I guess my problem with this announcement is that I always considered the top end Mac Minis to be pseudo "enthusiast" machines to play with as we liked. Now, all that is going to happen is that people like me are finally going to wander over to the TonyMacx68 world and start building clones.
I think this is a shame. The Mac Mini is has had a very loyal following for years and this simply looks like the end of the line.
Still, it could be worse. I could have taken out a second mortgage to buy a Mac Pro and then discover that Apple has decided to go down the 5K monitor path and leave the Mac Pro for dead barely 12 months later. But that is another story altogether.....