New Mac Ideal for VideoConferencing


The Mac Mini released

It seems that everyone has been asking Apple for a low-priced, entry level Mac. And finally, the Mac mini is here. This tiny little computer is designed to be dropped into the space where your aging old PC sits, crawling with viruses and malware. Plug in your existing USB keyboard and mouse, and hook up your old monitor, and you have a very neat, not too slow Mac OS X computer ready to go.

And the Mac mini is perfect (well almost) for video conferencing. The FireWire socket means you can hook up an iSight, and the included iChat AV will run very nicely on that 1.25 or 1.42Mhz G4. This makes it a perfect computer for, say, your parents so you can update that weekend telephone conversation into a great video experience, and not have to provide Windows customer support every other week.

The only flaw in my view is the lack of an audio input, so you really need either a webcam with a built-in microphone (like the iSight), or a USB Audio In port. It seems a little mean of Apple to drop that input, but till, $500 for a G4 Mac? That's the best Apple deal ever. I hope to get one soon, and get it configured and packed off to my own mother.

Posted: Wed - January 12, 2005 at 07:33 PM      

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