But there is a Best Buy a block away...
Anything that makes it easier to actually see and buy Macs, is good with me!

This is good news in the sense that it will be pushing the mac into quite a few more people's hands, however I remember the main problem the last time Best Buy had macs was that the associates didn't know a darn thing about them.

"That mac can't do much, let me show you this pee cee over here..." was a common phrase to be heard.

Hopefully the lower price on the mini along with OSX and iLife will stop a portion of that...

This is huge. So much has been going on for Apple this year and its still only January!

2005: The Year of the Apple.

I hope this is successful, but believe step one is to actually train the staff that will be helping customers. they need to be able to talk intelligently about how a Mac works and most are currently unable to do that.

IF Best Buy spends the resources to train the staff then they should be making a nice bit of profit off of the program.

In response to sommermt, I think there are two main differences between the iMac and the mini.

1. The original iMac came along at a time where many people were still purchasing their first home computers. Not only did the salespeople not know anything about the iMac, but the customers weren't very familiar with Apple in general. I say this because no Mac user in his/her right mind would use Best Buy for all of his/her computing needs.

2. The people in Best Buy shopping around the computing area six years after the iMac + Best Buy plan fizzled all have computers now. If someone looks at a Mac mini and a salesperson says, "That's not a very good computer; let me show you this new PC over here," the customer will likely resist.

"I already have something like that at home. I don't really like it that much; I want to see what *THIS* one can do."

I'm telling you, if Best Buy puts one of those puppies on display at every store, I guarantee that it will get a lot of use. And priced at $599, that could very will be an impulse buy for someone in a consumer electronics store.

lets see if best buy screws this up like they did the last time there was any type of mac sold there...

i am a bit skeptical, but if they are actually given an equal opportunity to sell as the other computers there then more power to apple and best buy

still, i will have to go and see where they are placed, and if any of the sales clerks would like to even attempt to sell me one

TRO

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Biff wrote:
This is huge. So much has been going on for Apple this year and its still only January!

2005: The Year of the Apple.

Hey, Steve Jobs had already dubbed 2005 as the Year of HD. Your sincerely had declared 2005 as Year of the Renaissance of Macintosh. You are too late.

…around here they hook up the cheap junk CRT to try and sell computers (managers response "we don't want the flat panels damaged") and nothing is in stock! Also, more often than not all I hear is how fast will it play games! Geez, if you want to play games buy a gaming station, if you want something to enhence your life then buy a Mac

Go to bestbuy.com and search for "Mac g5" in "Computers". Search for "mac", not "macintosh".

"The return of Macintosh computers to Best Buy ends an almost six year hiatus for Apple at the nation's largest electronics retailer."

Really? The Best Buy in Canada has had Macintosh computers for some time now.

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Mace wrote:

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Biff wrote:
This is huge. So much has been going on for Apple this year and its still only January!

2005: The Year of the Apple.

Hey, Steve Jobs had already dubbed 2005 as the Year of HD. Your sincerely had declared 2005 as Year of the Renaissance of Macintosh. You are too late.

Oh no, you misunderstood. I was talking about the fruit. I think apple's will be very popular this year. Sauce, pies, juice... the whole nine yards!

Are they going to sell Apple software at the stores, too. They needs to support it fully if at all...

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Anonymous wrote:
Go to bestbuy.com and search for "Mac g5" in "Computers". Search for "mac", not "macintosh".

What in Sam Hill?
(The result)

:p

That's a good question. And I'm guessing that, yes, they will have to start selling the software to go along with the hardware. It's means more sales if they do.

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Guest wrote:
Are they going to sell Apple software at the stores, too. They needs to support it fully if at all...

Did everyone seem to forget how the Mac mini is packaged? It has a handle on it! There are going to be stacks of them. People are going to pick up the box and read that it organizes photos, edits movies, composes music, etc, and just pick it up and go to the register. It's not a computer anymore; it's a digital hub. Remember, this is not "switching", and it may not even be "adding". It could just be different.

"this may not be switching, and may not even be adding"

It certainly will be if a Windows user starts using the Mac Mini for most or all of their computer needs. It starts with iPhoto, iMovie, iWork, iLife, etc. etc., continues past 'Hey, I can surf the web great on the Mini and open email attachments that DON'T destroy my computer with viruses', and ends with people buying Office for Mac and other programs just because they want to do it all on one computer.

It starts with adding, and ends with switching.

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AFCdtLoeb wrote:

What in Sam Hill?

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BestBuy.com wrote:
From our expanded online assortment; not available in all Best Buy retail stores."

They have sold macs online for quite some time now.

Apple is killing its self on this. That damn 256MB will just make the MINI and OS X look bad. Why do they keep doing this?

Sure, Apple and Best Buy can make money off of upgrades, but they will eventually lose sales when those people take thier MINIs home and thier firends see how it crawls on 256MB of RAM.

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studentx wrote:
Apple is killing its self on this. That damn 256MB will just make the MINI and OS X look bad. Why do they keep doing this?

Sure, Apple and Best Buy can make money off of upgrades, but they will eventually lose sales when those people take thier MINIs home and thier firends see how it crawls on 256MB of RAM.

256 MBytes is enough. That said, I believe Apple will be delivering 512 MBytes Macs after Tiger. One evidence of this possibility is that they can lower price of RAM for Mac mini. Apple is now a strong company and can negotiate for a better price for their component needs.

and maybe they'll dump the line like Target.com did because they can't get stock.

Also who wants to buy a Mac from a group of know nothing children with questionable support.

I cut up my BestBuy card in front of the manager and had 3 others do it right after me.

I can get my movies from Walmart cheaper, my computer stuff from CompUSA cheaper, my electronics from Circuit City cheaper and better support. So why need BestBuy? Does Apple?

Years ago, I would go to the Best Buy store nearest me, when I was in the city, and I noticed that they had but little for the Mac. Then it became less, to virtually nothing. I wrote in the comment box, asking about it. Then one of the kids told me that they were not going to support Apple at all. This was around the time of the stop to the iMac sales. The manager was not for it.

Well, he clearly heard from me that that was the end of sales of equipment, or of music from me. I quit that. You don't want hundreds of dollars, or thousands of $, fine. I did go in with a friend who uses pcs, but I would not buy anything, or just sit in the car. I would write to the manager to remind him of the fact too.

Then years later, I found that they had become more friendly to Apple, which was a corporate decision, not a local store decision, and so I bought an iPod from them. The kids in the computer department here, many of whom are smart and in a computer programme, got to liking Macs, at least at the store that I go to. They use the generic hardware, but also like linux, and have regard for the Mac, not just ignorance. I like to talk with them. I buy Macs from Apple, but I will consider getting one up there.

So I hope that there is a true change of mind from them. It will be interesting to see how the support is arranged. Anyway, I am happy for what brings Macs to where people can see them and try them out.

i have had a horrible expierence when i tried to buy a mac a best buy, but i think this time it may work. due to the popular response the mac mini has recived from the pc-buying public. so lets give this one a chance.

If Apple is not concerned about training the Best Buy employees (which I hope they do) they can still sell a lot of them. When I worked at CompUSA, the sales employees would get "spiffs" off of selling certain products from the companies. If Apple pays $10 for each mini sold to the Best Buy employees there is going to be some definite incentive for them to get it into the consumers hands.

Of course, I would prefer that they just realize the capabilites of the machine, but that is a fantasy.

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studentx wrote:
they will eventually lose sales when those people take thier MINIs home and thier firends see how it crawls on 256MB of RAM.

Yea man, I hate it when my friends decide if I keep a computer or not...

i have a friend in illinois who went to the best buy, and bought and ipod shuffle 1gb. they dont have them out yet so she had to pull some strings.

256MB is fine for what most people do. I bought a 1.2GHz ibook a couple of months ago, 2/256MB, and didn't upgrade it for over a month. It worked fine as long as I didn't have a bunch of applications or windows open, and I'm used to my dual 1.25 Powermac with 768MB. Most people work with just a few windows and apps open - just a browser and/or email app, and sometimes a word processing app, or iPhoto, or whatever. Even with many apps open, each app generally runs fine, but switching between them may get slow, because of swapping activity. Of course, some apps won't do well (e.g. Photoshop), but that's not the target market.

I tend to have 10 apps open (at least), including a bunch of Safari windows, so I eventually added another 512 to my ibook. But, I'm not the average user.

Like many others, I'm a little leary about another partnership with Best Buy. The morons in the computer department didn't know anything about the iMac when they carried them, so they simply steered customers towards PCs. Drove me nuts. Without dedicated Mac-educated employees, they might just get more bad rap with the mini in the Best Buys of the world.

"What's this Apple device...a CD player?"

"No, it's called a Mac mini. It's cheap, but it doesn't come with a monitor or much memory. Let me show you this Compaq model that includes a 17" LCD..."

From my experiences at Best Buy, I don't carry a lot of faith in the employees there.

IF Best Buy doesn't carry software for the Mac, they won't sell any Macs. That will be the number one problem.

If that occurs, it solidifies people conception that there isn't any software for the Mac.

I have to agree with you on that one. Im a former employee and I was at one of the stores that was part of the test pilot. There was a Apple reop there to help with customers, but man if he wasnt there those associates would not show people those macs. I also saw alot of returns on macs because people dont know how to use them, thats the biggest problem for Apple.

Surely Apple is aware of such issues from last experience?

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iggyb wrote:

From my experiences at Best Buy, I don't carry a lot of faith in the employees there.

I am a best buy employee that has worked in the computer department for the past 8 months, and am a huge mac fan. I have been pushing for this with my boss's for the whole time (granted i realize it didn't do $#!%) but still, even thru many discussions w/ the technicians (who actually do know $#!% about computers) agree that the mac has a superior OS, just not the price. Since the release of the mini, everyone I know there is looking at getting one, EVERYONE!!! Now I realize this is one of 700 something stores, but there are people in the stores that know about mac more than thought. Due to the face that now there are none in the store, even when people ask about them, we're screwed. This will now change and I can garauntee that, at least my store, will sell a huge number of macs (if not the mini we can custom order imacs and g5's). With best buy being the number one electronics store in the nation, this will help both companies. Also, they are changing again and for sure not going the way of Home Depot as someone "thought" previously. Just an insider note.

There's a Best Buy about 30 miles from where I live that I visit occasionally. I almost always make a point of asking if they carry Apple computers, even though I know they don't, just to see how they react. It seems to me that since the G5s came out, the iPod has kicked major ass, and OS X has matured, the smirks and snickers i used to receive have been replaced by more "respectful" reactions. It's possible that some of Apple's positive press has trickled down even to the level of the Best Buy employee (no offense Guest).

What they should do is put a pile of mini boxes next to the checkout, so people just grab one on the way out.

Renaissance of Mac. I'm sure the shrewd management of Best Buy can see that coming. Get in bed with Apple or regret later.

is the 1 GB ipod shuffle out right now
i dont really know about this kind of stuff

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Anonymous wrote:
is the 1 GB ipod shuffle out right now
i dont really know about this kind of stuff

http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/

Yes, BTW