send you paypal donations for your "robotic platform" just because you threw together some very poor 3D mockups... its really annoying that I have been linked to your site on now multiple occasions.
I was just responding to the post before me on about how Mac Mini may be a new platform. Sorry to bother you. I will modify my blog to temporary suspend Paypal donations. Come to think of it, that behavior just isn't very ethical. Thank you for being a whistle blower.
Mac mini is the perfect media centre. I plan to use it exactly for this purpose and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
For about $1K you can plug-&-play this thing to do practically everything: video, audio, PVR, streaming, surfing, chatting, video conference, Skype you name it. You play any codec, edit your content with the apps included and burn media as you see fit. Plus do anything else you can do with a Mac, like having it answer your phone.
EyeTV 500 - $349
or Plextor ConvertX PVR - $229
or Formac Studio TVR - $299
or even a basic EyeTV Wonder USB 2.0 - $150
If you really want to trick it out with true 7.1 surround sound:
M-Audio FireWire 410 - $499
or M-Audio Sonica Theater - 119
or just any computer speaker setup
I've got Bluetooth for my keyboard and mouse, I wish my big screen had FireWire :/
And the cherry on the top is that as Mac users already know, our Bluetooth phones make kick-ass remotes. BTW you never have to turn it off because you can have it go to sleep/pause whenever you are out of BT range, remember this thing is BSD stable.
The only thing missing is the CableCard integration. IF and when it comes, I have confidence in a software or hardware "fix" on it's heels.
Can a Windows Media Centre do all this for $1K?
How about a homeade PC worth 100hrs of harware, software hacking and modding to make it look presentable?
-NO
This just occurred to me now.
VOICE CONTROL YOUR MEDIA CENTER!!
All you have to do is pair a Bluethooth headset to it and you can command your Mac mini Media Center like Star Trek using OSX built in Speech Recognition.
The possibilities are endless...
The Mac mini may well be closer to the cost of a Media Extender than a Media Center PC but then the spec isn't anywhere near that of the latter anyway - it has no video capture capabilities, the HD is too small, doesn't have an IR remote, little RAM as standard, no wireless as standard, no keyboard, etc.
If you're going to make an argument based on price it's dishonest to only talk price on the Mac mini base spec. Sure, you could probably add all the above BUT HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?
As usual Apple make the big headlines -accurate or not the apple fanatics don't care. Whip them into a frenzy and they'll regurgitate the doctrine of Jobs as proven fact. They MUST have a Mac mini as a media center compter. Sure, it's completely inept out of the box for that purpose but throw hundreds more dollars at it and it'll just about do it.
Want to upgrade to 1GB RAM sir? Certainly, that'll just about double the cost of your machine. $425 for an upgrade to 1GB - "suckers" has just been redefined!
Of course, because this comment shows up the Emperors new clothes I'll be slated as a jealous PC user or somesuch - the apple faithful don't allow criticism of their religion. Maybe MacCentral will penetrate their thinking: " a $499 computer can become a $1,203 computer very quickly... and all without keyboard, mouse, or display mind you."
I tried to configure a Dell Windows Media Centre to compare to a tricked out Mac.
Mac mini Media Center - approx. $1822
Dell Media Center PC - approx. $2106
Using the Dimension 4700C because its the smallest and least ugly. Both computers need a video capture device and a surround sound device. There is no Bluetooth option for the Dell, it uses IR devices instead and wireless networking is in the form of an external router.
Which would you rather have?
Alright Mac... I know you're reading these.
I want a little white/silver remote with a click wheel!
Yeah, we would need some more buttons around it, but wouldn't it be sweet?
Get to work!
Bleh....
The Mac mini is truly useful as a computer for MEDIA CREATION.
PC pundits just HATE to admit that the iLife suite is a great package for non media savy consumers to do the home media creation tasks they really want to do with a computer. Whats more, this software is FREE. Can you get a PC for $300? Yes you can. Can you easily edit home movies and digital photos? No, not without spending more money for software to do these things. Yes I know, windows movie maker is free... it's also a piece of crap folks. I'm not even going to say anything about the quality of the hardware you get for one of these great $300 PCs.
And you don't have to worry about malware and virii.....
I believe the Mac Mini is a precursor device to Apple releasing pay for movies on demand via the iTunes store later this year. Probably will come about the time of the Jaguar OSX release mid year with HD and H.264 video. Apple will be the first to do download movies the right way, just as with the iTunes store. The mac mini will be the entry level device for the "rest of us" to deliver it cheaply to the living room where the cross over of a broadband PC and HD video play will be required to deliver the solution. No it won't be iPod in volume, but it will be a cornerstone in the solution that no-one else is delivering to day as a complete and useable package, from the one vendor.
Apple media revolution part 2...
Rob.
42 - you just missed the point big time. You don't NEED to configure a desktop PC to be a Media Centre - you can buy PCs specifically built to be Media Centres. In the UK, PC Pro mag has a review of about 12 this month. The review winner looks just like a hifi separate, has dual TV tuners, FM radio tuner, 7.1 surround sound, DVD writer, wired and wireless networking, wireless keyboard, remote, 200GB hard disk, 3GHz CPU and 512MB RAM...all for less than a maxed out Mac mini that doesn't come close to the above spec. It's also virtually silent (23dBs) and has a three year warranty.
Trying to cobble together a desktop Dell to be a Media Centre is just as pointless as trying to shoehorn the Mac mini into being one...it just isn't.
I looked up the article from PC Pro and it's ture they have some really great Media Center PCs - at least hardware wise. www.pcpro.co.uk
The problem is that while these do the Media presentation side fantastically, thats ALL they do. There is no editing your video or audio and I'm not so sure about streaming. One of the major selling points of Apple hardware is the included software for editing and managing your media.
Oh yeah by the way if you want to compare price, I did a quick Pounds Sterling to US Dollar check...
Recommened - Elonex Lumina - $4322.81
Winner - Elonex Artisan LX - $1878.42
FYI Apple invented quiet computing - ever heard an iMac?... you won't. And dont even get me started on the Microsoft DRM limitations of these things.
I'm still buying a Mac mini.
Someone needs to make a "dock" for iMac mini that has exactly the same design, but contains a 3.5GB hdd, a TV card and a power supply for all of this. So you'd just plug this thing into Firewire port of iMac mini, put the mini on top of this thing, and have it all while at the same time not screwing up the "Apple experience".
Please check out our Envision software, as this is the exact type of thing it's intended for. A Mac mini connected to an HDTV running Envision is a great conversation piece and party pleaser, as well as being just way cool (IMHO).
http://www.opendoor.com/envision/