My dad own a Wintel PC — I do n’t know the make or poser , other than that it ’s an ancient ecru boxful puttering along on Windows 98 . I also do n’t know how my father got his manpower on such a gadget , but if I found out that he bought it off the back remnant of a truck on a deserted country road , it would n’t needfully storm me . I should direct out that possess a bargain - cellar , scarce working PC does not make my Padre a bad somebody — it just makes him loud .

As you might expect , my pop runs into his share of trouble using an archaic machine . Not a calendar month goes by that he ’s not complaining about some unexplained lotion clangor , maddening ironware failure , or other secret bugaboo . And that ’s when he calls in me , to trouble-shoot a information processing system I ’ve never used that runs an operating system I ca n’t stomach .

Thisdoesmake my Church Father a unsound person , apropos .

I ’ve suggest that my father make the switch to a Mac . I ’ve volunteer tobuyhim a Mac . I ’ve told him that replacing his out - of - date hardware with something a little less mysterious will go a long way toward pee both our lives boundlessly easy . And each fourth dimension I make that suggestion , he take care at me like I ’ve purpose that he spend his next holiday flying to Mars .

The nature of his immunity has change over the eld . First , he indicate that it would be too much of a hassle moving from one platform to the other ; Apple ’s “ Switch ” campaign from a few year back put the lie to that notion . Then , he did n’t much cotton to the idea of paying the Mac ’s higher retail price ; that objection got shot down about the same metre Apple rolled out a $ 799 eMac that , performance - impertinent , would have left his aging machine pant for tune . But when he found out that the eMac was an all - in - one system , my father revealed the last hurdle to sweep over his Mac resistor — he had paid perfectly good money for his CRT monitor , his keyboard , and his other peripherals , and he was n’t about to junk them just because Steve Jobs guess he should .

But I think the Mac mini unveiled as one of the centerpiece announcements in Tuesday ’s Macworld Expo keynote will be the last thing that in conclusion pushes my papa out of the demesne of clunky , temperamental machinery and into the Mac fold . You ’re looking for improved performance , pops ? A 1.2GHz or 1.4GHz G4 processor should suit the broadside quite nicely . You do n’t want to squander my inheritance on a novel screen background ? A Mac mini can be had for $ 499—$599 if you ’re feeling daffy and wasteful . And it even comes with a VGA adapter so you could keep using your precious varan .

And that ’s why people like my father — the folks who would rather suffer through an unpleasant computing experience if the alternative command a significant outlay of John Cash — are the big winners after Tuesday ’s production announcements . Yes , the Mac mini has an appeal that expand beyond tightwad — I ran into more than a few colleagues who unremarkably would n’t believe twice about pay off up for the late Mac computer hardware eye the mini lustfully . But if you ’re tight with a buck — let ’s use the more polite “ steal hunter ” denomination from here on — Apple just dropped a nicely - feature , attractively - price compact desktop in your lap . And , if you happen to like music as well , the new iPod shamble can be had for less than $ 100 . Yes , for deal Orion , Tuesday ’s keynote must have been like find the world ’s large voucher orbitual ripe for the clipping .

Here are the other succeeder and also-ran stemming from Steve Jobs ’s keynote :

•Winner : WidgetsI freely admit that I did not get the whole widgets affair when Jobs announce Dashboard as part of the approaching OS disco biscuit Tiger update at last June ’s developer conference . I intend , I infer what widgets are and how they work ( I ’ve seen Konfabulator ) ; I just did n’t see how it was such a key addition that it needed to be highlighted when you had a reported 199 other features to talk about .

I still do n’t know if Dashboard is all that an essential addition to the atomic number 8 , but after seeing a more in - depth demo of it Tuesday , it certainly face like a spiffy one . Whether it was widget sour grass on the bottom of the silver screen , the path these mini - apps appear with a ripple effect , or even the animated weather picture that are part of the conditions widget , fancy Dashboard in action really drove home the point that this is something to get excited about . Jobs and Apple would be well - served to offer alike in - deepness looks at Tiger ’s major feature to construct up excitement for the OS X update ’s release . It ’s not like they wo n’t have enough time to do a clustering . Speaking of which …

•Loser : Concrete Shipping Dates“We’re on schedule to embark in the first half of this year , ” Jobs enjoin the crowd . Well , that ’s … vague . I mean , Apple has been touting the “ first half of 2005 ” ship date for six months now . A little more item would be appreciated . When you say first one-half of the class , what are you enjoin incisively ? February ? June ? A calendar month with an “ m ” in it ? June Eleventy - Third ? You ’re not going to pull a firm one and switch from the Gregorian calendar to the Chinese Lunar calendar rung about spring , are you ?

•Winner : Accessory MakersYou already ca n’t walk the show floor for 10 feet in any direction without hit across a vendor sell iPod accessary — cases , headphones , wharfage , even asolar - powered barrage fire battery charger .

Well , good intelligence for the company getting a objet d’art of the iPod activity — Apple just introduced another music thespian demanding to be accessorized . And even Apple ’s catch into the deed . Jobs end his iPod shuffle unveiling by trotting out four $ 29 accessories — an armband , a dock , a sport case , and a battery extender — that will start undulate out over the next four weeks . I expect we ’ll see a lot more accessories from a lot more companies by that metre , too .

And it ’s not just the iPod make that ’s in line for some completing products . What about the Mac mini ? This is a computer , after all , that Steve Jobs was able to hold aloft with one script with no apparent strain or trouble . That sounds like it ’s pretty portable to me , which means we can plausibly await a carrying case or two to hit the market soon enough .

•Loser : Other Flash - based Music Player Makers : There ’s a line in the motion pictureTombstone — which , quite frankly , has never receive its cinematic due , though that ’s really an argument for another time in another blog — which I ’ll rephrase loosely here : “ You called down the thunder , and now you ’ve got it . So run you cur , run , and distinguish all the other mutt that I ’m come . And Hell ’s come with me . ”

Why did I mention this ? No cause , really . Although I suspect Steve Jobs probably called up Sim Wong Hoo on Tuesday and left a similarly - worded substance on the Creative Technology CEO ’s phonation mail .

correctly now , the Divine of flash MP3 musician say they are n’t particularly worried about the iPod shuffle . That ’s their right , I suppose . But if you consider the telephone number that Jobs quoted during his keynote — a 62 percent market contribution for flash - based medicine instrumentalist at this prison term last yr has shrunk down to 29 percent after a year of the iPod miniskirt — maybe they ought to be fretting just a little scrap .

•Winner : fan of PageMaker : This one I covered already .

•Loser : Upbeat finale : Whatever you think of John Mayer and his Grammy - nominated birdsong “ Daughters”—and as a pathetic crank whose melodic choice ossified about a decade and a half ago , I profess that it ’s not to my perceptiveness — you have to cede that it was a curious choice to wrap up the keynote . You ’ve just spent two time of day unveiling product after product . You ’ve turn over the mint a low - priced trice - based music role player , an updated cortege of iLife program , and the least expensive Mac ever produce . Would n’t you require to nibble a tune that fires up the bunch to go charging off to the nearest Apple Store to buy , buy , grease one’s palms , instead of a vocal that sends them off to the nearest headphone booth to have awkward tearful conversations with their children and parents ? I have in mind , severely , could Apple have tried to find a more downbeat way to end an pollyannaish keynote ? Do n’t enjoin me that Morrissey was booked .

And at last , our biggest loser …

•Loser : Anti - Mac Excuses : At some point , every Mac drug user has been in this situation : a tedious , rotary debate with an anti - Mac zealot that usually ends when your adversary crosses his or her weapon and smugly says , “ But Macs are too expensive . ”

Well , now they are n’t . Not any longer . So if nothing else , the Mac mini is going to force your favourite anti - Mac trolls to freshen up their material .

I look ahead to seeing what the new “ I do n’t use Macs because … ” rationale will be . I suspect an old chestnut like “ There are no apps on the Mac that I like ” will be the early leader in the clubhouse , but I ’m holding out hope the anti - Mac gang will wow me with something new and creative like “ A Mac once attacked my Fatherhood ” or “ I hear One Infinite Loop was built on an ancient Indian burial ground . ”