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January 17th, 2008
Well, I hate to say it, but this time I believe Apple missed the mark with the MacBook Air.
Sure, it's thin, the thinnest computer I've ever seen (virtually anyway). Yes, ignoring optical drives and relying on wireless is bleeding edge technology reminiscent of the first iMacs that shunned diskette drives and proprietary cables for USB. Of course, it's the prettiest little thang on the market, and Apple will likely sell a zillion of them. It's Apple pushing the envelope (pun intended) and that's what they do best.
Yet I keep thinking that, in this case, Apple is pushing the wrong envelope.
Watch a Steve Jobs interview or keynote and one thing you'll likely hear him say is that Apple listens to its customers. Jobs said as much when he introduced Apple TV 2, which eschews Macs and PCs and lets you grab music and movies directly from iTunes. On that count, I believe him: Apple TV was just not getting enough attention and part of the reason was that using it required some technological hurdles that many people just could not get over. By eliminating the need for a Mac or PC Apple has made Apple TV far more accessible.
When it comes to computers, however, Apple seems more interested in dictating what consumers should want instead of giving them what we want.
Take the ill-fated Cube for example: When the Cube was introduced people were clamoring for a mid-sized Mac Pro. The logic was that many people wanted the versatility and open architecture the Mac Pros offered, but at a less expensive price point. Such a device would not compete with iMacs, which was thought of as the consumer computer.
Instead of a mid-sized Mac Pro that would have made working stiffs happy Apple came out with a box designed for an executive's office. The Cube was one pretty machine, and it was even capable of accepting internal upgrades beyond memory and hard drives.
The Cube was bleeding edge technology at the time -- outside-the-box thinking -- but Apple thought outside the wrong box. It did not address the wants and needs of a segment of Apple's customers and offered up something no one (except maybe Steve Jobs) wanted or needed, so the pretty, pricey Cube languished on store shelves.
I have a feeling that the MacBook Air is this year's "Cube." Nearly everyone I've talked to, both Mac and PC fans, want a small laptop. If you've read the blogs and forums leading up to Macworld you couldn't help but come away with a sense that people were looking forward to a small, lightweight device. The MacBook Air is small, but compared to devices like the ASUS EEEPC, the MacBook Air suddenly becomes not so small.
I know I don't want or need a full blown OS while I'm on the go, the iPhone proves that people can get along without the whole of OS X while out and about. What I want is the iPhone or iPod touch on steroids, a small package with some innovation built in.
In fact, if you compare the EEEPC with the MacBook Air you might find that while the EEEPC is not as thin and does not offer that nice multi-touch pad, it does offer enough horsepower to do 80 to 90 percent of what you might want to do. For me, that's plenty.
I also believe that many were waiting to see what Steve Jobs announced at Macworld, holding off buying the ultra-portable they've had an eye on in case Apple offered something better. I wouldn't be surprised if ASUS sees a big jump in EEEPC sales this month.
As for me, I also don't have US$1800 to buy a MacBook Air, and I doubt I'd buy one if I did have the cash to spend. Instead I'm going to pay $400 for an ASUS EEEPC. It's not a MacBook Air, but I'll be a happy camper all the same, and so will my wallet.
Vern Seward is a writer who currently lives in Orlando, FL. He's been a Mac fan since Atari Computers folded, but has worked with computers of nearly every type for 20 years.
Just a Thought Archives.
Observer Comments
The EeePC run a full OS, even though its user interface is simplified. You can install any full Linux distribution, Windows XP or likely even Mac OS X is that were legal.
The price difference is another interesting aspect. The ASUS EeePC 2G Surf (which comes with 2GBflash and no camera) is $299. Add 2GB of RAM for under $40. Add 8GB of flash on an SDHC for under $40. Tat gives you a nicely appointed machine for under $400. That means you can almost 5 of these for the price of one MBA.
The EeePC is not an ugly machine. It's functional, it's portable, and it can even run the new CompiZ 3D desktop well (search youtube for EeePC+Compiz to see for yourself).
I think Apple missed the mark by a wide margin. I expected them to enter this market with a pricier machine (about $600), but to win on the features/functions/ and obviously design. That they didn't was massively disappointing.
While your comments are valid I think it is a little too early to predict a product's lifespan after 2 days of it being introduced. The Macbook Air may well be the world thinnest notebook but that's not really got my juices flowing when I watched Keynote.
The key word here is Wireless. While I do agree that the Air may not be exactly what consumers have been asking for, it probably will be what they're asking for 2 years from now. Let's not forget that Apple is at least a year ahead of the rest of the market on all of it's products. The same can be said for the Apple TV. While people have made comments like "That thing is just not going to sell" and "Well, why do I need one?" I tried to look to the future and predict what Apple wanted to do with this machine. Then I heard about iTunes movie rentals, YouTube and terabyte storage. Now, so much.
The same idea can be applied to the Macbook Air. We can't see right now that in a few years just about everything (and I mean everything) will be wireless. Your external hard drives, your TV, your car, your darn refrigerator. All wireless. And no CD ROM? Well look where GOOGLE is going. Online Aps with no need for software and Apple with online content, online music, online movies and soon we'll buy our computer games solely online too. Say good bye to the CD/DVD with it's limited storage. Blu Ray will last a while but the days of computer based hardware media storage and distribution are slipping away, just like the Elephant ears of yesteryear, the floppy discs of yesterday, and the CD ROMS of today.
"When it comes to computers, however, Apple seems more interested in dictating what consumers should want instead of giving them what we want."
While there may be an element of truth to that statement, you should remember that this is ONE line of computers. We have the macbook, the macbook pro - outstanding machines that have taken the market by storm. We have the work horse MacPro, hundreds and hundreds of configurations for any eventuality, and we have the gorgeous new iMacs, the flag ships of Apples desktop solutions. Apple HAS given us what we want, but they have also given us the future. If apple didn't push the envelope and stretch the boundaries of what can and can't be done then we may as well go buy Dell boxes and suffer through Vista.
"Of course, it's the prettiest little thang on the market, and Apple will likely sell a zillion of them."
Then, unlike your comparison to the Cube, they won't sit on the shelves, will they?
To conclude, this company has got it going on. They're on fire, and they have come a long way in the last 52 weeks alone. If Apple are in a place where they feel comfortable enough to make a product like the Air, then that makes me happy because if you take away the iPod, and the iPhone and the Macbooks from history you would be reading about a very dull and labored version of the digital age indeed.
The MBA is an amazing unit, but not groundbreaking. There is a review out on Gizmodo that compares FIVE similar subnotebooks including the one from Apple and the MBA is nice but not a standout system.
I've been impressed with the little units like the Asus EEEPC ever since I saw a similar unit at a meeting a few years ago. He had Linux running on it, was connected wirelessly, and was doing all sorts of routene tasks, all with a little 1 pound unit that fit in his jacket pocket. Back then they were $1100 or so. Now they are so inexpensive I might get one to take on vacation. Lugging a full notebook along just to upload photos to .Mac is a real pain and a worry.
Thu Jan 17, 2008 2:36 pm Subject: agree 100%, but...
I agree with you 100%, but my problem is that my poor Pismo is truly on its last legs. I need to buy something in this year, and an eeePC doesn't cut it, as far as I can tell, as a primary computer. So, where do I go? Macbook? MBP? MBA? _and_ an eeePC? Don't know. I do know my wife is planning on buying herself an eeePC as her _primary_ computer, and keeping her Pismo as a backup, storage of older files, etc. But I doubt it would work for me... So, I will probably go MBA, simply because it gets me half/most of the way there--meaning to all three--eeePC, MB and MBP... Interesting, eh...
-Jon
I think Apple would have a weaker product if you need separate versions of your applications, or different applications all together, to run on something that is a computer and not a handheld. It needs to be a Mac to preserve the Mac experience, and the Air would loose lots of potential buyers if a critical piece of niche software didn't run on it. From the Developers' side, after going through the intel transition (which has resulted in a large number of updates that don't have new sexy features that people want in upgrades) having to port their apps to the ultra-portable experience, at the same time the iPhone SDK comes out, seems like a difficult burdon-- Which the Air would likely get neglected as a result of.
After developers get a hold of the iPhone SDK, we may see a bigger badder iPhone that's more of an OQO type thing... but without software, it wouldn't have much to offer now over the iPhone. If the EEEPC works for you go ahead, but I think that for apple to make an ultraportable, they had to make it a true mac.
Besides the EEE PC, there's the cloudbook by Everex (who brought you the WalMart $200 PC and the gOS). Same size as EEE, but has 30G HD vs SSD and faster CPU (though is C-7). Same price too! Rumor has it both are working on 9" versions for mid-year release for < $500. And of course, you'll now be seeing others climb on-board as well.
The MBA is a very sweet machine. I too need to upgrade my 6 yro tower and ibook, so this won't work for me, still contemplating MB or MBP.
Thu Jan 17, 2008 2:58 pm Subject: Enjoy your EEEPC
And all it's Linux/Windows glory.
Your 7" display
Your 2.8 hours of battery life
Your tiny keyboard
Your lack of decent tech support
When I'm on the road, you know what I do?
E-Mail, documents and presentations.
I need to be able to read a lot of stuff, so a 7-inch display will get old fast.
I need to create full-page documents and presentations with industry standard applications.
I surf some.
I exchange files using a USB memory stick. If I print, I don't do it from my computer, I put a PDF on a memory stick and pass it to whoever has the printer.
I never burn a CD/DVD
I never watch movies
I never print
I hate the heft of my machine, lighter is better, but if I didn't care about screen size, I'd just use a phone.
I think it hits a sweet spot nicely. And remember, Apple has shown that sexy sells, and at a premium!
But you go ahead. You'll get what you pay for...
But plenty of Mac customers do!
4 million have found enough cash to buy a $400 - $600 cell phone from Apple.
Probably the same number will find the money for a Mac Air.
Like the iPhone, the Air is not just a product; it's a status symbol.
The other one of John Edwards' two Americas, the rich one, will snatch these up as quickly as iPhones.
If Apple (or a third party) had a fold-up keyboard that worked with the iPhone or iPod touch, I wouldn't even look twice at an EEEPC. As it is, I'll probably get one (or the Everex equivalent) down the road. The urge to write often strikes in odd places, and I want something ultra-ultra-portable for those times. Even the EEEPC is just a little larger than what I want for that kind of thing; the Air is just overkill.
This is the first iteration of the MacBook Air, when you pay the most to get the least. Over time the price will come down and it's standard configuration will improve. Eventually the flash drives will be standard on all models and larger and less expensive.
It will be fun to see how this technological space evolves.
Rob
That little EEE-thing is something Apple should try once - making something which is first of all handy and practical and still not ugly.
Ah, oh, yes, that's what they're famous for doing, right? Well, yes - and no. It seems to me that they let that designer in them run a little too wild sometimes. Jobs is rich enough to buy whatever he wants and maybe he has forgotten the rest of us?
No, I am not talking about the poor, but us who appreciate quality but who are not rich.
Since the EEE can run Linux, it is absolutely an alternative to the MBA.
It is just one thing I hold against it. The Air, I mean. I think it is a splendid, outrageous machine, as far as I can see from here I sit in Norway - but way, way, way too pricey - and may I remind you that we will have to fork out 2645 $ for it, not 1799...
That is a two EEEs difference.
I don't know how Apple think they will sell us that difference. They have a little psychological problem on their hands there. The problem is that we have the Internet. We see the American price and then we see ours. Oh, yes - they have the sales tax, OK - but how many percent is that? Not that many, what I have learnt.
I'm sorry, but although it is a splendid product, I am afraid it won't help Apple to increase its global market share much.
Wasn't it someone who thought that their real tour de force was the Mac OS X? If that is so, what is so wrong with putting that OS into a reasonably priced, expandable tower?
The desktop Mac for the rest of us? We who want to have possibilities to upgrade the hardware with the flick of a switch. Like opening the old G4. You know.
Well, I have ordered my first intelMac, the cheapest iMac and I know I will be happy with it, as happy as I have been with my iMac G5 for 3 years now - and it will pass on to my wife:)
as a performer who uses a laptop, i would love to partake in abusing a laptop with ssd instead of a standard platter...
though the lack of firewire bugs me, the video support is there, but usb is just simply not good enough for audio - the latency is far to high for any professional performer and it doesn't supply nearly enough power. i would have thought they could miniaturize the firewire port with a proprietary cable, like they did with the dvi, but alas, you don't always get what you want... i would've been happy with a proprietary cable that carried all the ports onto a dongle that you'd have to hook up to it to get usb, dvi, firewire and headphones (anyone remember the minidock for the duo?)
i know the ssd version will see some pretty substantial price drops over the course of the next couple years, seeing as ssd has dropped in price at the rate of about 50% a year-- i think the 1.8" disk was just an interim fix for an issue they can't possibly control.
the SSD is the true macbook air, they just didn't want to wait 2 more years to bring it to market solely because it is outrageously expensive...
i believe in 2 years we'll see a 120gb ssd mba for around $2500 with the 64gb taking the place of the 1.8" at the $1700 price point.
just imagine, a macbook that can really be put through the paces without any real worries about data corruption-- really that's the only problem i've seriously experienced on any laptop (of course lcds can break, but you don't lose valuable work when they do.)
also the idea that you can install a phone-home-type security program on the machine without the worry of a thief just pulling the drive out of it-- the bain of those type of programs. that would also greatly increase your chances of recovering it if it gets stolen.
that's something i'm looking forward to, not at $3300, but i guarantee you that price will go down substantially soon.
Regarding the keyboard/iPhone comment:
Just the ability to use a BlueTooth keyboard with the iPhone would be huge! In my mind, using the current wireless keyboard would be enough for me. It wouldn't fold and fit in your pocket, but it is very, very small otherwise and is great for typing. All of the folding keyboards from Palm pretty much sucked, though they were better than writing a more than a few characters on the screen.
As to the MBA? It's a full screen, full keyboard, high powered, super light __SECONDARY COMPUTER__. I have no idea how many people buy a second computer just for travel. I hope that they have not confused the market for notebooks in general with the market for secondary computers.
Cheers!
Bret
Thu Jan 17, 2008 5:47 pm Subject: To Think They Used To Say Macintoshes Were Just Toys
There is always a market for almost every product out there and that includes the MBA whether you find it functional enough for your needs is another matter but as for me I think it is dang good looking and Apple is a prime company. For those of you looking at the EEEPC and compare it to the Macbook Air your not quite thinking strait; moreover if you are going to compare it to an Apple product I can see the iPhone doing nearly everything the EEEPC does in a much smaller, better looking, and women getting package..
Thu Jan 17, 2008 6:33 pm Subject: You're missing the point...
Folks, I'm not saying that the EEEPC is a better machine than the Air, heck, they are not even in the same state.
What I'm saying is that we really don't need a pretty, thin notebook. What would have been better is an Apple version of the EEEPC, one that runs the iPhone version of OS X and has enough horsepower to do some interesting things while out and about. One that is inexpensive but gets the job done.
Who really cares about envelopes?
As it is the EEEPC and a few other machines like it, will fill the void.
Those saying that the "need a laptop" I sak what's wrong with a Macbook or Mackbook Pro? Are you going to be that much more productive with a thinner laptop?
The EEEPC is obviously not for you.
No, a machine the size of the Asus EEEEeeek is more of the niche product than the MBS. Too big to handily slip into your pocket and too small for any serious computer grunt work. The only people who will buy it are tech nerds who will be willing to live with the ergonomic nightmare just to be able to say gee, look how small my fully-functional computer is. Meanwhile most people will think I can't do e-mail, surfing and word processing in any comfort, the least they could do was make it an easy fit for my pocket so it's not a PITA to carry around.
The MBA might not be the ideal that some people had hoped for but please don't keep holding up those tweener-sized ultra-mobiles as some design holy grail. Those are lose-lose propositions. You lose on both ergonomics and mobility.
I guess from now on, Steve better ask Vern for the green light before coming out with any product. Whether anyone here is willing to buy a MBA or not is totally irrelevant; what matters is how many people in the market will shell out the dough for one. Steve's track record in this space is pretty damned good; the cube being an exception, not the rule. As soon as Apple comes out with anything new, the whiners come out of the woodwork and tell the world what Apple should have done instead, and what could they have been thinking of. Well, as a shareholder, I say thank God we have Steve Jobs and not Vern Seward making the decisions at Apple. It's really simple: does the MBA suit your needs and do you like the form factor? Buy it. It doesn't? Don't buy it, but don't go telling everyone that you're the yardstick by which all APple customers should be measured.
Thu Jan 17, 2008 7:39 pm Subject: Re: How about iBook Air?
QuoteAnonymous wrote:
I think Vern is spot on: Apple needs
a sub-$700 notebook that is more
iPod Touch plus than MacBook minus.
Something that a family could
afford for all the kids that supports
iTunes and tools for school like
word-processing and spreadsheets.
eMate anyone?
They're looking at a different market with this one - Jason O'Grady nailed it over at ZDNet.
There's a wiki up for this too:
http://eeepc-osx.wikispaces.com/
QuoteGuest wrote:
http://uneasysilence.com/archive/2007/11/12654/
You people have lost it. The Macbook Air is superior to anything out there. Oh and by the way there is an optical drive if you need one. Nothing that you say that exists today run OSX Leopard except the Macbook Air. So those laptops don't count even if they do exist. Believe me people are going to buy them like crazy, you'll see. 
Approx Newton 2100 size, iPhone internals and capabililties: Bluetooth, Wifi and 3G data connections. Full touchscreen like iPhone but option of external Bluetooth or USB keyboard. Wifi external Optical Drive access like the Air would make software installation possible as well. Back-to-my-mac capability so I can access information from Office and Home machines as required.
A5 size screen would make it usable for serious work AND watching movies better. Sub $1000 price so I can take it anywhere and no worry about it too much.
Come on Apple - you know you want to! (Please 
)
$1000 if they include the 160Gb disk from the iPod Classic ... closer to $600 would be even better - a real EEE competitor! It could take over the education/kids market as well at those prices - iPod Touch, Movies and school work in one...
Where do I order one for me and three for the kids ?
Fri Jan 18, 2008 9:34 am Subject: Business Travel
My first thought was this would be the perfect computer if I was still traveling. It is thin enough to fit into a standard brief case without it taking over. With Wi-Fi, I could access all of my files via file sharing or .Mac.
This appears to be mostly a business product, not something for the masses.
Why bother posting here if it is quite obvious that the MBA is not for you. It's perfect for many who have to get real work done while on the go. The UMPCs have far too tiny displays and useless keyboards. And for those whining about the nonreplaceable battery, any flight that I have been on that's longer than about 4 hrs provides aux power at the seat.
The reason to post here is because this is an article ABOUT how the AirBook is NOT right for most of us-- whether for feature (or lack thereof), price, or size reasons.
Personally, I think asking $1799 (or $3300 for the high end model w/ accessories) for the slowest of Apple's current laptop crop-- subnotebook or not --is a little excessive.
QuoteGuest wrote:
Why bother posting here if it is quite obvious that the MBA is not for you. It's perfect for many who have to get real work done while on the go. The UMPCs have far too tiny displays and useless keyboards. And for those whining about the nonreplaceable battery, any flight that I have been on that's longer than about 4 hrs provides aux power at the seat.
Fri Jan 18, 2008 11:16 am Subject: MBA vs Mac-UMPC/iNewton/iMate
If I have a desktop and a PowerBook already - what problem does the MBA really solve (apart from gadget lust - which I admit is a pretty strong argument, don't get me wrong). iPhone with the data plans is almost a business tool but too small/restrictive. A true robust UMPC offering from Apple, with features from their existing products and true remote connectivity to my existing machines (see postings from users above) and a sub$1000 price tag would solve many peoples problems AND provide Apple with a key differentiator in the education market again. The Mac Mini is the right price but you can't really carry that around campus! I wish Apple every success with MBA - I personally was disappointed at the announcement as Apple have all the mind-blowing components/technology to crack the UMPC market wide open. As Vern proposed ... it's the Right package, the wrong price, and the wrong envelope... maybe next year???
Quoteyoyo52 wrote:Quotebrett_x wrote:
I agree. If it had dedicated graphics, it would be worth the cost. But it seems like it takes too much away by being marginally smaller than a MacBook.
Marginallly??
The image you posted is of the comparison to a 15" MacBookPro... not a 13.3" MacBook.. which has the same graphics capabilities.
In missing what I said, you support my point.. if you could compare the 15" MacBookPro's graphic capabilities with the MacBook Air, it would be worth the money for the smaller form factor. But since it has the same graphics chipset (Intel GMA X3100 graphics processor with 144MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory) as the 13.3" MacBook, I don't find it a good buy. You're welcome to disagree.
Apple TV: Is it me or is everyone out of their minds? Rent a movie through itunes that is released 30 days AFTER the DVD... The business model seems flawed. The way I understand it movie releases timeline goes something like this: first go to the theatre, then airplanes and hotels, then pay-per-view and then DVD. Now Apple wants to rent it to you for 24 hrs THIRTY days later. I would like to see the numbers behind pay per view and the numbers behind dvd sales. My guess is that dvd sales are good (pay per view might be good too, but you don't have to shell out >$200). The reasoning is that people like to watch a movie and then the kids watch the movie and a year down the road you are sick in bed and watch it again. Apple TV should have included a 3.5" hard disk to STORE your video collection and come up with some other copyright schema and let you keep the movie.
MBA: comparing to the Asus Eee is ridiculous. I am a BIG fan of Asus and have used the E briefly. The thing is way underpowered. Once you have owned an IBM X series or other sub 3.5 lb notebook you realize how great they are. This is more on par of what Apple was going for. I do agree that Apple does not listen to what the customers want and they are insanely slow to deliver (have to exclude the iphone here).
I have some vision of some board meetings at Apple where the technical people are overshadowed by these fancy pants, fast talking, ass kissing, artsy types. If I could step into one of these meetings I would bring a 6 yr old IBM x series and throw it down on the table and scream "what is wrong with you people!"
Fri Jan 18, 2008 2:43 pm Subject: Re: sharpen the point
Forgive me if this has already been posted -- didn't read every comment.
You wrote regarding the MacBook Air that:
"...it's the prettiest little thang on the market, and Apple will likely sell a zillion of them."
Later you wrote;
"...so the pretty, pricey Cube languished on store shelves. I have a feeling that the MacB