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Yes, who is the MacBook for anyway?

Jan 21, 08 - 03:42 pm Comment from: Wandering joe

The MBA is going to create its own group of users.

Jan 21, 08 - 03:46 pm Comment from: silverhawk

Is it possible that the Air could be compatible with a future option of connecting to something Google might be bidding on soon?

Jan 21, 08 - 03:47 pm Comment from: Ampar

Its own group of users. So, it will be cool to be known as an airhead?

The Kings crown is slipping I fear, the MBA is the only new Apple product released in the last few years that I don't want to get.

Jan 21, 08 - 03:48 pm Comment from: Jamie

It's for people like me, if only I could afford one!

Lovely machine, and I hope multi touch will start moving into more new Macs as they are released.

Jan 21, 08 - 03:56 pm Comment from: jjjj

I was trying to price some 2.5in SSDs. They are still very expensive.

I have no desire for the Air... I'd rather have a MacBook. Still one of the smallest notebooks out there, better specs, more connections, a SuperDrive and its cheaper. Can't go wrong... And if I really wanted to, I'd throw a solid state drive in it and be good to go.

you guys... how quickly we forget:

The iPod mini was blasted a few years ago for introducing 1/5th of the memory of larger iPods for just $50 less. Why not move up to regular iPods, others asked.

But let's keep going. What about the 16 gig iPod touch versus the 80 gig iPod Classic? Again, the same "no-brainer" where capacity is concerned.

But don't be fooled: Apple has users' indifference curves very carefully plotted out, as well as average disposable incomes for nearly every demographic. While Macbook Pros might have more power, the extra power isn't needed. And it's thick. Macbooks, meanwhile, are the lower end model: thick also, ugly, not even glass + aluminum. Apple hopes that a series of rational decisions on the part of the consumer might land him into a happy zone where he can reason his way into buying the latest but maybe not-so-greatest.

Macbook Pro: "I can get more, but do I really need more?"
Macbook: "I can get less, but do I really need less?"
Macbook Air: "Yes. Sexy."

The MacBook Air was invented to
1) lure more potential costumers into the Apple Stores
and
2) for the ones that have already an iPhone and need something else to show off
Right on!

The Air is a cool toy and Apple will sell a lot of them. I chose a MacBook Pro. It comes down to what works for you. The Air will sell.

Jan 21, 08 - 04:11 pm Comment from: PT

It's as I have been saying since its launch -> its relatively pointless. Guess they needed something for the show and this was all they had that was good to go. Sad, as I said elsewhere, if that's all apple has got for us this year...What would have really ruled was if they were releasing something like DirectX (microsh*t second best ever idea- assured that windoze would be the game platform of choice since directX made it MUCH easier to consistently and uniformly develop games) for OSX. That would significantly aid game developers for osx and drag more developers into play (pun intended!). Guess not. No directX or equivalent -> not many games for osx.

MBA: It kind of reminds me of that V5 volkswagen (Bora): why build a five cylinder instead of a four or a six. Because we can- a proof of an engineering concept. But other than that it was ultimately doomed to failure because it was a niche idea that didn't have a market (try selling an asymmetric engine configuration -> worked really well, but people didn't like it apparently and thought it odd- and if you think you'll tell people what they can have, not what they want- well there's a LONG line of failed companies guilty of that particularly stupid form of hubris- microsh*t is starting to learn that). This is similar. It doesn't have much of a market either.

While it is good to innovate (not that the MBA is really innovative anyway), you got to listen to your customers and give them what they want: ease of use, reliability, etc. People like knowing for example the damn thing doesn't just rely on wireless (rain, snow, trees are all REALLY great for wireless performance) or there is more than one USB port or you can change the battery easily. Gimmickry never lasts. Chalk to MBA up to a 'what were we thinking?' moment and as a prototype for future macbook. That's about all its good for. When you can but a macbook pro for the price of this...why would you bother with MBA ->: macbook pro is waaaaaaay smarter proposition??

Seems a sub 10" notebook would have been a better option to explore perhaps...alas...

Jan 21, 08 - 04:13 pm Comment from: ron

Don't want it? Don't buy it. I'll receive mine soon.

Yes, the Air is for a very specific demographic. One that realizes that today's computers are already powerful enough for 90% of the stuff we do with computers. Heck, I'm working happily on my 1.25Ghz PowerBook G4, and the Air is way faster than this machine. Power/speed are non-issues.

Battery - I've had to buy a new battery for my PowerBook after 3 years of heavy use, but the battery in the Air isn't that hard to replace. 3 minutes with a screwdriver, so again, a non-issue for a user like me. I don't carry a spare today, so why would I in the future?

Connectivity - the only cord sticking out the side of my laptop 99% of the time is my power cord. I'm always wireless. Hmmmm, that sounds familiar.

Optical drive - the only time I needed this was to install OS X when I upgraded to Leopard. Seems like they solved that issue, too.

People that complain about the Air are just complaining for the sake of complaining. Soon enough, they'll realize that this is an influential product that will change the way we use laptops, even if we, ourselves, never touch a MacBook Air.

Jan 21, 08 - 04:23 pm Comment from: iDon't

The MBA is for people with class.

Jan 21, 08 - 04:25 pm Comment from: MizuInOz

In all reality - the MBA is for anyone who will buy it.

Period.

That's the "niche"...

Green and growing - er well smaller....

I have already indicated my interest at a corporate level. It truly will be a business status symbol! I have business associates whom I have nagged about getting a Mac are now pre-ordering the MBA... Go figure...

Smart like a Fox... This Steve Jobs, he is!

Jan 21, 08 - 04:26 pm Comment from: PT

@Samuel

read the article about apple customers being smarter, etc. then the average user. Problem is when you're dealing with smarter people, they are less stupid and prone to irrational decision making (hence the clear rationality of choosing osx over windoze for example). This means when forking out a wad of cash -> they are probably less likely to follow impulse or a trend and go with logic and specifications (this increases with the size of the purchase I would argue, up to a point anyway). I'm sure many people will buy MBA because they're naive or going for the 'apple user look' or both, but for most users it is a bad choice. Underspeced, overpriced. Ooh-Aah factor only goes so far (unless you're surrounded by superficial morons- even then it wears off real fast). Problem with going for a certain look: when that look becomes seen to be foolish -> creates resentment in those who went for it and this they turn against the people/company that took them for fools. Nobody likes to be seen to be foolish, but when cold light of analysis is shone on MBA, it will be seen to be an increasingly foolish decision to buy one (lets face it: it epitomizes the triumph of style over substance- superficiality is not a apple user trait I don't think- we like apple aesthetics, but there are many other decision points as well). You become a bit of a laughing stock -> great for customer relations. Guess it remains to be seen.

Jan 21, 08 - 04:28 pm Comment from: PT

@coolfactor

can I have a lend of your screwdriver? got one handy??

It could also be just not being used to the sub-notebook.

Most of the machines in this category use processors which are sub 1.2 Ghz, 11 or 12-inch screens, 80 GB hard drives (although most like the Lenovo X61 or Sony) use SATA at 5400 rpm. Tiny keyboards, very few ports. None of them except for the Dell use Core 2 Duo CPUs.

I can;t really be critical of the MacBook Air, for a sub-notebook it is one of the very best out there.

The only thing I wish for in the nextgen, and I hope there will be a nextgen, is for a docking station.

The Air is eye candy that gets you to buy the real candy...the other Macs.
What average student needs more than mail, internet, word processing, and iChat for the first two years of college?
The Air does the job well and is ultra mobile. Students who walk in with this are gonna have the rest of the classroom drooling, not to mention student promos to go with it...come August the Airbook numbers will go up dramatically...about the same time our AAPL hits 300.

oops, what I meant to say was a full function version of the Core 2 Duo, The processor Apple uses is not a crippled version of CPU.

Maybe that's too much information

Is there a market for ultralites? There is. Does the MacBook Air offer more for a competitive price than other ULs? It does. Ergo, the MBA *will* sell. Enough said.

That doesn't mean it meets *my* particular needs. Since it appears that Steve stubbornly refuses to release the pro-sumer desktop, my choice will likely be between an iMac and a MacBook Pro. Different strokes for different folks.

Why does everybody claim that you have to use WiFi to connect the MB Air to the Internet? If they would actually take the effort to go to the Apple Store and configure a machine, they would see that a tiny USB-Ethernet adapter is a very cheap optional accessory.

Jan 21, 08 - 04:41 pm Comment from: Mr. Reeee

It's NOT your full-tilt do everything computer. It's not meant to be! The MacBook Air is your SECOND computer.

Although when the third-party developers start designing peripherals specifically for the Air, it may just become so for a few users.

NEVER underestimate the genius of third-party Macintosh developers. They complete the mac experience.

I had initial complaints about MacBook Air's dearth of ports, battery issues, etc., I guess I suffer from the geek utility belt mentality to a certain degree. But then I realized something. We already HAVE an Air in my house!

My girlfriend sold her old iBook G4 to a friend in need. To replace it on the cheap, I resurrected my trusty 1Ghz Titanium PowerBook. It's got a dead optical drive.

We have 2 adjacent apartments on the top floor w/weak wireless signal in one. Given the TiBook's dreadful Airport reception, I added a $70 QuickerTek 802.11n PC Card to connect to our new Airport Extreme. it works great!

When we need to install software, I can plug in a little used CD drive, or download a disk image via wireless. She can print to my LaserJet over the network.

So, it's a drift around the apartment machine.

So, I take back my initial pooh-poohing of the MacBook Air
It DOES a market and apparently, I'm IT! I already have one, albeit 2.5lbs heavier, but it's more or less the same

@PT

Then why did the mini do so well over the standard iPod?

Why are nano and Touch doing better than Classic?

People don't just maximize spec with respect to cost, they maximize a slew of other factors as well.

The reason Jobs pulled it out of a manilla envelope was to make sure everyone could tell one thing: that it would fit neatly in the fold of a briefcase. This is Apple's move into business, plain and simple.

Jan 21, 08 - 05:21 pm Comment from: LinuxGuyAndMacProdigalSon

Women will love it. Finally, they can travel with an easy to carry laptop.

In addition, the new multi-touch touch-pad interface will verify the suitability of this technology for the rest of the Macintosh line. This feature alone, which will have a patent fence with the defensive power of a dense and deep legal minefield, will leave would be competitor/copiers in the dust.

I still say it's the next Cube: beautiful, desirable, but ultimately will disappoint in sales. Not everything Steve blesses does soar.

Not that the Cube was wasted effort: the technologies prototyped lived on in the generations of iMacs that followed it.

I move that henceforth the moniker MacBook Air be banished from everyday use as unwieldy and fugly to the ear in favour of MacAir. Seconder?

Jan 21, 08 - 05:46 pm Comment from: MacMan

I think you're all forgetting one major motivation for this computer: Japan. Apple's sales in Japan have fallen recently and the main reason is because the Japanese like thier laptaps small and light. This is going to be a killer product in Japan. I think that alone justifies it...

Jan 21, 08 - 05:50 pm Comment from: ken1w

There was a time not too long ago when laptops had a floppy drive and an optical drive. Apple started the trend of eliminating the floppy drive, and now, most laptops ship without a floppy drive. The optical drive is a space-consuming component in laptops. Most of the time, it's not used, so why carry it around all the time. I think Apple has started a trend of eliminating optical drives in laptops.

Jan 21, 08 - 05:59 pm Comment from: Ampar

"The optical drive is a space-consuming component in laptops."

And a major battery drain.

Jan 21, 08 - 06:12 pm Comment from: HolyMackerel

If the MBA hard drive is the same as the iPod then how come the iPod Classic has the option of 160 GB? There will be a lot of unhappy campers when this becomes a BTO option.

A MBA with a 12" screen (or less) and optional 160 GB drive would seem to satisfy most of the complaints, esp. with a lower price point.

I was shocked when the original iMac was missing the floppy - yet have gotten used to it. The lack of ethernet/FireWire/slots/modem/DVD/upgradability is more shocking, but will presumably come across to new versions of the MBA. This machine was begging for a docking station: take the minimum with you, leave the rest behind.

The lack of a non-integrated graphics chip in the top-end of the MB and MBA must be a limiting factor for the video/game developers. Plus the essential need of a video dongle for the VGA-based KeyNote/PowerPoint users is a kludge.

When everybody else is producing low-end, low-cost laptops, Apple is running in the other direction!

Apple seem to have created a laptop designed by the iPod team: sleek, minimalistic and non-upgradable. Maybe they found that if you had to come into the store to make any changes, that you would buy more stuff!

I hope it sells a lot. It will certainly inform Apple whether they have made the right decision.

The MacBook Air is an awesome appliance for kids who can afford it. You will B E L I E V E after you play with it. Instead of thinking laptop, think cool G A D G E T.

If you can't afford to play, then Apple has several lower priced laptops that work great.

MacMan has the answer to the question, 'Who will buy this hardware deficient laptop?'

The Japanese Market. Big time sales there.

The MBA configuration is they way most portables will be configured 5 years from now. Yes, desktop replacements will have honkin' big hard drives and the obligatory optical drive but personal, hand held computers will all be configured like the MBA.

The MBA is the big brother of the future of portable computing.

Something I've been thinking about since the MBA was released. It's an early push to further a wireless, and uncluttered world. Another post on this thread mentions the whole Google 700 mhz bid thing, and I think this does work perfectly in that aspect. The US lags behind Europe and Asia in advanced cellphone tech, and definitely lags behind Asia, particularly Korea, in broadband adoption and implementation.

American consumers can either continue to lag behind the rest of the world or be brought kicking and screaming into the future. From all the bitching about the MBA it sounds like the later is going to happen, and for the better.

Jan 21, 08 - 07:16 pm Comment from: LorD1776

LinuxGuyAndMacProdigalSon,

I'll bet women would like it even more if Apple made it in pastel colors with a shoulder strap. Talk about a status symbol AND fashion statement.

Jan 21, 08 - 07:41 pm Comment from: TowerTone

If you get an Air, and someone around pesters you about being an Apple fanatic, just nod your head, go to this link, and praise Jobs as the room clears.....

http://boortz.com/mp3/archive/countdown.swf

now you can get back to your work!

For those hotels or offices that don't have wireless. Someone needs to come out with an 'air' adapter say half the size of a Cell phone. You plug it on the end, and you get 100 ft. of wireless to your air. Cost $39.96 to $59.95 - Chump change for the typical air customer
In the immortal words of Inspector Clouseau - "Problem Solv-ed

They should allow it to communicate via wifi with your iPhone's internet connection.

The MBA won't have a 160GB harddrive BTO, until they make the 1.8" drives thinner. Right now, the MBA can only support the thickness of the 80GB, the tolerances are that tight, that's why it is the way it is.

Hollywood will be the first to use the macbook air in the films....


I expect rumble, a transformer character in the next movie to transform into a macbook air

Jan 21, 08 - 10:06 pm Comment from: PT

@samuel

cost is rarely the sole determinant of course (though it does tend to be the primary one). I don't think I said that anyway. I think I was alluding to it being more about value for money. Sure, a lot of apple users think they have to buy this stuff because they think they're avant guarde and are deluded about it being some form of status symbol (which is isn't). Simply a fool and his money are easily parted. Now when you live a more realistic lifestyle like most people, you tend to be a bit less trend centric or desperate to be noticed and throw good money at unnecessary things to style up your image, rather you look for the things that will have greater value and usage for you- quality and practicality becomes paramount- since disposable income tends to reduce the older you get (until you get rid of the kids). Therefore as a choice for somebody of limited means like most working poor and students, there are much better ways of spending your money than on an MBA.

I wonder how many people will walk into an apple store with the idea of maybe buying one and then seeing a macbook pro or macbook, doing a comparison and realizing the MBA is way overpriced and walking out with something way cheaper but functional (macbook) or something better (macbook pro). It'd be a hard choice to rationalize other than as something you buy in some lame attempt to be an individual or unique because rationality suggests otherwise. Be interesting to see how many irrational people buy one! Guess these people will delude themselves into thinking they simply 'must' have one. As for the rest of us poor schmoes-> not even a luxury worth having.

Personally I don't have a mac to be different or to try an look cool or whatever. I have one because it represents a better choice than the alternative involving microsh*t (which I hate- I also use linux) and I can do the things on it I need to do. To me, the MBA is a waste of money. But if you want to buy one -> hey I don't care in the least. I just thing it represents a poor choice for apple's engineering efforts (but then they probably modeled it and it came out as the best choice with the least effort for greatest potential revenue- it strikes me as a marketing exercise in feeding that need some have for conspicuous consumption).

Given last year was all about leopard, the iphone and ipod touch-> can see why there maybe was little left slack time left in apple's engineering department. Guess there was just enough to create this. It's a weak attempt at innovation.

I wonder, is the apple decal on the top bigger??

Let's see a 2.5 lb right sized lap top, a wireless back up option that can be used as say an image server with 1/2 to 1 terabyte capacity, all wireless connectivity that may have potential to switch to long range wi-fi capability in the future if not at least a cellular dongle. Most hotels offer wi-fi, PT was so astute to point out the rants of a previous post about apple users being smarter, what was not mentioned in that post is smater people also use standard tools in innovative ways. Apple has many pieces to a puzzle that a lot of clever people are going to find useful. This unit can be the sling box of not only your media data but I see presentation packages being made with Apple software inb Modules and customised for sales personel. Long distance medical consultancy on a screen bigger than an Iphone which has no video-out. SJ has obviously put the essence of what all roaw warriors need in the MBA for and initial start. Because most of us who post here weren't privy to the findings of that focus group we tend to heap a lot of doubt on Apple's thinking. I'm willing to bet that ovet 500,000 of these bad boys will move in the first 9 months.

Jan 21, 08 - 10:22 pm Comment from: El Guapo

@grognard
Someone needs to come out with an 'air' adapter say half the size of a Cell phone. You plug it on the end, and you get 100 ft. of wireless to your air.

That's why I bought two AP Express(es?) a few years ago. I keep one in my bag and use the other at home to extend the range of my AP Extreme.

Jan 22, 08 - 12:15 am Comment from: GizmoDan

WOMEN will buy the MacBook Air. My wife wants one. She doesn't play graphics-intensive games. She doesn't run 20 programs at once (like I do). She doesn't need a huge harddrive, or a huge screen. But she does need to lift it, carry it, decide whether to take it, etc. It would be perfect for her-- if only I could afford it.

And would guess there are a LOT of people out there just like her. If they don't buy it next month, then they will buy it next year when it's a bit cheaper.

If any of you men out there have lots of money, and you want to contribute toward my wife's MacBook Air, please let me know. It would be appreciated.

@PT

It's not about status to many people. It's about what fits a particular need. For me, I need a light notebook due to back problems. I travel a lot and would like something that doesn't kill me when I lug it from place to place, but I don't want to give up certain functionality, like a full sized keyboard. I need Windows for some god-awful asp specific apps that my company wrote, as well as a windows-only VPN "solution". The MBA, with Boot Camp (assuming that works with it, or Parallels) would fit my needs perfectly. I have plenty of Macs and PCs at home for the things that the lightweight MBA may not provide, but for 90% of my work and certainly for travel, this fits the bill exactly. Oh, and I won't ever again use my own money for a Windows-only machine.

So your status symbol condescending attitude towards potential MBA buyers is narrow-minded and insulting.

@PT,

Don't you think you're being a bit obtuse? You've made the debate over the MBA non-debatable by automatically and irrevocably relegating any potential buyer of the MBA deluded, foolish, unrealistic, desperate, and otherwise irrational. To wit, you've removed choice.

I'd say you might be the deluded one. Plenty of people who can buy a PC for $800 would insist that you indeed do have a Mac to be different or to look cool or whatever.

Choosing a somewhat more expensive product does not always (or even normally) denote lesser quality or practicality. Matter of fact, if I can buy a MBA for $2500 (my specs + AppleCare) and cause it to pay for itself in the first 30 days, then I'd say the next 24 months with that machine represent a great value.

Please don't measure other people's buying decisions by your own income level.

Think Different.

Jan 22, 08 - 03:30 am Comment from: flappo

if we were that smart , we wouldn't buy dead end crap like the mac pro

The truth?

cue: "you can't handle the truth" ;

The MacBook Air with most of it's functionality seperated from the actual machine is designed to increase overall profits for Apple by requiring one to purchase seperate additional add on devices.

The $3000 MacBook Air with flash memory is designed to eliminate moving parts and save Apple hundreds on repair/returns.

What is missing from this equation is seperate wireless devices like hard drives and optical drives. The constant hooking/unhooking of wired devices will place great strain on the ports of the MBA. (only USB?)

So I predict these wireless devices will soon make a appearance, first most likely in the third party hardware suppliers and be faster than USB.

Of course a problem is the lack of privacy and security with going with a total wireless solution.

The MBA is designed for the future where everything you have and do is saved on a web site somewhere.

Basically the MBA is just a dumb terminal.

cue: Google: "All your content belongs to us!"