I took a (virtual) look at the new MacBook Air today. It's very, very thin, and light and beautiful to look at. But it has no replaceable battery and no Ethernet port and it uses a slow 1.8" 80 GB hard drive. (That is, unless you want to pay $1000 more for a 65 GB solid-state disk). Plus it's expensive.
Yes, yes I know that Apple was among the first to drop legacy serial, etc. ports in favor of USB, and among the first to recognize the need for built-in WiFi. And Apple was among the first to realize that consumers value design in the products they buy. But who will but the MacBook Air? There's always the people "working on their novels" (or business plans) at the local Starbucks, but that's a small market segment and everyone hates those people anyway. If the MacBook Air is designed as a product leader -- to attract attention to other Apple products, then you want attractive people (in some sense) buying them. Dorks at Starbucks are not trend-setters .
There is of course the international jet-setting road warrior. Those folks might buy this product. They will need to bring their DVI / VGA dongles with them to plug into the projector to give presentations. And they of course need the power adapter, so that means the system is going into a bag. The 13" screen with big keyboard form-factor is also usually too big for a coach airplane seat / tray, especially if the fat guy in front of you puts his seat back, which he always does. (Though maybe this isn't a problem for the international jet-setters, as they never fly coach).
I can't help but think that in the form vs. function debate, Apple has finally jumped the shark.
Yes, yes I know that Apple was among the first to drop legacy serial, etc. ports in favor of USB, and among the first to recognize the need for built-in WiFi. And Apple was among the first to realize that consumers value design in the products they buy. But who will but the MacBook Air? There's always the people "working on their novels" (or business plans) at the local Starbucks, but that's a small market segment and everyone hates those people anyway. If the MacBook Air is designed as a product leader -- to attract attention to other Apple products, then you want attractive people (in some sense) buying them. Dorks at Starbucks are not trend-setters .There is of course the international jet-setting road warrior. Those folks might buy this product. They will need to bring their DVI / VGA dongles with them to plug into the projector to give presentations. And they of course need the power adapter, so that means the system is going into a bag. The 13" screen with big keyboard form-factor is also usually too big for a coach airplane seat / tray, especially if the fat guy in front of you puts his seat back, which he always does. (Though maybe this isn't a problem for the international jet-setters, as they never fly coach).
I can't help but think that in the form vs. function debate, Apple has finally jumped the shark.
I don't believe it's a jump the shark moment -- I don't think Apple has exhausted its supply of creativity for future episodes. But this could very well be another G4 Cube, where the form so exceeds the function (and/or the price point) that the product flops.
I too would wager that customers will spend a bit more and will cart around an extra couple of pounds for a more powerful machine.
It's interesting, though, to see the first (?) mainstream solid-state device. Is it lightning quick as a result?