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Ooooh, it's a MBA. It's light. It's cool. It will draw people into Apple store to gawk and point fingers. Welcome to the Apple freak show. Come to see the freak and stay to buy something else.

Feb 01, 08 - 10:17 am Comment from: January 24, 1984

It's tempting....

Feb 01, 08 - 10:34 am Comment from: KingMel

It stands to reason that 'niche' products become more viable when a company has a larger marketshare. As marketshare grows, even a small percentage of a market equates to a significant number of units.

The emergence of the Air likely represents the convergence of several factors including the necessary technology (CPU, X3100 graphics, 802.11n wireless) and the growth of the Mac (and portable Macs, in particular).

Feb 01, 08 - 10:37 am Comment from: Ampar

"Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends
We're so glad you could attend
Come inside! Come inside!"

The Air may not be for the majority of broke MDN readers who don't travel much, but for me, a guy who went around the globe three times last year, the Air is awesome. It is the first real "portable".

I've got a Mac Pro driving a pair of 24" monitors back at the office. A feather light MBA is just what I need when I'm out on the road.

How many students will want this extra light marvel. My guess is that almost every one and then some. They also get a 30% discount as students which makes it only a few hundred bucks more than a regular Macbook....A no brainer!!!

Feb 01, 08 - 10:50 am Comment from: ron

@fgsd, Ooooh, it's an MBA.

30% off for students??? Kid,what are you smokin'? There is no 30% off for students!

best thing ever to come along for a light load

Feb 01, 08 - 10:57 am Comment from: DLMeyer

The MacBook Air is a significant new product in Apple's line of computers, but its real importance lies in its ability to get people into the Apple store.
Uhh ... excuse me ... isn't that what I was saying just last week? Is this guy an MDN reader trolling for sharable word bites? Not that I wasn't stating the obvious, or anything ... but REALLY!

Apple educational discounts are 10% -30%

the 45 year old kid gets them for his kids always...

Feb 01, 08 - 10:58 am Comment from: Ampar

Executives and administrative assistants at large corporate campuses will want a MacBook Air for all of those meetings and brainstorming sessions.

Feb 01, 08 - 11:04 am Comment from: Spark

I'm going to use mine to serve warm croissants.

Feb 01, 08 - 11:06 am Comment from: Uncle Al

Paris, Britney, and their ilk are waiting for the new, MacBook Airhead. It continuously sends out a signal so the paparazzi can find them. Other than that, it doesn't really do anything.

Feb 01, 08 - 11:06 am Comment from: Ampar

Oddjob is getting an upgrade.

Feb 01, 08 - 11:07 am Comment from: Uncle Al

Make that "the new MacBook Airhead." Don't know who put that comma in there.

Feb 01, 08 - 11:18 am Comment from: LorD1776

"Oddjob is getting an upgrade."

He'll have to learn to walk a little more gracefully in order to balance a MacBook Air on his noggin.

Feb 01, 08 - 11:35 am Comment from: Ampar

"Paris, Britney, and their ilk are waiting for the new, MacBook Airhead."

I'll bet that they can suck the shine right off a MacBook Air.

Please. Any "writer" who makes a word plural by adding 's has no credibility. None.

Feb 01, 08 - 12:07 pm Comment from: ken1w

The beauty of MacBook Air is that it looks amazingly cool as you walk up to it, because you see it from a side angle. Once you sit down in front of it and look at it straight-on, it feels like a regular MacBook. In other words, you are no longer distracted by how thin and light it is (or by compromises like a small screen and keyboard)... it acts like a regular size notebook. After a few weeks, owners of MacBook Air will probably get used to it and only appreciate its "coolness" when they carry its weight (or lack of) on their shoulder and back.

It reminds me of the effect the first colorful iMacs had on consumers. People had to go see it in person, even though most would hardly consider buying a Mac. But once you sat down in front of it and used it, all the colorful translucent parts were hidden from view (with the exception of the small speaker grills) and they no longer distracted the user. You mainly saw the screen and the white frame around it.

That's good design and good marketing.

And it will only get better...

Feb 01, 08 - 12:24 pm Comment from: qka

It's just like automobiles.

I go into dealership, and while I drool over the <hot sports car>, I drive off in a <inexpensive car>.

Feb 01, 08 - 12:30 pm Comment from: iSteve

As the Mac product line is accepted more and more by mainstream buyers I think we will see more niche products as a means of testing out new ideas. The new processor and the new trackpad we know will make it into more mainstream MacBook and MacBook pro models. The MBA will help drive more people into the stores.

Everyone comes to the freak show
To laugh at the freaks and the geeks
Everyone comes to the freak show
But nobody laughs when they leave

(With a MacBook Air?)

I can see it now.

Anorexic girls will no longer be called Twiggy.

Apple should focus only on products that sell the most volume. Forget the 10% and the 15%, sell to the 75% ONLY!

It's business 101 people. God Apple looks so stupid compared to Microsoft. The press loves to trash Microsoft with lies, but their genius always shines through and the money will roll in forever. Then watch out - Windows 7 is coming in 5 years OR LESS to make Leopard look like a dinosaur.

And while Apple makes stuff that only 10% of people want, Microsoft will keep making the stuff EVERYONE wants. Vista, Zune, XBox 360--with free space heater.

Do Windows companies make ultraportables? No. There's a reason. Nobody wants portability. Apple should never have invented the ultraportable. What a joke. Real men use heavy computers.

Feb 01, 08 - 06:11 pm Comment from: LorD1776

Apple should stay out of niches,

Sounds like you have your head up one of YOUR niches. No offense.

So, last night I was driving thru NYC, and stopped right next to the Apple store on 57th and 5th Ave. It was 2:30am, and there were four MBAs that I could see, and only one was being used, another had a guy with his back to it, and so I played with the 3rd. I know it was 2:30am on a Thursday nite, but still, I expected the 5th Ave store to be hopping. Then again, the MBA I played with showed clear signs of much manhandling that day. It had more scratches than my 4 yr old 12" AluPB, and it's only been on display for a day!