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I like the name Macbook Air. People who have a problem with it are generally without imagination or creativity themselves.

Jan 18, 08 - 05:18 pm Comment from: Not Bill

Hmm. Sounds right. MacWorlds come around once a year. The products arrive when they are ready. El Jobso will never just reveal "the plan." We are left to "read between the lines." It is more fun that way anyway.

Jan 18, 08 - 05:19 pm Comment from: January 24, 1984

Watch out, here comes the Dell Fart.

As Walter Matthau once said, "May the wind at your back never be your own."

Jan 18, 08 - 05:19 pm Comment from: Mr. Nickler

This is all just the evolution of the digital hub. The hub is just getting bigger and bigger, which makes Apple get bigger and bigger to be at the center of the hub.

MN

Jan 18, 08 - 05:21 pm Comment from: January 24, 1984

With the new SBD drive.

Jan 18, 08 - 05:29 pm Comment from: Not Bill

I want Bluray read/write. I want it now. I want is cheap.

Jan 18, 08 - 05:36 pm Comment from: Predrag

Very often, on the pages of MDN, we collectively pan Mr. Cringely for his myopic views on one thing Apple or another. It is thoroughly refreshing to see such an astute, articulate, intelligent and right-on-the-money observation come out of Cringely's Dell (or is it Toshiba?).

If it is indeed true that Intel dedicated money and man power to develop this chip at specific Apple's request, then Mr. Cringely is absolutely right that MBA is just a foot in the door. While I'm not as skeptical as Mr. Cringely about the sales numbers for it (I keep saying this: women will love it and buy it in droves), the chip definitely has a different destiny slated for it. Apple has a clear roadmap straight into living rooms (and family rooms) of the world. And they're taking Intel along for the ride.

What a refreshing change for Intel - be on the bleeding edge of innovation again!

Jan 18, 08 - 05:39 pm Comment from: ron

MacBook Air "is a cool product with a bad name."

So what's your idea of a great name, El Cringeo?

Jan 18, 08 - 05:41 pm Comment from: macaholic

AirBook would have been better.

but at the cost of the Mac name, which needs to be there, I suppose.

Cringley sez:

"Apple is the last of the major computer companies that uses 100 percent Intel processors. "

That's not even accurate. A *very* short while ago, they used none at all, and even today they use ARM as well as intel processors.

How he can spin that into the implication that Apple is *exclusively* in the intel camp and always has been kind of boggles the mind.

Jan 18, 08 - 05:55 pm Comment from: Chaplin

Greta product, great name, great company, great CEO... I think SJ knows how to run Apple a lot better than any of us... People are never satisfied, it's amazing.... Look at what Apple gives us compared to the rest of the tech world and get some perspective people. Invest long term and enjoy the products Apple makes...

Jan 18, 08 - 06:00 pm Comment from: bond co. stooge

Predrag is right. That thing might as well say PRADA on it in great big letters.

It will be THE product to place in movies/tv as well.

Jan 18, 08 - 06:02 pm Comment from: Ampar

"This is all just the evolution of the digital hub."

What's all this hub hubbub, bub?

Jan 18, 08 - 06:04 pm Comment from: LorD1776

I'm sure Apple's competitors will have access to that tiny CPU.
I can't wait to see what they will come up with.

Jan 18, 08 - 06:04 pm Comment from: Ampar

"(I keep saying this: women will love it and buy it in droves)"

And if you could get it to vibrate and mow the lawn, men would become obsolete.

Jan 18, 08 - 06:07 pm Comment from: bond co. stooge

Yeah, and it already has a "tiny CPU" nudge-nudge

Jan 18, 08 - 06:07 pm Comment from: peaPod

Global media dominance?

Why stop there?

Jan 18, 08 - 06:09 pm Comment from: MadMac

Right, Cringly gets it while no one else does. Sounds pretty arrogant and self-serving to me. Though he could be right.

Intel didn't come out with a special chip. It's the same old chip (merom), but mounted on the next generation's packaging (penryn).

Robert X. Cringely is the pen name of technology journalist Mark Stephens.

Mark Stephens earned a bachelor's degree from the College of Wooster in Ohio in 1975. In 1998, it was revealed that Stephens had falsely claimed to have received a Ph.D. from Stanford University and to have been employed as a professor there.

Stanford's administration stated that while Stephens had been a teaching assistant and had pursued course work toward a doctoral degree, he had never held a professorship nor had he been awarded the degree.

Stephens then stated that while he had received a master's degree from the department of communications and completed the classes and tests required for the Ph.D., he acknowledged that he failed to complete his dissertation.

Asked about the resulting controversy, Stephens told a reporter: "A new fact has now become painfully clear to me: you don't say you have the Ph.D unless you REALLY have the Ph.D."

Info above stolen from Wiki and adjusted.

Jan 18, 08 - 06:36 pm Comment from: tmsruge

I keep hearing everyone say there's going to be an apple tablet. What the fsck is it going to do? And why is that so important?

And if it was so important, wouldn't Apple have done it by now....??

I need someone to explain to me what's so special about a tablet and who in their right mind is going to NEED one? I really don't see any one buying one outside a very specific industry.

Jan 18, 08 - 06:40 pm Comment from: HolyMackerel

Apple still needs to buy out EyeTV and integrate the software with all their existing lines. The current EyeTV 3.0 is virtually indistinguishable from iTunes in layout, coverflow and sharing. Adding EyeTV to AppleTV is the knockout punch to destroy all TV competitors.

Adding WiMax to a range of MBA's for ubiquitous wireless-internet machines is the second punch to destroy all elite-laptop competition.

The final knockout punch would be a range of high quality, but low-cost desktop Macs with limited functionality (like the MacBook or Mac LC - it stood for 'low cost' after all) for areas where speed and graphics are not essential.

AirMac

Jan 18, 08 - 07:12 pm Comment from: iDon't

An Apple tablet already exists.
http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=modbook

An Apple tablet already exists.


AHH! My EYES, My EYES!! They'Re BURNING!!!

//stops, drops, rolls, does yoga, catches breath//


..


Dude, that was hairy. Yeowch.

Jan 18, 08 - 08:55 pm Comment from: ron

Has anyone seen an ad for Macbook Air yet? I haven't.

About the tablet: Look, Apple has no current software to run a tablet, and no one else does either. Imagine what you could do with a tablet and you can see that there is no software out there that supports the concept, so a tablet by Apple ain't gonna happen without Apple supplying the apps for it. Let's see what happens with the phone software that comes from the SDKs that will come forth, and watch what comes from Cupertino to expand it. When support expands, then so too will the product. MS is bye bye.
When it does happen, it will be universal to everyone and won't be attached to mac software. It will come with it's own, and be usable by a lot of people, not just the mac crowd.
Why isn't Apple in the business realm(at least to the extent that approaches what Microsoft can offer)? No software to support his product. He is now designing for the masses, and the airbook is just the ticket. It can run all the software out there. I am surprised that he didn't mention that in the keynote. (Or maybe he did, and I didn't hear it.) That is what Apple is doing now, designing for the masses.
Truly, the airbook is ahead of what is now currently available for connectivity, but in a few years, that support will be more available in the wifi realm, that will push others to begin developing the concept of the thin computer. I mean if you can access "your" server over the internet, why do you need big time storage in your computer at your hand?
So this is exciting and another breakthrough product for Apple, that people don't seem to be getting just yet. I think that they soon will however.

Jan 18, 08 - 09:29 pm Comment from: MacFhearghaile

Cringly writes for PBS? As in public bull shit. His PHD must be in piled higher and deeper no doubt. I find it hard to attribute any credibility to a looser like this.

Jan 18, 08 - 09:37 pm Comment from: ken1w

> Apple still needs to buy out EyeTV and integrate the software with all their existing lines.

... except that Apple's long-term strategy is to encourage customers to get media content through iTunes, not by recording it from broadcast services.

The CableCard Apple TV is a great idea.

Jan 18, 08 - 10:24 pm Comment from: Spark

Cringely? Oooh, I just tasted a little vomit that came up. Sorry.

Jan 18, 08 - 10:25 pm Comment from: shen

"I've got a Ph.D ... sorry, I lied about that"

lol, sounds just like bill o'liely

"I keep hearing everyone say there's going to be an apple tablet. What the fsck is it going to do? And why is that so important?"

imagine an iphone with a 6-8 inch screen and the computing power of last years entry notebook. it will make the MBA looks as portable as a fridge.....

"Cringly writes for PBS? As in public bull shit."

yeah, trust real news sources. like faux news.....

Jan 19, 08 - 08:44 am Comment from: DJ

"it's a plan that requires patience, which the press can't -- or doesn't want to -- understand ... it is up to us as individuals to decide whether this is good or bad"

I always love it when a member of the press complains about the press. Note to Mr. C: If you don't want to be a member of the press, then just quit already! Otherwise, get in there and do the real work nobody else is doing.

People have it all wrong. The Apple tablet is going to be something you swallow to get a full-body user interface. Can't explain it all here, but you see the pattern: First a capsule, then a tablet, followed by yet another breakthrough from a still-secret project code-named "Lozenge".

What's the matter with some of you people?

Cringely pee in your cornflakes?

Cringely's just a tech commentator expressing his opinion. He has a background almost everyone knows and no one of any significance cares about.

FWIW, There wasn't any Mark Twain, either.

Jan 19, 08 - 01:41 pm Comment from: LorD1776

nobodi,

"There wasn't any Mark Twain, either."

Oh yeah, well tell that to Samuel Clemens.

Jan 19, 08 - 01:50 pm Comment from: LorD1776

Monger,

"The Apple tablet is going to be something you swallow to get a full-body user interface. "

I already have a full-body user interface. I had my iBook grafted to my chest and my eyes replaced with iSight cameras. Earbuds surgically implanted and a Mighty Mouse bonded to my hand.

I look like a Borg dressed in white.

This guy is a jerk. Ignore him. He's rebarfing fairly obvious observations with his own spin. SHUT THE F UP, dude!

The MacBook Air will sell millions! He has no clue.

I have my 12" PB with me on trip to Vietnam, and haven't used the Superdrive yet; took it in preference to MacBook, which is larger; whereas the PB fits in a small backpack. No question about it, I will have an Air with me next time I go on a trip. And so will many who travel for pleasure, and business, and so the people who buy them will do so because they are truly portable, and so Cringley's sales figures will be eclipsed very quickly. It's not a question of just having an Air; it's all about portability combined with OS X, and the other manufacturers can't have that. So all the disappointed analysts will discover, in time, that the Airs will sell like hotcakes, possibly detracting somewhat from Apple's other offerings. Finally, in actual useage, many people spend most of their computer time on the Internet, and for that, the Air is ideal, especially when in travel status. Prediction no less than 800,000 in the first year.

Jan 20, 08 - 01:43 am Comment from: LorD1776

hairy buyer,

Do you purchase hairy things or are you hairy yourself?
Just curious.

Jan 20, 08 - 06:44 am Comment from: Ampar

"Oooh, I just tasted a little vomit that came up. Sorry."


Was it your own?

Jan 20, 08 - 11:40 am Comment from: LorD1776

Ampar,

Gross !!!

Jan 20, 08 - 12:41 pm Comment from: Ampar

LorD1776:


Yeah. That's why it always a good idea to not let a dog lick your face.

Jan 20, 08 - 01:31 pm Comment from: LorD1776

Ampar,

Or anything else?