posted
So Apple, has come out with "the worlds thinnest notebook."
It's got me on the cool factor, pulling it out of the manilla envelope, I mean, come on, who can't think that's cool?
But then you find out that it has NO optical drive, and only three ports? Oh, and it costs $ 1,700. Yikes. Might as well spend 300 more on a MacBook Pro and get all the ports. And the optical drive. And a bigger screen. Of course, this is a notebook for those who already have a desktop so they'll just wirelessly take care of everything they need at home. You can even install mac software through a PC and an airport connection.
I won't be buying one anytime soon, but I might buy that song! Where does apple find all these cool songs for their commercials?
Posts: 113 | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
The MacBook Air is sexy. Sometimes sexy isn't all that practical, but that doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile.
Posts: 2409 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I'm reminded of when apple introduced their first iMac and everyone was like "OMGZ no floppy disk drives!?!?" But a few years later, all computers were like that.
How long will it be before we no longer have optical drives in any of our computers?
Posts: 113 | Registered: Sep 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Sm34rZ: I'm reminded of when apple introduced their first iMac and everyone was like "OMGZ no floppy disk drives!?!?" But a few years later, all computers were like that.
How long will it be before we no longer have optical drives in any of our computers?
A long time. When Apple did no floppy drives, there was still a way to install software directly to the system via the optical drive. This laptop has no such option, short of purchasing an external optical drive.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
Most software nowadays is installed over the internet. I don't even remember the last time I put in a software installation disc (other than a Linux installation CD).
That which isn't will not be things the user is installing on the fly, and thus can be readily installed off the owner's desktop system. While there are legitimate criticisms, even relating to the optical drive, not being able to install software is not one of them.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
I'm rarely using my optical Drive even now. I have an ipod, so I don't burn CDs. I download almost all the movies I watch (and have a DVD player with my TV anyway). I also only use 3 ports on my macbook, the DVI, 1 USB port, and the headphone jack (they must have had me in mind). Macbook Air would be perfect for me if I hadn't already bought my (very nice) black macbook.
quote:Originally posted by fugu13: Most software nowadays is installed over the internet. I don't even remember the last time I put in a software installation disc (other than a Linux installation CD).
This phenomenon might be more widespread than I believe it to be, but I've yet to meet a single person other than you (which includes everyone I know professionally) for whom this is true.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Oh, I definitely install things using disc occasionally, I just don't remember when, and I definitely wasn't somewhere on a trip, away from my desktop.
eros, when was the last software you installed from disc? What was it? When was the last software you installed from disc somewhere other than in your home or office? What was it?
edit: and major modern games don't really matter. This is not in any way a gaming platform.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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quote:eros, when was the last software you installed from disc? What was it?
Windows.
quote:When was the last software you installed from disc somewhere other than in your home or office? What was it?
I see where you're going with this, but it's irrelevant; see below.
quote:edit: and major modern games don't really matter. This is not in any way a gaming platform.
Oh, I agree; but at the same time, I think "the user will have a desktop at home" is a major assumption as well, and a bad one.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I think this laptop was designed to fill the Ultra Portable Niche. It's a complete waste of money for anyone who doesn't *need* to have a very light, very portable computer at all times. The majority of people who do need that type of thing will also need to have a desktop available. From what I've heard, this particular laptop is designed to function well with an iMac over the wireless connection.
Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
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If I was in the market for a new laptop, this would be it. Aside from Greenpeace saying its one of the few "green" computers yet made, the fact is I can't think what I would use an optical drive for. Since moving from Windows, I haven't used a cd or dvd rom install disk. The size seems amazing.
I really do think cat 5 cables and optical drives will be the 5.25 & 3.25 floppies in the near future. Most new homes are being built with wifi instead of bundles of cables as was the practice in the past. And I have a feeling that usb thumb drives will move beyond just being common to being ubiquitous. A few years ago a thumb usb drive with 512 MB was insanely expensive and at the outer limits of storage capacity. With most thumbs now starting at well over a gig, storage for a single program distribution is pretty much not an issue. If software companies wanted to they could switch to USB drives overnight.
I also think most early adopters of this system probably already have desktops and wifi. Meaning if they come across software that only comes on an optical reader format, it won't be an issue for them. The advantages of having a system such as this new Apple is that it is ultra portable. Lots of people need that.
I think this is just another example of Apple being ahead of the curve again in terms of personal computer technology. Now whether it turns out to be the nexT Imac or the next Newton or Lisa is a different matter. The Mac mini has proven to people you don't need a 2 foot tall beige box to sit on a person's desk. Air may prove you don't need to lug around a ten pound machine that needs its own suitcase.
Posts: 110 | Registered: Jan 2001
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posted
I understand the MacBook Air was shipped with a filter installed which blocks all references to Ron Paul.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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I don't think the lack of an optical drive is a big deal. It can piggyback of the drive of a PC or Mac through the wireless network. I don't use CDs often enough that it would be a bother for me.
As for only having wirelesses...even my desktop PC only has a wireless card. My cable modem and router are actually in a room without a computer...so I only use wifi in my house.
However, the MacBook Air is well out of my price range right now...but I would love to have it. It is one of those things that I would get if I was rich, but as it is, I could never justify spending the money on it now.
Posts: 1901 | Registered: May 2004
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I use my laptop's optical drive all the time. I watch DVD's on it, play and burn CD's on it, and, yes, occasionally install software using it. The lack of an optical drive is my only annoyance with my tablet PC from work.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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quote:Originally posted by erosomniac: Oh, I agree; but at the same time, I think "the user will have a desktop at home" is a major assumption as well, and a bad one.
eros, this is not a bad assumption at all. These top-end Apple products like the Macbook Air and the iPhone aren't meant for the "value" end of the Apple market.
For the market that they are aiming for, having two computers is not cost prohibitive or wasteful, nor is it cost prohibitive to have a $400 cell phone with a high end data plan.
They are not even assuming that people have a desktop, just that they have any computer with an optical drive(and more ports), and a wifi router($50 purchase if not). For anyone in the market for any computer costing $1700, this is probably the case.
This should be a great market calculation.
Posts: 106 | Registered: Dec 2003
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I bought my laptop in large part because it was so small and light. I take it with me on trips and to seminars, so heavy is out. OTOH, being able to watch movies on it is critical, and most of mine (whether ones I own or have Netflixed) are on DVD.
Also, 3 pounds is just not enough lighter than mine's 4.2 pounds for me to care.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Considering the laptop is only aimed at people with a desktop at home, it is an entirely reasonable assumption. Jobs made it quite clear in his speech that this was a characteristic of the entire target market.
Icarus: as I said, there are other reasons to critique it for not having an optical drive; software installation is not one of them.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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quote:Originally posted by erosomniac: Oh, I agree; but at the same time, I think "the user will have a desktop at home" is a major assumption as well, and a bad one.
eros, this is not a bad assumption at all. These top-end Apple products like the Macbook Air and the iPhone aren't meant for the "value" end of the Apple market.
For the market that they are aiming for, having two computers is not cost prohibitive or wasteful, nor is it cost prohibitive to have a $400 cell phone with a high end data plan.
I'm not saying it's a bad assumption because buying owning two computers is cost prohibitive. I'm saying it because the vast majority of people I've encountered who own laptops do not own other computers, and of those, most do not have routine access to another computer where they'd be able to allow an external computer the sort of access required to install software. Of those who do own a laptop and another computer, almost all of them were issued the laptop for work. Of those I know who do own laptops, I do not know a SINGLE person who owns two macs. Not one. Zero. Out of hundreds.
There may be enough people hidden somewhere who can counter this fairly extensive anecdotal evidence, but I seriously doubt it.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
There are tons of people to counter that anecdote. I run into two-computer people regularly. Most of them are not, of course college students or shortly out of college.
The people this is aimed at are high travel time business people and the like. The ones who want a laptop that takes up minimal space in their luggage and can be easily used to download a rented movie via the airport wireless (which they already have a subscription for, because they travel so often) before departing, to watch on the plane. That is the target audience. They already have a desktop at work, at the very least, and their travel laptop might well also be funded out of work.
Btw, I also have two macs, and one is a laptop. Though, as people have already mentioned in this thread, the desktop would not have to be a mac. Of course, I also have a Vista laptop and a fairly powerful ubuntu box.
edit: and my mom has two macs, one of which is a laptop, and at least one of my coworkers has two computers, one of which is a laptop (not macs, granted, but that's nearly irrelevant), and that isn't counting the several coworkers with work laptops (for which the lack of an optical drive would be irrelevant, due to the abundance of computers to use the optical drives of).
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
This item is really aimed at people slightly older, slightly more established in their careers, and slightly richer than my husband and I.
Right now we have four computers in the house - three laptops and a desktop PC. The desktop is the media/gaming center. Of the laptops, one (a Dell) is my work/school computer, one (an HP) is from Abhi's last company (they let him keep it after they were acquired), and one (a MacBook Pro) is Abhi's current work laptop. Maybe it's because we're from Silicon Valley, but I know a lot of families or couples with a similar number of computers - and a lot of single people with two or more computers.
If Abhi traveled a little bit more for work, and was slightly higher up on the food chain - more strategy/management work, less graphic work, then he'd probably be purchasing an Air in the next year or so - or getting his company to purchase it for him. It's actually the perfect computer for his boss.
Posts: 2409 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I don't think I would have wanted to attempt my last software install -- all 47GB of Logic Studio, spread over about 7 DVDs -- over a wireless network connection. I was installing it on my desktop, and I don't own a laptop. I'm not much for watching movies on portable devices, portable entertainment is what books and my DS are for. I'm just musing, though -- I agree with fugu and others about the Air's target market.
Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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It would be a pretty bad idea to use an Air as one's Logic Studio machine, especially if one had a desktop .
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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quote:Originally posted by fugu13: It would be a pretty bad idea to use an Air as one's Logic Studio machine, especially if one had a desktop .
Quite so.
I imagine that even for using MainStage you'd probably want at least a regular MacBook for the increased number of ports.
(For people who have no idea what I'm talking about, Logic Studio is Apple's audio suite; MainStage is the component of it that's designed for use with live performances.)
Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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