it's a waste of money if u ask me. if you're going to buy a mac, buy a good one.
i think people are going to stick with PCs if that's what they have. PCs, while not the greatest OS, are much more user-friendly to dummies. someone i know was going to et an Imac until calculating that it would be more expensive than a much higher PC. And I've tried out a G4 powerbook, i didn't like it at all. PC laptops are MUCH better.

I have never liked Apple comps, and will probably never will. They produce computers with awesome design, and low specs. While, PCs are (usually) less nice looking, they perform better in all ways. I say usually because there are more then enough options to MOD your pc and make it look awesome (neon lighting/digital displays/etc..)

And by the way, when you buy a pc to work alot with, you're not gonna be bothered by the looks, cause you will put the comp somewhere where you don't even see it nicely. Apple comps are made for their design, as home entertainment systems, and as stylish computers for offices where clients visit very frequently (at the main desk it looks alot nicer if the people work with nice designed computers, just an attractive feature of getting in clients)

Apple comps are the minority and PC's are the majority and if Apple doesn't learn to share the space with the PC it will be crushed. The only reason it is alive is because of it's power. I like the graphics of Mac nothing else. It is only good for work. I don't think at home it will be of greater use than a showpiece.

Contrary to whats said above, MACs don't actually perform any worse than PCs. Their CPUs while totally different is on par with the latest intel architecture CPUs.

And Apple doesn't even have anything to worry about. They are selling iPods like crazy and making more money than they have ever done before, so they aren't nearly as close to getting "crushed" yet.

Id say 499 is a steal for an Apple computer. I belive that apples trying to hit to the budget people right now, as the ipod shuffle also came out that day. Who knows what theyre planning to do...

J2theMB