Today was teh Steve's Keynote at MacWorld 2008. While I'm not really a fan of Apple, I'm always curious about what the Next Big Thing is. This time around it was the MacBook Air.
Jobs calls it "the thinnest notebook ever", tapering down to .16 inches. 13.3" screen, aluminum, with a multi-touch trackpad. Fits in a manila envelope (pet peeve: stop spelling it manilla, bloggers! Geez.) as you can see in the ad. People should be lining up to get it, except...
1. It starts out at $1,800, which gives you an 80GB, 4200rpm PATA drive. S-L-O-W. You can opt for the 64GB SSD drive, but be prepared to pay $3,100.
2. It has no optical drive. No watching DVDs on this one! Installing stuff? Well, you can "borrow" the optical drive of another computer. Unfortunately...
3. It has no ethernet port. So you're stuck with wireless, which can be slow (unless you get an ethernet dongle and attach it to a USB port, except...).
4. It has only one USB port. So a USB hub is a must (along with a Bluetooth mouse).
5. The 2GB memory is non-upgradeable. Yup, you're stuck at 2GB.
6. The battery is non-removeable. Battery dies and you're nowhere near a power outlet? Tough.
In effect, this is pretty much the "Missing Link" between an iPod and a MacBook. Okay, I'm reaching with that one.
Despite its limitations, I'm sure people will buy it; some have called it "executive jewelry". I'll reserve judgment until I can drive down to the nearest Apple store and play with it. I'm pretty sure I won't buy it, though; I'd rather spend the money on a new TV.
Details from engadget, wired and apple.com
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1 comment:
4200 rpm??? And I thought my 5400 rpm laptop HD was slow.
Oh well, the design is, as usual, so g... ah nvm.
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