Uncle Walt Chimes in on the MBA; says what we've all been saying

[Chupa Chupa]

Basic gist of Mossberg's MBA review: it's a gorgeous, fantastic design, build quality and materials but...

http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20080124/app...-features/

[Carthaigh]

Problem: Your customers are screaming for a consumer headless tower (like a modern Cube).

Solution: Introduce the Mac Mini with laptop hard drive and no real internal expandability. But hey, it can fit in the palm of your hand (does anybody do this with their desktop computer?).


Problem: Your customers are screaming for a sub-notebook (like a modern 12" Powerbook only thinner and lighter).

Solution: Introduce the MBA that is smaller than the Macbook in one dimension is missing many standard ports, and doesn't have an optical drive. But hey, it can fit in a manilla envelope (does anybody do this with their laptop?).


Apple often believes that they know more about what we want than we do.

[MacArtist]

Would it kill them if they actually listened to their customers? All they have to do is read forums, blogs, etc.

The MacBook Air is not the next greatest thing. But its design and engineering may help bring about the next greatest thing.

They would have to come up with some awesome products to top last year. I think you are on the money about a consumer mini tower. I want room for 2 drives, 2 PCIe slots and 4 RAM slots. Apple should be able to come up with a beautiful design. Price? $700.

I order 2 of them right now.

[pinkoos]

I found this very interesting regarding Remote Disc:

"It also doesn’t work for installing Windows on your Mac, for watching DVDs, or for playing or importing music. For those tasks, you need an external DVD drive. Apple sells one for $99."

[jdc]

i dont think he said any of us could figure out just by looking at it ourselves

[Will Collier]

[hankhill] I'll tell you what: [/hankhill] if Apple doesn't come out with a sub-$1000 headless and expandable Mac before too much longer, they're going to see some very serious market loss to Hackintoshes. Installation and maintenance of OS X on generic hardware is getting simpler every day, and an awful lot of Mac-heads don't feel obliged to fund Apple's hardware markup.

[Biff Lugnut]

I think what we, the mac educated and savvy people want is the headless expandable mac. I don't think that's what the MARKET wants.

[IronMac]

We're not the market?

[Acer]

Mr. McGuire: I just want to say two words to you - just two words.
Ben: Yes sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Ben: Yes I am.
Mr. McGuire: 'Appliance Computers.'
Ben: Exactly how do you mean?
Mr. McGuire: There's a great future in Appliance Computers. Think about it. Will you think about it?
Ben: Yes I will.
Mr. McGuire: Shh! Enough said. That's a deal.

[GGD]

I'm guessing that sometime during this first generation of the MBA, Apple will decide to bundle the USB Superdrive with it, maybe by just putting a mail-in coupon in the box for those who want it. Maybe many users won't be taking the drive with them all the time, but it seems like the most critical accessory that at one time or another will be needed by most customers.