Barebones Mac on Its Way?

I've been talking about the potential for Apple to get Windows users to make the big switch for a while. A recent rumor makes it seem as though Apple is giving this some serious thought (and how could it not?). According to Think Secret, Apple is going to release a $500 barebones G4 with no display to compete with inexpensive Windows PCs. The article points specifically to targeting Windows users who own an ipod (and love it).

"Think of your traditional iPod owner," said a source. "This new product will be for a Windows user who has experienced the iPod, the ease of use of the iTunes software, and has played around with a Mac at an Apple retail store just long enough to know he'd buy one if it were a little cheaper."

Apple executives announced on October 13 that 45% to 50% of its retail store customers bought a Mac as their first PC or were new to the platform in the fiscal fourth-quarter. The company has refused to divulge more exacting figures on iPod buyers who also buy a Mac, for competitive reasons.

According to sources, internal Apple surveys of its retail store customers and those buying iPods showed a large number of PC users would be willing to buy a Mac if it were cheap enough, less of a virus carrier (which all Macs already are), and offered easier to use software solutions not available on Windows-based PCs. Now, Apple feels it has the answer.

I love this idea. There's obviously a huge market of iPod users who are in love with the device and a huge portion of those are Windows users. While I don't have an iPod myself (I have an iRiver, which I prefer for it's recording function), I have decided to make the switch to Mac myself. However, for me it's the money keeping me away. I want a Powerbook, but I simply can't plunk down the cash for one at this point (and I am wondering when a G5 powerbook will come out . . . anyone have any insights?). Given this new $500 option I imagine I would buy it as a second PC, just as the article says. Why not? For $500 I could leave the computer in my bedroom and have my laptop for my coffee table (where it has been a fixture for the last month-and-a-half anyway). I already have a display and it's currently just sitting on my desk looking lonely, so why not hook it up to a nice, cheap G4? Come on Apple, give me something to work with until I can afford to buy myself a shiny Powerbook.