Morning-After Reaction to MacBook Air: G4 Cube Again?
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You remember the G4 Cube, right? Introduced to initial “oohs” and “aahs” in 2000, it was discontinued a year later. Why did it fail? Not because of its cutting edge design. While the faithful were impressed with its innovative footprint and technological advances that were way ahead of its time, few were willing to put their money on the table for it. It’s one thing to admire a product, it’s another to actually use it.
Ultimately, launched soon after Apple went through the trouble of paring down their product line into distinct home and professional product lines, the G4 Cube didn’t fit. It was too expensive for the home user, yet underpowered for the power user.
Sadly, it appears that the new MacBook Air may be destined for the same fate.
Initial reaction has been harsh. How much are we willing to give up for knock-your-socks-off design? Apple wants to find out. Yes, we all wanted a lighter portable from Apple. But the super thin design, multi-touch trackpad and too-cool-for-words remote CD feature do not make up for the exteme price (starting at $1,800), large footprint (even an ultra-thin, light one), no user upgradeable parts (including the battery), small & slow hard drive, 2 GB RAM ceiling and one measly USB port.
Is it for the casual user? Not at that price point. Is it for the power user? Not with those specs. Devoted Apple fans with a lot of disposable income and patience? Maybe.
What do you think? Are you with the nay-sayers or have you hit the pre-order button already?
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I think your logic is flawed. First, compared to other machines in the same profile, the MacBook Air is priced appropriately. Regarding the user upgradable parts, when was the last time your had to change your battery? Seriously? For the small and slow hard drive, what are the other systems using? Pretty much the same thing. Ram, 2 gigs is the sweet spot right now and they hit it.
The ultra-portability of this machine will make it attractive to those who want a slim, sexy machine that IS capable of handling all of their needs including what we do for a living (Design, etc.)
I was hoping for a powerful replacement for my old beloved 12″ PowerBook, but after using a 15″ MacBook Pro I can’t see downgrading to this. The only good thing is the SSD option, which starts at $3100.
I will, however, be getting an iPhone now that the Air isn’t what I hoped for. And a Time Capsule.
I totally agree. It’s like a concept car, but car manufacturers usually don’t build and sell their concepts
I’d have to agree with Matt. The ultra-portable market was never very big and people pay to get that amount of portability, even with all of the trade-offs.
I see Apple using this product as a means of testing out some new features (gestures, integrated battery are examples) while pushing the boundary of what people expect in a laptop. Remember that products are usually built with a specific type of use in mind.
In this case, I think Apple is also pushing the industry to forego physical media in favour of getting things off of the network/Internet and wireless.
For me, while I’d love one of these, it just doesn’t fit my budget at the moment. If it came with a larger HD/storage, I’d probably go for it. My problem is that my music/video collection is approaching 60GB and I plan to have only one computer. If I had a desktop, I’d probably go for the Air as a 2nd/portable option. Looks like I’ll be settling for the Macbook.
@Matt, when was the last time I changed the battery on my Apple laptop? Two weeks ago. My MacBook Pro is 14 months old and the battery died (not under recall, it just gave up the ghost and couldn’t hold a charge) and was replaced by Apple under warranty. I didn’t have to send my computer back or wait for an install while Apple shipped me the replacement.
I’m also not sure I agree that for design and serious daily use (especially if it includes Windows virtualization) 2 GB is enough RAM.
I don’t think the $1800 price point is unreasonable for an EDC (Every-day carry) item to be that much thinner and lighter.
The deal-breaker for me is the non-replaceable battery. I don’t mind this in an iPod — primarily because I can live without my iPod for a few days if the battery is recalled or needs replacing.
But, in a notebook? I can’t live without my notebook for a week while Apple swaps the battery. Besides, non-replaceable batteries also means no spare batteries. Unless you want to fork over for an external battery, which is so cumbersome that it defeats the purpose of the Air to begin with…
First off, the cube was cool. I know a guy who has one.
The AIR doesn’t appeal to anyone I’ve talked to, except, maybe my step-mom who needs a small, light computer to schlep with her when she’s traveling for business. (She’s got an old Sony ultra-portable right now that she’s using)
I wouldn’t want one because the specs suck and I’ve talked to a guy in radio/new media who doesn’t want one for lack of a firewire port (IOW: No plugging in a camcorder)
Not to sound like an Apple fanboy, but have you looked at the price of a Sony subnotebook lately? Here in the great northern reaches of Canada, a Sony TZ-class subnotebook starts around $2200 CDN. Apple is selling the MacBook Air here for $1899. Seems like a win to me.
As for the battery – yeah, it sucks that it’s not user-replaceable … not because I expect them to fail and have to be replaced frequently, but because some people on the go want to carry a spare. If your battery actually needs to be replaced, most people (not us geeks, but the business execs that Apple is targeting) are going to go to their local store to buy a new one. Well, if that happens to be an Apple store, you can get it replaced there for no extra charge. I don’t see that as being a horrible problem.
Not to mention that if Apple replaces the batteries, Apple can control what happens to them – much greener that way and fewer batteries end up in the landfill.
About the onboard RAM: @Judi is right. 2 GB isn’t enough for design (but it’s definitely enough for virtualization use – I know, I have a 2 GB MBP and use Windows for 8 hours a day on it in VMware due to work). Again, Apple isn’t targeting these notebooks at their traditional audiences. These are designed to appeal to the road warrior business exec types. Let me tell you, the CTO at the university I work for is definitely going to pick one up, and he’s far from a MacHead.
These people run Office, email, calendaring and a few other apps. Apple’s recent popularity means that new markets are opening up to it, and the MacBook Air is an attempt to appeal to an entirely new group of customers. For a first try, it’s pretty good.
Time will tell. The iMac wasn’t all that popular when it first came out, but look how that turned out. People have to realize that not every product is targeted at every user. And, as always, a year from now there will be a newer, faster, better version that will increase its appeal over whatever this one gets.
I have little use for any laptop at this point, needing instead a tower with lots of power, expandability, and a big monitor. An iPhone (or iPod Touch) suits my mobile needs. But in a prior life, this would have been great for getting stuff done on the road with a minimum of fuss and bulk.
I keep hearing the excuse that this is meant for the “casual user” who just wants to browse the web and send e-mails, not people who edit photos.
I’m sorry, but for $1800, it BETTER be able to edit my photos and fetch my coffee. Especially given that that my main workhorse for photo editing and whatnot is a Dell Inspiron (you know, bottom of the line) that I just performed a RAM upgrade on.
The casual user can make do with a $299 Asus EeePc, which rather than fitting in a manilla envelope can be crammed into a coat pocket.
Coolest thing about the AIR: When all the downsides finally drive you insane, you can snap it over your knee.