That's a really big screen...

I wouldn't have believed it a few weeks ago. Today Apple released a 24" iMac. Twenty-four inches. If you thought the 20" iMac was big, then hurry on down to your local Apple Store to see this one in the flesh (uhm, I mean plastic). Good grief.

Okay, so what's the Mac 9 To 5 take on this.

Well, I am impressed by the engineering, but I think this may be overkill for the average SOHO/Small Business user. The iMac is a great machine for the everyday business user, but I wish Apple had spent it's engineering time creating a standalone desktop/tower to slot between the Mac mini and the Mac Pro instead of merely taking the iMac and supersizing it. My suggestion to Apple would be to create a new system based on the Intel Core 2 Duo desktop CPU (Conroe) in a sleek box with a starting price of $1299.00 sans monitor, a mid-range version at $1499.00 and a top-end with all the trimming at $1699.00. Let us add our own display from Apple or someone else and we'll be good to go. Here are some specs for what I have in mind. Let's just call it the "Mac" for right now:

• Desktop or small tower form factor


• Intel Core2 Duo @ 2.13Ghz with a step up to 2.4 or 2.66GHz


• Up to 4GB or 8GB DDR2 RAM


• PCIe x16 graphics with a 7300GT as the standard card


• Supports dual monitors


• One or two extra PCIe x4 slots for expansion


• The usual ports and connections (USB2, FW400, FW800, GigE, BT and APE)

Okay, enough tech specs. I guess what is the most important thing to me is that Apple needs to branch out and become a little more adventurous than it has been in a long time. I'm not talking Dell adventurous by any means, but it's time to break out of its self-imposed restraints and provide SOHO/Small Business owners with a good solid workhorse machine. I hope Apple remembers us.