MacBook Air

[Shovel]

Spoken like a true engineer. Actually, spoken like a true British engineer, an Italian engineer would never agree with you.

Except, of course, that Jon Ive, who inevitably designed the thing, is British. (So, like, nerr.)

My impression is that the Air could make a very, very nice secondary machine; more so if it's a second Mac. A light weight second machine less dependent on a large disc, less dependent on peripherals and so on seems justifiably useful. Albeit not for me. There's no possible hope it can be used as your _only_ machine, which rules a lot of people out. But that's how it's designed. There's no stupidity at work here, just the identification of a specific user base and a device designed to meet them.

In terms of ‘it has to be a secondary machine’:

•*Lack of removable battery will only bother the minority; most have never carried a second battery in their life.
•*The lack of optical drive seems like an extremely justifiable choice to lose size and weight. I only use the CD in the MBP to rip CDs. If it's a second machine (which it has to be), that's an edge case. I can't remember the last time I used a CD to install software, either.
Do people seriously think that users don't care about the compactness of their devices? It's not a vanity thing, or a shallow, idiot thing. It's a feature. It's 2008, people should expect better that what's out there right now.
•*Lack of ethernet. It's a second machine, so having ethernet for configuring a wireless network isn't necessary. I can't think of any other use for ethernet at this point.
•*Small hard disc. Crippled for size, and using 1.8" devices rather than 2.5" means that the less-extortionate solid state discs are ruled out (initial reports suggested the $999 upgrade for SSD was not, unusually for Apple, much over list price). There's no way it can store all your stuff though, so I can't help feeling that a proper machine-to-machine synchronisation application would be useful: Sync a subset of music, photos and documents when joining a local network; much like an iPod. With that missing, a small disc will be a pain in the arse.

My feeling is that if you've got a Mac, a desktop Mac at that, then the Air is designed to complement it. Any other case is irrelevant because the machine is so specific to the ‘second machine’. The decision not to produce a generic, catch-all super-portable? A shame only for those who doesn't fit into the Air's niche.

My only surprise is that so many of you expect Apple to produce some generic device to appease a majority. So it's not for you, but is brilliant for someone else? Oh well.

Personally, a regular MacBook is more appealing to me, not least as it will take a user-upgraded 320GB disc.

 

[Munkey]

Except, of course, that Jon Ive, who inevitably designed the thing, is British. (So, like, nerr.)

My impression is that the Air could make a very, very nice secondary machine; more so if it's a second Mac. A light weight second machine less dependent on a large disc, less dependent on peripherals and so on seems justifiably useful. Albeit not for me. There's no possible hope it can be used as your _only_ machine, which rules a lot of people out. But that's how it's designed. There's no stupidity at work here, just the identification of a specific user base and a device designed to meet them.

In terms of ‘it has to be a secondary machine’:

•*Lack of removable battery will only bother the minority; most have never carried a second battery in their life.
•*The lack of optical drive seems like an extremely justifiable choice to lose size and weight. I only use the CD in the MBP to rip CDs. If it's a second machine (which it has to be), that's an edge case. I can't remember the last time I used a CD to install software, either.
Do people seriously think that users don't care about the compactness of their devices? It's not a vanity thing, or a shallow, idiot thing. It's a feature. It's 2008, people should expect better that what's out there right now.
•*Lack of ethernet. It's a second machine, so having ethernet for configuring a wireless network isn't necessary. I can't think of any other use for ethernet at this point.
•*Small hard disc. Crippled for size, and using 1.8" devices rather than 2.5" means that the less-extortionate solid state discs are ruled out (initial reports suggested the $999 upgrade for SSD was not, unusually for Apple, much over list price). There's no way it can store all your stuff though, so I can't help feeling that a proper machine-to-machine synchronisation application would be useful: Sync a subset of music, photos and documents when joining a local network; much like an iPod. With that missing, a small disc will be a pain in the arse.

My feeling is that if you've got a Mac, a desktop Mac at that, then the Air is designed to complement it. Any other case is irrelevant because the machine is so specific to the ‘second machine’. The decision not to produce a generic, catch-all super-portable? A shame only for those who doesn't fit into the Air's niche.

My only surprise is that so many of you expect Apple to produce some generic device to appease a majority. So it's not for you, but is brilliant for someone else? Oh well.

Personally, a regular MacBook is more appealing to me, not least as it will take a user-upgraded 320GB disc.

I'm glad you live in the future, my friend. I, however, live in the present. A second computer just to use around the house? At that price? Being unable to install any games on it for fun, having to send it off when the battery dies within 1-2 years, probably less knowing Apples record?

Not my idea of fun, or a good computer. Particularly when someone, such as myself, needs to use:

- an ethernet cable everyday
- a cd to play stuff, to actually get songs, watch videos, dvds (one of the main attractions of having a laptop)
- A small HDD? That can be counter-acted by using it like an Ipod? I already had an Ipod, no thank you.

Perhaps it is indeed for a small niche market. The small niche market of rich assholes, who couldn't tell a good laptop from their ass, who call out an engineer to setup their home networks and feel that they need something to show off when they sit outside on their patio.

Somehow I feel that that niche is going to be very, very small.

Interesting product? Maybe. The sort of shit that Apple needs to stop making? Definitley.


I mean, come on, one USB port? Stop talking, and start taking the crazy pills if you ever consider buying this.

 

[Jonty]

A second computer just to use around the house? At that price?

Spot on My idea of a secondary machine is something like an EeePC, or even a cheap Dell or Acer notebook etc. I couldn't afford £1,200 for the base model, let alone £2,030 for the better version. One website got it spot on about the Macbook's new name: if you purchase one, 'air' is all that's going to be left in your wallet/purse ^^

The undeniable fact is that that there are better machines out there, which have everything the Macbook Air is missing, for a price that doesn't break the bank. Yes, they may not be as thin, but some are only a fraction of an inch away. Why pay all that money for a crippled 'secondary' machine when you can get something without all the compromises?

It's like buying a second home and deciding not to get any windows or doors. Yes, your first house has them, and you're not using your second home all the time, but when you do use it you'll soon start to miss the things you skimped on.

Although I respect Apple in many ways, this 'secondary machine' idea is a frankly ridiculous notion dreamt up by Apple fanboys to vainly try and justify the many failings of this latest offering. I have never seen Apple refer to the Air in this way, and to recharacterise it so soon is a sign of desperation. In the future it may well be revised to compensate for its shortcomings, but for now it's a pretty poor offering from Apple's otherwise strong line-up. Apple have raised the bar in many ways, so don't expect them not to be judged against their own high-standards.

Kind regards

 

[DaGaffer]

Except, of course, that Jon Ive, who inevitably designed the thing, is British. (So, like, nerr.)

And he's an Industrial Designer, not an engineer (which kind of makes my point), so, like, nerr nerr.

 

[Kryten]

Was playing with a little p4 HT Sony Vaio today.
Not much thicker than the Air - 4 USB ports, ethernet, built in bluetooth, wireless, a 160gb SATA HDD which was well protected.
Retail price a mere £1000. Bit of difference for features that better the Air. You won't be posting it in a jiffy bag, but then again, how many people will actually use that heavily marketed feature of the Air? I wouldn't trust the post to deliver a Panasonic Toughbook without doing the difficult and actually damaging it

 

[Will]

I've kinda kept out of this, because I'm not the target market for this MacBok Air either (I can't afford it), but I can see what Apple is doing. It isn't selling individual products any more, its selling a combined package. An iMac or Mac Mini for your desktop, Airport Extreme as your wireless access point, Airport Express to hook it up to other speaker in the house, Apple TV in the living room (and cinema display), and MacBook Air for when you are out and about, and iPhone and iPod as well. Maybe a Time Capsule for backups.

Each product has its own niche. Once you buy one, the others become more appealing. You can't look at them on their own. You need a fair bit of cash to be interested, but then again, selling things to rich people has always seemed a fairly sensible niche.

 

[ford prefect]

I had a good look at the Macbook air yesterday first hand, and the underside can be unscrewed, so you can gain access to the battery. The guy in the apple store did say it would invalidate the warranty though

I must admit that the warranty thing doesn't bother me personally (especially after having taken a mac mini apart last month with a putty knife to add an extra gig of ram and put a faster drive in), but I can see that it would annoy people having paid so much money for a machine.