Digital Trends

Last month I focused on the negative aspects of Apple's new products to make a point.  And based on the feedback I got, the point I appeared to have made is that there are an awful lot of Apple folks who really don't like anyone who disparages their beloved products. 

While there are a number of trade offs that Apple has made for the Mini that I don't think were necessary, the product is actually closer to what I think the consumer market is actually looking for in a desktop offering. No, Steve Jobs didn't just arrive at my house with explosives, or worse, attorneys. I just think it is time I acknowledged that there are a couple things I really wish the other vendors would learn from what Apple has done.

The Windows/Intel PC

The traditional desktop PC running Windows is designed to be modular in that you can change out, relatively easily, major components. Graphics cards, drives, memory, input/output cards, cooling fans, and even power supplies can be replaced and upgraded relatively easily. Even the processor can be upgraded and replaced. Buyers can configure to order boxes with components from a variety of secondary vendors and have someone else build the perfect computer.

The problem is the average buyer, consumer or corporate, doesn't use most of this flexibility. Most buyers not only pick a standard configuration, from what I can tell, better than 95% never open the product up themselves, ever, after the product has been purchased and installed. And the majority of people who do open their product up do so in order to facilitate a repair; and even that is done by someone else most of the time. 

This flexibility has several costs. The products have to be larger, they are more difficult to cool, they generally aren't particularly attractive (particularly in home or desktop settings) and they are more expensive than they need to be.   And this cost hits several areas, it causes an increase in finished goods inventories, increases manufacturing cost, and an increase in costs associated with prepping the product for sale.  

The resulting lack of standardization also results in higher failure rates and a generally less reliable offering than what you see from Apple or any embedded systems vendor we have ever seen.