MacDailyNews - Where Mac news comes first

Jan 16, 08 - 10:17 am Comment from: TowerTone

The market in my little world is screaming for a mouse that has a trackpad on it that won't clog up every week.

What was really missing was Apple TV with a screen or even better with a remote control that has a screen and functions like an iPod so that music can be put on a NAS and listened to in every room where there is an Apple TV but no TV available. But since the product contains the word "TV", it was a useless hope. I guess I will be buying a Sonos system this Spring. The second thing that was missing was getting rid of DRM for all iTunes songs.

2 most wanted products???


I thought they were a Gaming Mac, and a Mac Tablet??

Have to agree with Beer on the MBA. Who wants a thin 13in Macbook with no ports, not me anyway. I'd have ordered a 10in straight away

@ PowerTone
Yes, you are right. That was the third missing product. Apple has such a fine touch technology. Why not replacing the nipple on the mouse with a touch sensitive spot. (I hope this sentence doesn't sound too erotic!)

While Air is cool I don't see it as something that was really needed. It isn't smaller then the Macbook (thinner doesn't help much), it's slower then the Macbook, and cost almost as much as a Macbook Pro.

Non-removable battery? Unless this is some kind of super breakthrough battery technology does anyone really want a notebook that they can't switch the batteries?

Air is cool but I'd rather spend my money on the next Macbook or Pro that comes with the Air's trackpad.

Jan 16, 08 - 10:27 am Comment from: Macromancer

""At Macworld 2008, Steve Jobs once again strutted across the stage like a prize peacock, this time claiming to have learned from past mistakes by listening to Apple customers."


Who the hell writes this crap?

When Apple heard that their iPod Touch customers wanted full eMail and Google Maps apps like their iPhone cousins, did they also hear that those same customers wanted to pay an extra $20 that new customers wouldn't have to pay?

my friends is running across the top of the page - last chance to buy AAPL below $165...

Tell me Greg... just how often does anyone replace their laptop batteries in the first place?

Geez is this the last keynote of the year? It's JANUARY
Patience grasshopper. 5 years from now the iPhone will look like a toy.

Jan 16, 08 - 10:32 am Comment from: ken1w

Steve Jobs saying Apple does what customers ask is just part of the show. The fact is, Apple is great because it does NOT do everything customers want. If it did, we'd have Apple of the '90's with five dozen different Mac models and configs catering to every perceived customer "need." And we'd have an iPhone with and without a physical keyboard. And the iPod mini would still be in the lineup, along with both the fat and skinny nanos.

Today's Apple is focused, sometimes to a fault. But I wouldn't want it any other way...

>Unless this is some kind of super breakthrough battery technology does anyone really want a notebook that they can't switch the batteries?

1) How many people actually HAVE two laptop batteries? Not only have I never had two batteries, but also all but one of my laptops are ones I've bought used and the people I've bought them from have never had two batteries. Really, I'm interested, is there any market research on what percent of laptop owners have two or more batteries?

2) The battery life on the MBA is quite high. Even if you shave off 20% as Apple puffing, that would make a 4 hour battery life. My crappy Gateway celeron "bought it so I won't care if someone steals it" gets only 2 hours, and no one can point to a laptop in the MBA's class that gets significantly more than that. This thing with one battery gives me as much uninterrupted non-powerplug time as if I had a spare battery for the Gateway, so what exactly is the downside? Besides, when I really want battery life I pull out the dinosaur clamshell iBook. Now that's got battery life.

Tell me Greg... just how often does anyone replace their laptop batteries in the first place?

Apple sent me a replacement. Many people carry an extra battery or two with them. Batteries do go bad and need replacing long before the notebook needs replacing.

tt
The Mac is a gaming machine. It's just that we only have a handful to choose from. But with bootcamp you can install the windows plugin and play all the windows games you want.

The MBA has a market, I just don't know how large it is. I have a few (read 2) clients that have been asking about when a lighter, thinner MacBook might emerge.

Thing is, you lose a great deal for that slimness and while it's really, really thin, I couldn't actually recommend it to anyone. Especially at the price/performance mark.

As much as I enjoy MacDaily it would be nice if it could just once perhaps accept a little constructive criticism.

The iPhone outside of the US hasn't been a great success because of the restrictive contract model chosen by Apple and let's be honest despite the undoubted originality and quality of aspects of it's design e.g. the interface, it's actually pretty old hat by mobile phone technology.

Apple may want to downplay the importance of 3G and 3.5G, but for the rest of the world it's already pretty well established. I'm sure when Apple finally do get round to releasing a 3G iPhone then 3G will suddenly become of huge importance. In the UK sales of the iPhone have been disappointing. No 3G support (which now covers over 90% of the UK) as opposed to the Edge network (30% coverage) has been a large factor in many users choosing other mobile phones. Obviously the expensive and restrictive contract model has also been a huge factor.

Again with the Macbook Air (silly name) it's a very original but fairly niche product. I can't help feeling that Apple have gone for the thinness aspect of it's new laptop for purely marketing reasons. Perhaps the technology at the moment available wouldn't allow them to develop a true utraportable that would be different enough from the competition. There are already plent of pretty thin notebooks on the market with a much smaller footprint. Indeed the Macbook itself is a pretty light and thin notebook. It's is also considerably cheaper and more powerful.

Don't get me wrong, I love many Apple products. My Macbook Pro is a simply fabulous machine. However it doesn't mean that Apple are beyond criticism and for me I've feel the Macbook Air is an ultimately expensive and disappointing product.

Yeah my Macbook Pro is only 8/9 months old and the battery is lucky to last 40 minutes. And thats without playing a DVD. Just light work. The new MBA though a little 'underwhelming' is welcome because it means that all laptops next year will be solid state. Which means the battery should last a lot longer with no moving parts. And the multi touch pad is nice too.

I've watched Steve's video from Moscone twice now. Here's why there's such disappointment in his performance:

1. Tweaks and goodies for the phone and tunes player are not Keynote worthy - should have been in the just-do-it-without-fanfare category.

2. Ultra thin laptop has very limited usefulness - may be wet-your-pants-again because Steve has the 'world's thinnest' or whatever but it's not useful and not worth half the money just for the intangibles.

3. Marxist, anti-Amierican piano man a colossal blunder. Steve has to be losing sleep over what a pall that was cast upon the whole event by this loser.

I think the Air will end up filling the students backpacks to lighten their loads and quite frankly, the travelling executive is still carry 8.5 x 11" paper. To carry a super light laptop that still gives them one major working device with a full size keyboard and a proper screen is impressive. the main dimensions of the device are 2" longer than paper and 1/2" wider. I can't see the benefit of a smaller portable other than an iphone/ipod touch if you want to do email.

I agree, the MBA seems to have a very limited market segment in mind, like the G4 Cube—not enough power for the money and not cheap enough for anything else.

I am also very surprised that the iPhone didn't get a memory upgrade. And why is the AppleTV still stuck at 40GB and 160GB? And why does it still take a hack to use the USB2 port for a hard drive on the AppleTV?

That said, the AppleTV, iTunes movie/TV rental universe setup might not be totally innovative/revolutionary/sexy but I think it will be a major cash cow for Apple.

The cable companies better wake up. Jobs just did an end-run around your entire business model. Just like the the under-30 generation has given up telephone land lines, they could easily give up their cableTV subscriptions.

Jan 16, 08 - 10:45 am Comment from: HotinPlaya

Don't mean to sound dumb here, but if you have a 3G phone, will it also work on an edge network?

like 811 n/g wifi does

I don't find my Macbook Pro that much of a pain to lug around in the boot of my car, and it ain't that heavy to carry. And when I'm actually using it for presentation whatever it's sitting on a table anyway. I fear this may be another AppleTV, though it is a nice peek at future products. Flash drive and multi touch, and did the guy say LEDs for the screen? OLED not quite ready for prime time?

A solid MPB update. Stale.

Jan 16, 08 - 10:50 am Comment from: Davidlow

I can't speak for the market, but on my own behalf I can say that I would have bought a more full featured ultra portable IMMEDIATELY. In fact, I've been waiting for it over a year, so I could replace my aging 12" PowerBook.

I want the MBA, don't get me wrong. I'm drooling over it. But it doesn't meet my needs as a business traveler; not even close. This is a machine I would keep at home to use on the couch or take to Starbucks or somewhere local. But it's not priced for that. It's priced to be a showpiece with adequate functionality for the wealthy, casual user, not for me. I'm a power user.

Oh, forgot - one more thing (you can see how impressed I was with this): component cabinets already overflow with boxes galore and few people want another one. Another movie rental service? Exactly why do I need another one of these?

Steve's much predicted invasion of the living room is not going to happen.

Synth
You still need a land line connection to get connected to the net at home though (I'm in Australia). Maybe a cheaper line rental just for that and no actuall land line phone.

I send my daughter to school with way to heavy a backpack, and anything I can buy to lighten that load is top of my buying list.
Without being sexist, there is a point when a student carrying a backpack with more than 25 pounds in it for 10 years can have back problems. Cutting the weight compared to the Macbook by 40% is pretty impressive considering your screen dimensions are similar.

Jan 16, 08 - 10:58 am Comment from: macaholic

boo-frickity-hoo to all the crybabies

Take the thing back to your nearest Apple Retail Store and demand, DEMAND a replacement! What good is a laptop with a 40 minute battery? If they won't give you a new one, I would leave your worthless one on their counter and walk out (demonstrate dramatically that you might as well give it away - it's useless), never to return.

Exactly like Dells worthless line up - theirs are all 40 minute batteries.

Now, watch the outrage that comes after this post from Steve's followers claiming my suggestion is stupid or moron or something obscene.

I think you'll see quite a few people buying MBAs. It's a real Mac, not some dumbed-down, chopped up laptop. So it doesn't have an optical drive and only has USB2 ports – most of the world us USB2, not FireWire, and between Wi-Fi and carrying a USB drive, you can get documents to anyone you like easily.

I find the comments about carrying a MacBook Pro not too much of a hassle funny. Your MacBook Pro weighs twice as much as the MBA, and you will really notice the difference once you pick up a MBA. While saving 3 lbs. doesn't sound like a lot, it makes a big difference when you're also lugging around files, binders, or other materials.

The battery issue is a non-issue. People whined about iPod batteries, iPhone batteries, and now MBA batteries. The fact is that batteries, when done properly, are getting very good and rarely does one need to replace it. Carry your power cable with you; it doesn't weigh much more than a spare battery, and it's always charged up. I have a power converter which I keep in my vehicle so I can charge up my PowerBook if I need to during the day, or I plug in at a client's office, etc. No problems, and rarely do I need to use it.

My analysis:

The MB Air is a product in search of a market. I haven't touched or felt it, but how much premium am I expected to pay for thinness? This is clearly a very niche product, more style than function in comparsion to either other Macbook.

Charging $20 for the iTouch update is stupid.

AppleTV and movie rentals are fine for the US market, but outside the US there is no content. That will severely limit the success. Big deal over nothing at this point.

And what about last quater? Other than iPhone sales which are still only available in less than a half dozen countries, how was the quarter Steve?

Overall I think this was the biggest flop event since the announcement of teh Apple Boombox fiasco.

A 10" macbook? I actually have a 12" powerbook and it's barely good for surfing on a daily basis. Yeah, it's great on a bus trip, but not that PRACTICAL otherwise. I bought mine used from a friend for $500 too, at $1200 for it new, I definitely wouldn't have bought it. The MacBook Air addresses the screen size issue, the battery issue, AND the performance issue. The same people who want a 10", under-powered Macbook would never have paid over $700 for it, yet the engineering alone would probably put its price over $1400, so it would have been dead before it lived.

As Henry Ford once said, "If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have asked for a faster horse."

'Nuff said.

REMEMBER REMEMBER....

Jobs said..."all these innovations and we are only in week two of 2008"!!!

Plenty more to come in 2008 chaps, Apple is just getting into its stride. Idiots like Beer are going to become dizzy from Apple innovations by the end of the year...

That's my bet.

Jan 16, 08 - 11:14 am Comment from: shen

i haven't heard so much "switcher" noise from my windows friends over a single product. ever. the MBA is going to have sales.

having said that, i personally need about a 5-7 inch version of the iPod touch with more power and some doc editing. that is the "tablet" i am looking for.

with the touch upgrades though, and an SDK coming soon, maybe the touch will do for now.

Perhaps there is finally a target disk mode on USB? Someone please check it out and let us know!

THE BATTERY CAN BE REPLACED!!!!! http://www.apple.com/batteries/replacements.html
Sheesh. Talk about focusing on the minuscule, and untrue minutia at that...

The MBA is breakthrough product, and as such, it's going to leave some older technology behind (legacy ports, optical drive) and introduce some new technology (multi-touch trackpad, remote disc).

Whether or not you personally would buy it is not an accurate way to assess its value.

Jan 16, 08 - 11:26 am Comment from: Predrag

Now, a MBP battery that drops to 30% capacity in 9 months is obviously defective. Since you still have a few months warranty on it, just have it replaced.

Which brings us to a point: practically nobody every buys extra batteries. I remember seeing them all sitting neatly in our storage at work for years, never to actually be used (we bought 50 laptops with extra batteries). With a normal laptop, its technology becomes obsolete sooner than its battery.

Apple made the same kind of compromise they did with the iPod, iPhone, iMac, etc. They decided to leave out FireWire, full DVI/VGA, Parallel, Serial, Modem, IR, Audio In, Floppy, DVD/RW, card reader, Ethernet, removable battery... They decided to leave in iSight (think about it!), one single USB, Audio, micro DVI. Much like the iPhone doesn't have FM tuner, full keyboard, memory card slot, etc.

This laptop has the features that majority of people need most of the time. It doesn't have those that small minority need very rarely.

Apple never decides arbitrarily about a feature set. Every single feature is carefully researched and scrutinised and the ones that finally make it are the ones that Apple has concluded will be the most frequently needed.

This laptop will be extremely popular with women. It is powerful, full-sized and, most importantly, incredibly light and thin (you cannot believe how many first ask about the weight when buying a laptop!). Today's consumers use their computers for web and digital media. They use them for their iPods, for their digital pictures, their e-mails and their surfing, skyping, chatting, etc. Vast majority of ordinary consumers do just this and pretty much nothing else. For that, MBA does the job very well.

I have a feeling this laptop will sell very, very well.

I don't think the MacBook Air will sell well. It doesn't really fill a niche that isn't already being served by another product. Why buy it when I can a real notebook at nearly the same price. Sure, people will rave about it but will they actually buy it?

A subnotebook is what's really needed.

I want a laptop with 6 PCI slots. And a 20 hour battery. And a 42 inch plasma screen. And a 10 inch footprint. And weigh less than a pound. And a pony. Gotta have a pony. No pony is the real deal breaker so the Macbook Air is going to go down in flames.

I got your two most requested products right here.

The reliable Apple Mouse and evolved Apple Mac Mini that's missing.

When I first heard about the MacBook Air, I thought, Oh! A very small Macintosh laptop, which is what most Mac users have been screaming about. That's great! Also, it's fast, small, and is very wireless-related. Mac people will be the hit of any cyber cafe scene with this laptop.

It sort of reminded me of the iMac when it first came out. What! No floppy drive? But, I get it now. The iMac was an Internet computer and the MacBook Air is a wireless computer. Steve Jobs is showing us the future of computing. We might not be ready for it, but we will be.

As far as a 3G iPhone; I see that coming, but maybe a few months away (or maybe even another year). They still don't sell iPhones in Canada yet, for crying out loud. Lets get the world on the same page first before they release the next generation iPhone. That's not to be saying that I don't want a 3G iPhone, but I can wait a little longer.

As far as Apple TV, I'm glad to see them updating the software and making the iTunes Store a rental store also. We've been reading that request here too. All in all, Steve has pretty much done what a lot of Mac users have been requesting; at least on this site.

Knowing that the 13.3 led was display was being supplied to Apple, I thought for sure that they would have trimmed down the frame around the display to less than the 3/4 inches on the macbook. The MBP's have a narrower frame along the vertical sides of the display, making the 15.4 not so much wider than a 13.3 MB.
I am a bit amazed that the MB Air has the same footprint as the MB. I assumed a smaller footprint was a given. I'd be far more excited had they trimmed an inch off of the width.

The most common request that I have heard is for the so-called mythical midrange mini-tower Mac. I was fairly convinced by the pre-expo announcement of the all-8-core Mac Pro line was to make room in the product line for such a beast, but alas, it was not to be.

MW: big

hmmmmm.

The biggest tech story of the day is the core 2 Duo being 60% smaller. Folks, this thing is gonna be in the iPhone soon.
The iPhone will soon be a true Mac running OS X at full speed.
For the whiners, has anyone ever heard of a portable USB 2 hub?

First, the guy with the 40 minute battery. uhh, you have a warrenty, USE IT!!!!

Second, No one I know who has a laptop (over 20 laptops) owns a second battery.

Third, this computer is perfect for business. Load a presentation on it and use a projector. It fits in great with your papers in a briefcase.

Fourth, for people looking for a 10 inch model. Why?? What would be the difference? I bet it would be the same thinkness and weight and yet you would have a crappy ass screen. WHY???

Five, People are complaining about this not being powerfull enough. Do people really believe that the people buying this computer will have it as there only/main computer. NOOOO. This is a secondary computer. This is an accessory computer!!!!

Just a point of clarification. If a 3G phone doesn't find a network and uses 2G instead, battery life will still be OK. It is using a phone on 3G that really sucks battery life. Standby times are a little lower (as it still goes through the act of trying to find a 3G network) but not that much. And, Apple could make it easy to switch off the 3G entirely for maximum battery life (most 3G phones have this feature buried somewhere).

Keynote closing song by Randy Newman
(with apologies to Paul and Storm)

Dressed in black
Got a new Mac
Some movie rentals and da Mac TV's back

Showin' your stuff
Never enough
Them tech reporters tryin' to give you dat guff

Brought some updates for iPod touch an' iPhone
But twenny dollars make everyone groan

Nobody believed that...he could win

Go, Steve Jobs go
Go, Steve Jobs go

You godda reason to live...