A lot of the time, I find myself looking at new Mac products and going "that's nice, but a bit too much, and I hardly need it." After the introduction of the Mac mini, I have started calculating when I will buy one, and which monitor I will use with it.

It's just enough computer at a really low price, and it skimps on stuff (keyboard, mouse, monitor) that is commodified to a ridiculous degree and which doesn't have much to do with the fabled Mac experience. When I first heard the pre-Expo rumors of a US$500 headless iMac, I believed they were fraught with the usual overrating of its capabilities and underrating of its price. Nope, there it is: G4-powered and US$499 (C$629; $599 with educational discount). I think they'll sell a zillion of these boxes. I recommend upgrading the memory.

keith had some madcap ideas about making a base for a wearable computer, but I think the best clever musing so far is the one I read on Gizmodo or some such: a Mac mini will just about fit in the space used by a standard car radio.

The iPod shuffle isn't of particular interest to me (I'm not a mobile music guy), but it's also really cheap and looks very nice. I could see buying one, though my desire is more theoretical than real.