David Drake: It's A Laptop And It's Thin

Friday, January 18, 2008

It's A Laptop And It's Thin

Apple introduces a new laptop...and it's touted feature is...that it is thin. Forbes:

Moments after Steve Jobs unveiled Apple's thin new MacBook Air on Tuesday at MacWorld, dozens of units were put out on the show floor at San Francisco's Moscone Center, accompanied by teams of Apple employees, dressed in identical, long-sleeve black T-shirts. A mob of Apple fans quickly gathered to ogle, stroke, poke and debate the merits of the new device.

The MacBook Air has an aluminum shell and feels solid when you pick it up and flip it over, even weighing in at a mere 3 pounds. Apple employees don't blink if you ask about dropping it. But no one's really tried. The machine hasn't been "ruggedized" like the super-sturdy models hawked by Panasonic.

Jeff Haywood, writing at Geek Guide observes:

The MacBook Air is insanely thin. Three pounds? 0.76 inches thick?!? It sounds like a great achievement, but I've never found the laptops I've used to be unwieldy beasts. If I can sit in a recliner and type, I'm fine with a 6-pound laptop that has more features and power.

Paul Boutin, writing at Slate, is unimpressed:

But as I watched Steve Jobs demo his new products onstage at San Francisco's Moscone Center, I was struck by all the things you can't do with the MacBook Air. That's because the balance of power at Apple, and in the tech world generally, has tipped. In many ways, phones are now more powerful than laptops.

[...]

I'm a sucker for products that look good, but there need to be some guts beneath the shiny skin. I don't care about having the world's skinniest laptop.

But - but - but - it's an Apple. And it's thin!

Linking Here:
A Clear Future

// posted by David Drake @ 12:31 AM

Comments:

Sadly, I am a Mac fanboy. I have 4 Macs, only two of which I use anymore (the other two are shoved in closets), and 3 iPods (a 2nd gen, 4th gen, and a mini - all work fine). I had a G4 Titanium Powerbook. I loved it, but that is gone now. I mean I've used macs since I was in college back in the 80's. Yes. I am a geezer. I never bought any of this stuff new except for the 2nd gen iPod. Everything else was used and some stuff I even got for free. So now every Apple product I own is at least 4 or more generations old. My current work horse desktop is a Quicksilver dual 800 mhz G4 tower which was top of the line back in 2001. I didn't own it then as I couldn't have afforded the damn thing when it was new. I bought it very cheap and very used last year and it works great. I can't imagine a better machine. I hope it will last many years longer because Apple makes nothing like it now. I guess success can sometimes ruin a company. I liked Apple much better back when they had to fight for existence. Now Jobs is just getting too cocky much like Bill Gates and Michael Dell. That said, there is still much to like. I still much prefer OS X to Windows. I never tried Linux. I'm not that much of a Geek. I do like the new iPod Touch. The iPhone is a no go for me so far and I won't be buying a Macbook Air. Like you DD, I don't need the thinnest laptop made, particularly if it doesn't have an optical drive. Nope. It will be a while before I buy another Apple product, and I can guarentee that it will be used. The one thing I will give Jobs and Apple credit for is that they will take risks to try to make truely innovative products. The Macbook Air is an example of that even if it falls short for me. Imagine Dell or HP doing the same thing. By the way did you see some of the geeks that were interviewed outside of the Macworld convention? Wow, and I thought I was truely hopeless. Sheeze.

# posted by

molson : 7:26 PM, January 17, 2008

I've used Macs in the business world and I have nothing against them. They are higher priced than PCs and that, for me, is a factor.

I'm just not going to buy the latest item - PC, Mac or cell phone - just because it's thin .

Now... if it can mix a rum and coke for me and drive my car home when I'm drunk, that's a 'nother story.

# posted by

David Drake : 3:21 PM, January 18, 2008

"Now... if it can mix a rum and coke for me and drive my car home when I'm drunk, that's a 'nother story."

...Yes. That would be Big Carbon Al's houseboy and if the houseboy does a poor job mixing the rum and coke, then Al has another houseboy to administer a disciplinary beating. Unfortunately, I can't afford the care and feeding of a houseboy, but Al can. Oh and Al's on Apple's board of directors if I'm not mistaken. That's why Al can have a houseboy and I can barely have a house at all. Well it's more like a shack but hey the appliances I throw out in the yard actually make it look better.

# posted by

molson : 4:12 PM, January 18, 2008

LMAO! Al's houseboys are probably schtupping Tipper when he's away on all the global alarmist tours too!

# posted by

David Drake : 4:22 PM, January 19, 2008

David Drake

Friday, January 18, 2008

It's A Laptop And It's Thin

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