An Affordable Mac for Home and School

Recently people have been speculating that a desktop Mac could help give Apple a boost in the home and education markets. Perhaps that's true, but the thing that concerns me with a desktop is the lack of flexibility - not with expansion slots or drive bays, but where the computer itself can be placed.

What I have seen from other PC makers are desktops that can also be turned on their side to be used as small towers. The computer can be placed on the floor, but it will also fit under the monitor. This might be something Apple could look into, since it would allow consumers to have easy access to the machine on their desk if desired - and let schools hide the machines under the desks if they are concerned about students playing with them.

This brings me to another point. Monitors are getting big. When the desktop form factor was launched, it was practical. A 12" or 13" monitor would fit nicely on top of the computer's case. This was true until 17" and larger monitors became available and started getting too heavy for the computer case to support.

Today LCD monitors are becoming very common, but some LCD monitors larger than 17" are just too wide to go on top of a desktop case - never mind how awkward they would appear.

Apple's Options

The first thing Apple should do is drop the CRT iMac. They should have done it a while ago. I mean, it's barely just hanging in there, and it can't be making that many sales with the eMac and LCD iMac around. Apple could introduce something that is both a tower and a desktop, perhaps using a slot loading CD drive (PCs I have seen use a regular tray drive with clips to hold the CD in place when the drive is sideways).

Apple would do well not to include some things that are included in the more expensive iMac and eMac. Yes, this model should have a G4 processor (a "slow" one, perhaps 700 MHz), but how about not offering it without anything but a CD-ROM - and maybe a no CD-ROM option for schools. Students all to often seem to destroy CD-ROM drives, and this would be one less part that staff would have to worry about.

As has also been suggested, AirPort could be eliminated. Users who need it could buy a better machine. A low-end model doesn't need to have all the features of the high end version.

This would replace the CRT iMac. Giving it a smaller maximum RAM capacity would also help it not cut into iMac and eMac sales.

Introducing a smaller 15" LCD - or even a CRT monitor - to go along with this machine might also be a good idea. I've noticed that schools tend to buy their computers and monitors from the same sources when possible, and consumers might feel more comfortable about everything being compatible if only one company made all of the parts.

Most importantly: Make this machine inexpensive. Price is a huge factor when it comes to buying a computer, and if it is too high, the computer will be passed by in favor of something else, regardless of other features it may offer that others don't.

I really think something like this could help Apple get back some of their lost market share in education.

However, it's not only the hardware that needs an overhaul. It's their attitude. Apple is sending the message that it doesn't really care about education. Even in the mid-90s, when its machines were less than great, their attitude was better than it is now. This needs to change.

Someone at Apple seems to think that schools will pay more for better looking and more durable machines. They have to realize that this is not true. Schools want to get the best deal possible, and if it happens to be a Mac, fine.

What Apple needs to do is to make sure that it is a Mac and make sure that schools know about it.

Further Reading

• Can Apple regain the education market?, Gene Steinberg, Mac Night Owl, 12.04. Schools replace Mac with Windows because it dominates the workplace.
• How a revised Cube could save Apple Education, Jeff Adkins, Mac Lab Report, 12.05. Apple needs a low-cost computer for the education market. Retooling the Cube could be just the way to do it.
• Will Apple be expelled from school?, David Zeiler, SunSpot.com, 12.05. "Although some districts buy both platforms, [at least] 79 percent of U.S. school officials plan to buy Windows PCs this year."
• No, don't resurrect the Cube for schools, Dan Knight, MacInSchool, 12.06. Yes, Apple needs a low-cost Mac for the education market, but the Cube simply wasn't designed for the realities of the classroom.
• Resurrecting the low cost Mac, Ben Wells, My Turn, 12.09. To grow, Apple needs to offer a lower cost Mac that meets the needs of schools, families, and others who can't justify $1,000 to make the switch.
• You're the head of Apple Education. What would you do?, Mac Observer, 12.09. Lots of good thoughts on how Apple could regain the education market.
• Why we'll never see another modular desktop design from Apple, Anne Onymus, Rumor Mill, 12.11. "Profits and stockholders be damned. Apple is never going to pursue the huge market for desktop Macs."