January 17, 2005

The Timing of the Mini

Or, why one might wait and not buy their Mac Mini right away.

In a word: Tiger.

Note how Steve very carefully announced that Apple is on schedule to deliver MacOSX Tiger in the first half of the year.

Close enough (he's got until the end of June) to be realistic, but vague enough not to be specific. Because if he had been specific, I suspect it would hurt Mac Mini's initial sales.

I mean, after all, who'd want to buy a Panther-powered Mac Mini now, knowing that on such-and-such a date, not too far from now, you'll have to shell out $129 for the Tiger upgrade?

If Tiger were coming out in Feb/March, and that was announced, then I bet everyone would hold off on buying their Mini until then. $129 is a big chunk of change to add to a $499 computer. Better to wait, get Tiger bundled for free when it comes out.

Apple will have to offer some customers a grace period -- several weeks? -- where if you've bought your Mini after such and such a date, you get Tiger for free. No doubt Apple will hold off announcing the grace period date as well, as it would also trigger some people to hold off buying their Mini.

So, will I buy a Mini now? I might. But I sure would like to save $129 and get Tiger bundled for free.

Posted by brian at January 17, 2005 05:06 PM

Comments

Random person off the street: "Hey Levin r u buying a mini?"

Levin: "not so much!"

I thought the same thing...I'll get mine in June...thank you very little steve. Maybe he should team up with Lucas for the nest three lame S/W movies? What is with billionares that they lose touch with reality?


-levin

Posted by: levin at January 18, 2005 09:20 AM

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