It's "ultra-portable." I'll give it that. But that's about it.
Of course, Apple fanatics are going crazy over this new product announced by the great Steve Jobs during his MacWorld Keynote 2008. They do the same thing with any product Steve Jobs introduces at any of his Keynotes - even if he introduced the iRack.
But seriously, no optical drive? I understand newer computers these days not coming out with floppy disk drives, but we're not even close to moving away from CDs or DVDs any time soon. I would like to watch movies on my notebook when I'm traveling and not have to just rent it from iTunes. Oh wait, what? I can just get an external solid state drive to play my CDs and DVDs? How much is it, Mr. Jobs? It's ONLY $999. I mean, I have a money tree growing in my backyard, so I can just buy one, right? So, Jobs is saying that I can buy the MacBook Air for a price of $1799 and buy the drive for just $999? Sounds like a bargain to me, where do I sign up?
A higher-end MacBook Air starts around $3000, with specifications that are no way close to the MacBook Pro level. So why not just sacrifice a bit of weight and thickness and go for the much better, faster notebook, MacBook Pro? And, the MacBook Air is not even the best out of its "class." Look at this chart, which compares several notebooks of the similar slim style:
Red means that it's the best out all the compared notebooks.The Dell XPS is my favorite out of all of the choices. It beats the MacBook Air in almost every category and IT HAS AN OPTICAL DRIVE. Also, it's $300 cheaper and only 0.97 pounds heavier. Of course the MacBook Air is thinner, but seriously, it's not that big of a deal.
Okay, the touch pad is pretty cool, with its neat functions, and the light-up keyboard is pretty cool, too. But, that's not going to cut it for me.
MacBook Air is more over-hyped than usual, and it overshadows other better, faster, stronger notebooks just by its fruity brand. I personally dislike it because it does not introduce any new technology to the world, but Apple tries to make it sound like that. Just because Apple makes everything small and nice-looking does not mean they are the best in the business.
All you Apple fans out there - I'm sorry if I offended you in any way, but you say bad things about everything that's NOT Apple, so I can say bad things about Apple. GG.
1 comment:
Factual correction: the solid state hard drive is not external. It's an option to be built into the laptop.
There's no way I'm going to convince you nor vice versa - you're set in your beliefs and we both have our own views on the situation. But I can't just let you go ahead and rip on this without throwing my two cents in.
It deserves its hype because Apple's going to be leading the market again in its decisions. It's getting the hype because people can't get over the fact they're bold enough to exclude it. The lack of a CD-ROM drive is going to be standard within the next few years, and Apple's just starting the trend now. It was a necessary sacrifice to keep the battery life up, form factor thin, and light, while keeping the price relatively low for technology that size.
And this is going to rake in so much money for Apple beyond the laptop. People are moving to digital lifestyles and they're going to pour money into iTunes, Netflix downloads. Even Microsoft is pushing towards that trend, recommending digital downloads over HD DVD or Blu Ray. Software's going to be delivered online now - it's already being done. Everything's going to be delivered without CDs within next few years and Apple's going to be pioneering wireless digital content delivery.
Just to clarify: my official position is that I personally wouldn't buy one (I still plan on buying a Pro later, because I do like to watch my DVDs), but this is a brilliant business decision by Apple. The MacBook Air is a solid money maker. I'll agree with you it's not the best computer. But what it means in terms of money and publicity for Apple, it's amazing.
I'll give you points for the Dell though. That's just crazy.
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