Comments on: Nothing But Air?

By: Arvin Dang

Arvin Dang — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 22:51:31 +0000

@Derek: I see where you’re going with this, and I think you might be interested in reading Steve Rubel’s article – The MBA The Biggest Test In Cloud Computing: http://www.micropersuasion.com/2008/01/the-macbook-air.html

By: Derek Bolander

Derek Bolander — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 11:44:43 +0000

Unlike the prevailing web opinion of the MacBook Air only being a secondary computer, I believe it is much more than that.

I think that it can very much be a primary computer for most folks. Posters this ate and others are not most folks. Most people, especially road warriors work mostly with the web, office documents, and email. But beyond that the MacBook Air will still perform admirably.

You’ll notice many HD cams moving to USB. While we all love our FireWire, there is overwhelming market acceptance of USB and inertia from Intel’s baby is too much to fight.

The MacBook Air represents a strategy perhaps for Apple’s entire product line. Centralized storage lightens the need for local storage and remote optical media reading begins to wean us from from a legacy medium.

In May, we celebrate ten years of the iMac. It compelled the entire industry to embrace simplicity and ditch legacy. Few at the time would have believed that Apple would go on to sell millions. I think MacBook Air represents a continuation of this less is more philosophy. I won’t be surprised to see the entire product line move in this direction. Something really is in the air.

By: Steve Freeman

Steve Freeman — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 22:36:15 +0000

We must assume that Apple have done their market research and it’s a very slick machine, although not for me.

Like a great many people, what I wanted was a faster 12″ PB that’s a bit lighter and thinner, not least because I can get the lid open when I’m sitting in economy class and it’s about the same size as my A4 (i.e. non-US standard) paper.

Now that I know I’m not going to get what I actually want, I might just settle for a white MacBook with lots of memory as a reasonable upgrade, and wait to see what happens with the Air in a couple of years.

By: geochick

geochick — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 02:32:33 +0000

I agree w/ #2 that $1800 is a steep price to pay for a secondary computer. If it was $999-$1499 I would consider having it as a companion to my Mac Mini.

By: devon

devon — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 01:20:52 +0000

Clever marketing.. just like the way they introduced the Macbook air..

By: The Boar’s Head Tavern »

The Boar’s Head Tavern » — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 23:37:09 +0000

[...] I very much agree that these three assumptions Apple made in offering up Air were not to be taken fo… Posted by: Michael Spencer @ 6:27 pm | Trackback | Permalink [...]

By: Arvin Dang

Arvin Dang — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:11:54 +0000

@DBL & Rich: I understand the value of Firefire for editing films. When expressing the ability to edit films I was expressing more the processing capabilities of the MBA, not the transfer ability. So yes, firewire would be a huge issue in dealing with it getting film across. However I still think with Bluetooth proliferating even cameras, maybe one day wireless won't be such a bad way to go?

I'm very curious to see how Apple would have faired if they created a 12 inch super thin notebook. Would people have knocked it for not having a full size screen? But I sort of was looking for the 12 inch powerbook as inspiration as well. I imagine there's more coming to it in the near future, so we'll see where they go with it.

I know one guy commented he was going to pick one up. But anyone else actually purchase the MBA specifically for it's portability and functionality? Or does everyone seem to share the same common regrets?

By: Ruhayat

Ruhayat — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 14:00:05 +0000

BTW, if you ask me, the real 12-inch PB replacement would just add dual cores and kept everything else the same (dedicated graphics, etc). Maybe add a FW800 port and Gigabit. THAT I would buy for $1,800.

All Apple had to do was just deliver an update for the 12-inch PB. Was that so hard? I suppose the answer is yes.

By: Ruhayat

Ruhayat — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 13:57:19 +0000

I’m an owner of a 12-inch Powerbook which is my main machine as well as mobile workstation. At home I use it connected to an external 22-inch LCD, keyboard and mouse and run it off an external Firewire desktop hard disk. It’s a great little machine that to me is the perfect desktop for the everyman. If this MacBook Air is supposed to be a replacement, I’m not buying it.

By: Rich

Rich — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 13:31:02 +0000

“It’ll edit a movie…”

And, pray tell, how do I get this wonderful footage into my MacBook Air?

I’m working on a project right now to shoot video and edit it on the spot for review at a seminar. The “Air” would be a perfect box to use to capture the video because of its light weight…but the lack of FireWire makes it completely useless for the task. Hey, I don’t mind using a MB or MBPro for the task, but Apple missed the mark here–big time. A Mac without FireWire is too hobbled for any serious work I might throw at it.