Why You (and you, and you..) won't be buying the MacBook Air

[davester]

The Macbook Air is the new Duo....




...minus the dock, unfortunately.

[pRICE cUBE]

I will be hauling around 2 full sized SLR for my work plus an HDV camcorder so the lighter laptop would have been great. The thing topping me is the lack of Firewire port. So unless I get an HDV cam that is $$$ and records to SDHC and read via USB2 then it is not for me.

[ArtP]

Wow, this reminds me of the other place when the iPod was first released.

We ALL said Steve Jobs is CRAZY!

Took 5 years but look at the iPod.

It's a revision 1 Mac with a new form factor and I can't afford one.

Sure it is overpriced and it sucks, but look at the technology and where the road is leading.

[Tofer]

[quote ArtP]Wow, this reminds me of the other place when the iPod was first released.

We ALL said Steve Jobs is CRAZY!

Took 5 years but look at the iPod.

It's a revision 1 Mac with a new form factor and I can't afford one.

Sure it is overpriced and it sucks, but look at the technology and where the road is leading.
But...but, what's new about it? It's thin? You can add an SSD? I don't think we said Steve Jobs was crazy back then (I didn't), but I think many of us thought, "$500 for a glorified walkman? Not in my budget!"

The multi-touch pad is cool, but I'd much rather have a multi-touch screen. That would have made me drool.

I don't think there is too much new about this machine, so I would hesitate to compare it to the iPod.

-Tofer

[ArtP]

[quote Tofer][quote ArtP]Wow, this reminds me of the other place when the iPod was first released.

We ALL said Steve Jobs is CRAZY!

Took 5 years but look at the iPod.

It's a revision 1 Mac with a new form factor and I can't afford one.

Sure it is overpriced and it sucks, but look at the technology and where the road is leading.
But...but, what's new about it? It's thin? You can add an SSD? I don't think we said Steve Jobs was crazy back then (I didn't), but I think many of us thought, "$500 for a glorified walkman? Not in my budget!"

The multi-touch pad is cool, but I'd much rather have a multi-touch screen. That would have made me drool.

I don't think there is too much new about this machine, so I would hesitate to compare it to the iPod.

-Tofer
But the iPod was a $500 Mp3 player back then when Nomad and others were $100 or $250, what made it different - the software and the hardware feature set done right (over the years).

The iTunes integration (Playlists, Navigation, Ease of Use, etc) and Hardware (Click wheel, Touch Wheel, etc) all made the evolution of the ipod a success.

What's new about Macbook Air - Wireless N Back up and Installs - no Built Optical Drive and the Multi Gesture Touch Pad.

I can't live without 2 finger scroll now so I can image if and when I get one how great Gestures will be.

Just like Apple helped to make USB the industry standard in computers and iTunes the standard of how digital music is sold, I think things seen is the MacBook Air are going to shape the industry and how computers are made, marketed, and sold.

I bet we see Digital Distribution of Software (Like Adobe CS and Office for Mac 2008) via Apple & the Itunes Store pretty soon as a download. No more CDs/DVD's eventually.

A lot of this stuff isn't new but it has been given a "kiss" by Apple in the form of this laptop.

[sekker]

I am underwhelmed by this product. This does not define a new product category at all. It's not the same pioneer product like an ipod or the iphone.

I spend more than 30 hours a week for work on my mac. I could readily justify $2k for a true ultraportable tablet.

But for something that's simply a couple lbs lighter than my MBP? No.

This is not being cheap - having to sync my files with another machine would make my life miserable. And the 'air' is not powerful enough with enough hd space to be my solo machine.

And thus, I wait - for the multitouch version.

[N-OS X-tasy!]

What Chupa said.

[ArtP]

Yep, iPod all over again...

I wish I could search other place and find the iPod release thread. I hated it and I thought it was doomed. I was wrong.

I still think the MacBook Air sucks and is overpriced

Maybe I am being too optimistic about the Macbook Air, but time will tell.

[pRICE cUBE]

Ipod was it's own class of product. The MB Air is one of 4 sizes of Apple laptops.

Those that do not want it to have other options.

While it's not for me because of the lack of FW/ilink port it is right for some people.

I would have loved the weight reduction but who knows, maybe some of the weight saving measures that don't affect replaceable parts will be on the next MBP.

[incognegro]

it's a niche product.

if you need all those things that are missing, you aren't the in niche market.

one thing i read in an email newsletter (small dog?) is that the solid state hard drive shouldn't wear out, and ought to last for 10 years. and i'm thinking someone will figure out a way to sell a replacement battery before the first units' 3-year Applecare runs out.

it's not the same as floppy drives & the iPod, AT ALL.

consider now the limitations of the first iBook (1 USB, no FireWire), and the early iMacs w/o FireWire or USB 2.0. high-speed data transmission is a must nowadays, and .11n isn't always going to be fast enough.

still... it's a nice piece of kit. makes a great 2nd Mac if you travel & need to travel LIGHT.