The MacBook Air misses its mark

Even the 12" notebooks were dropped.

Even the 12" notebooks were dropped. My 15" screen feels small at times, so that 13.3" is the smallest they could go for their goals. Apple's cheapest laptop is $1100, so the Air is still an attractive package for the masses that can afford it. I want it and can use it, but I already have a laptop.

Pen based computing kinda' died when the Treo introduced a keyboard to Palm OS.

Microcenter lists a conventional Acer laptop for $400, the same price as an Eee.

Your ideal machine

Your ideal machine isn't offered by any of the major computer makers, but it is available. What you describe is the XO Laptop. Cheap, small, light, powered by Linux. The only thing you left out was that you want a bright green computer with a sturdy handle.

Apple builds premium - why aim for consumer

They have never built for the low end (okay, mini and ebook excluded) and are very successful at the high end. Why would you think they would target the low end of the ultra mini PC market?

there really is something in the air

I totally disagree with this article. The macbook air is perfect. You wont even know if it's in your bag and you can actually type on it!!!!

Now wait a minute

In the same column, the author said the following:

" . . . but I also think that Apple has missed the boat on this one."

. . . and . . .

"I'm sure it will be extremely popular."

Note: Apple is in the business of selling electronics for a profit. If the Macbook Air indeed turns out to be extremely popular then they will not have "missed the boat".
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"Thin, sexy, and expensive is great when you're talking either movie stars or business notebooks, but it doesn't scan as well for the day-to-day."

Note: ALL of Apple's portables are "thin, sexy, and expensive". Seems to be "scanning" pretty well for them so far.

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" . . . and prices hovering around the $1,000 to $1,300 range and up. . . . I haven't seen a lot of them being pulled out at my local Starbucks."

Note: The notebooks that I'm seeing whipped out at the coffee shops, whether Macs or PCs look, for the most part, to be in that price range. I don't think price is the issue with high end sub-notebooks. Tiny keyboards and screens, maybe?

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"Small, Linux-based boxes such as the Asus EEE and the Everex CloudBook don't have the sleek designs of the Vista (and Mac) devices, and they suffer from awkward keyboards and some OS issues . . . "

Note: Awkward ergonomics and OS issues are not part of Apple's business model. Sleek design is.

_________________

"In this arena, at least, the revolution is happening elsewhere."

Note: And where might that be? Expensive Vista sub-notes? Small, Linux-based boxes with their awkward keyboard and OS issues?

I agree! But-- only for now......

I agree-- the macbook is sexy, slim, will be wildly popular with the mac crowd- but it's basically nothing more than an ultra-thin shiny costs-the-same laptop.

HOWEVER: You have to look back at Apple's other product successes and hope that perhaps the same thing happens. Specifically, look at the iPod devices you have today (not much larger than a stick of gum) compared to the original "bulky" iPods of yesteryear.

I would assume (and hope) that Apple will be doing the same thing with the macbook air. This is the first wave-- of what I am guessing will be SEVERAL waves-- of macbook-airs to come.

Macbook-air-nano, anyone?

Review please?

Look, there's nothing wrong with having a negative opinion of the MacBook Air, but could you do yourself a favor and actually back up your opinion? All you mentioned was price. Yes, some computers are more expensive, usually because they do more than other computers do, eh? How many computers do you know of that can use gestures on their mousepads or take over another computers optical drive to install software? My guess would be zero, right?

If you want to give a negative review, then fine, but could you actually review the stupid thing?

A good choice: MacBook Air

I think
that Apple did a good move to introduce a notebook size,
light weight laptop. A laptop is most useful at the size of
a notebook. If it is bigger than that, it is difficult to carry it.
If it is smaller than that, it is difficult to use it (for example,
photo manipulation and movie editing).

That's my opinion from my experience.
I have been using a laptop computer
since 1994, both Mac and PC. I had a first generation Macintosh
PowerBook 165c then (a bulky, strange design Mac).

No, you missed the point...

"When waiting for news from MacWorld today, I was wondering if Apple was going to pick up on this trend and offer something as small, nearly as inexpensive, and (it being Apple) more revolutionary than the Linux machines."

They did. Last year. It was called the iPhone.

Most of these smaller, ultralights are used by geeks and CEO-type's. The geeks will buy them for the "kewl" factor, just like they buy OQO's and Sony UX's. The CEO's don't have the "budget" concerns you mention (the Sony TX that the Macbook Air was compared to runs between $2000 and $3000 depending on the options). They want small and lightweight. They don't want to pull a brick out of their bag. They want something that's powerful enough to work, yet easy to travel with. Granted, they're also in the corporate world, so they're more likely to get stuck with a Windows system. But many will learn that its simple to use an Apple system in a Windows world. And as the Macbook Air shows this, we'll see a lot more C-titles open to MacOS and we'll see that trickle into IT.