Apple Mini-Mac hits the road
Our partner blog TUAW (that's "The Unofficial Apple Weblog," for all you PC-types
out there) has a post on a
so-simple-a-child-could-do-it docking station that let's you pop an Apple Mac Mini computer into your car.
Now a computer in the car, Mac or PC, isn't exactly news, but what's attractive about this kit is how simple and
painless it makes the installation.
If your taste runs to hair shirt, DIY installations, or you'd rather have a PC, check out carhacks.org. But this looks
so simple, it might just persuade you to use a Mac. (Please! No Mac vs. PC flame wars. We're so over
that.)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ted K 10:50PM (12/18/2005)
Apple lover or hater, the mini mac is more or less a superior starting point for all carputers due to its size, power consumption, and off-the-shelf commodity nature.
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2Suave 10:50PM (12/18/2005)
Good. Let's use cell phones and computers while we drive and bounce off other cars and whatever else we run into while we're at it.
Oh, and it's more likely that the car will crash than the Mac Mini--can't say the same about Windoze, though;-).
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starlightmica 10:50PM (12/18/2005)
The only problem with the Mac mini is the lack of competitive GPS software. This will most likely change early next year with the introduction of Intel dual-core processor machines which will likely be able to run Windows GPS software with VirtualPC or DarWINE libraries.
Maybe then I'll get around to joining the carputer crowd.
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shrinkydinx 10:50PM (12/18/2005)
Ted K - size, yes.
software - no freaking way, absolutely not.
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Rene Curry 10:50PM (12/18/2005)
I think the bigger automotive story should be that the car companies come up with a standardized rack system so everyone can add & subtract technology as it changes.
The analogy I could use is, very old home & car stereo systems were all in one, you could not add, subtract, or upgrade. Then they standardized the inputs & outputs and we had modular stereo systems. My ancient modular Pioneer system (yeah with tubes) now sports a CD player and is tied to my television & computer.
Then the whole electronic market place can supply the auto companies and us too!
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Tom Garner 10:50PM (12/18/2005)
2Suave, there's always that time when the good lady pops into the supermarket giving you a real ggod excuse to wait in the car.
Besides we have computers and cell phnes in the cars now and we don't bounce off everything.
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Ruben 10:50PM (12/18/2005)
This reminds me of the Apple PowerBook Duo. Remember, you could slide it into a big desktop computer called the Dock and use it with a monitor and keyboard. I saw one the other day and it made me laugh at the idea of using that big computer as a floppy disk. So '80s, we would never do that today. Oh, we would.
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Steve C. 10:50PM (12/18/2005)
Does no one else find taking that much dash space for a piece of electronics with no buttons, dials, knobs or screens a totally dumb idea?? Jeeez, we stuff 6-CD changers in trunks and glove boxes to "save space" -- why wouldn't we put this puppy in the trunk, under the passenger's seat, or wherever else it wouldn't be in the way??
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J S K 10:50PM (12/18/2005)
My biggest concern would be the HDD in any PC you put into a car. Hit a big enough bump and it's "head crash city" for your computer. So far, I haven't seen one that seems to take that into consideration.
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DKB_SATX 10:50PM (12/18/2005)
I just find it amusing that the photo of the installation seems to be in a Saab... I've always associated Saabs and macs, perhaps because this funky interesting girl I met in college was a freak for both. A Saab 99 EMS she named Sydney, and an all-in-one Macintosh she had much ruder names for every time it crashed.
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Eric 10:50PM (12/18/2005)
Putting a mac in a car... begs one question.... just what games would you exactly play on it?
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