You know, one of these:
No, the laptop, not the very rich grinning bloke dressed in black.
I’m not getting one. Of course, I don’t buy all gadgets (I’m more of a games person), but I do occasionally have pangs of gadget lust. In this case, however, I’m just thinking “meh”.
It’s very impressive, though – incredibly slim and light, nice and shiny, and the “remote drive” features are clever (although almost completely necessary in this case). It’s just there’s no need for it.
Compare it to a basic, standard, MacBook. The pros of the Air over it are thickness and weight. And that’s it. It’s still a 13.3″ screen, so it isn’t really any smaller. It’s less powerful, has fewer ports, smaller hard drive and no DVD drive. Oh, and it’s almost twice the price and fifty times more likely to snap in half in your bag.
Who is it aimed at? Not those people wanting a powerful laptop – Apple already have that covered with it’s other MacBooks and MacBook Pros. Not those people wanting a cheap laptop – again, the MacBook and the lower spec MacBook Pros are cheaper. Not those people who want a more portable laptop – it’s not really any more portable than a standard MacBook. Who is left who might want it? People who have no need for power and have no issues paying more for less. That’s it. As the man in Jurassic Park said:
Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.
Apple: what you need to do is replace the old 12″ G3/G4 iBook and PowerBook ranges. I love my 13.3″ MacBook, but the only thing you could convince me to replace it with is something smaller. It’s the only flaw it has – it’s just not quite as portable as I’d like. So make something with a 1440×900 12.1″ screen, sell it for no more than ¬¨¬£800, and I’ll buy one.
