If the Mac mini succeeds in creating a market for secondary computers in the home, an army of copycats is ready to follow the company's lead.

"If [the Mac mini] started a trend of small (desktops)...I'd be very happy about that. It would be a reason for someone to consider a desktop." Tom Anderson, vice president of marketing for the Consumer PC Global Business Unit at Hewlett-Packard told Cnet.

Although consumers have showed they like small computers by embracing laptops, vendors of small desktops systems have been unable to conquer much of a market share.

But now that Apple is trying to do what so many others have tried before – and added a design that doesn't want to make you throw up – it might finally create a market for second and third computers in the home. That has the entire PC industry paying attention.

28 Jan 2005