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MacBook Air mini petition - SIGN HERE
- Thread starter Marx55
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I'm perfectly happy with its current size and I hate netbooks exactly because of their puny screens and tiny awful keyboards.
It is not for heavy work on it. It is mainly to make it ultra-portable (light and small), for Keynote and PowerPoint presentations.
+1.
A 14" would be nice too, if they can fit that in the same footprint as the current Air than an added bonus.
For the need you described...get an iPad. Keynote, Pages, Numbers via the Dock--VGA out for presentations!
And, because it needs to be said, just because you have a use for it, that doesn't mean that tens of thousands of others would too. It has to be popular and profitable.
Apple doesn't want to make every product, and doesn't want every customer. The company has a targeted group of products and people - and they stick to making great products for that niche market only, expanding only when they can do it really well, and when there is a solid profit potential on millions of units over X years.
And, because it needs to be said, just because you have a use for it, that doesn't mean that tens of thousands of others would too. It has to be popular and profitable.
Apple doesn't want to make every product, and doesn't want every customer. The company has a targeted group of products and people - and they stick to making great products for that niche market only, expanding only when they can do it really well, and when there is a solid profit potential on millions of units over X years.
Unfortunately, the iPad does not deliver:
- Cannot open properly Keynote presentations (.key) created on a Mac. Data is lost. Search Google to find it.
- Cannot open properly PowerPoint presentations (.ppt) created on a Mac. Even using the new DataViz Documents to Go to be released soon (NDA). Data is lost.
And the explanation is simple: the iPad is great, but it is not a Mac. To use properly Keynote and PowerPoint files created on a Mac, you need a Mac. The plain truth.
- Cannot open properly Keynote presentations (.key) created on a Mac. Data is lost. Search Google to find it.
- Cannot open properly PowerPoint presentations (.ppt) created on a Mac. Even using the new DataViz Documents to Go to be released soon (NDA). Data is lost.
And the explanation is simple: the iPad is great, but it is not a Mac. To use properly Keynote and PowerPoint files created on a Mac, you need a Mac. The plain truth.
How big is the MBA market anyway? How would it benefit Apple to release a rather expensive laptop that would be competing against netbooks that are much cheaper?
Hack a Dell Mini 10v?
Hack a Dell Mini 10v?
There is a large market of light and small hackintoshes simply because Apple does not make such Mac. It does not mean to remove the current MacBook Air model. It means to add other small model to the line. One half to one third the weight of the current MacBook Air.
Are you for real? The current MBA weighs 3lbs. You want Apple to build a 1lb laptop for you, when an iPad is 1.5lbs? Dell Mini is 2.5lbs, so practically the same weight as current MBA (but a heck of a lot less useful).
With technology available today - there is no way an MBA can be made much smaller/lighter and still be "a computer". You are wasting your time.
It is possible: Umid mBook Bz is a full computer with just 363 g
http://www.umpcportal.com/products/UMID/BZ
Again, this is not for heavy work, but mainly for presentations as indicated above.
Another alternative would be an approach like the Sony Vaio P Series (635 g), which would make also a great MacBook Air mini
http://www.umpcportal.com/products/Sony/Vaio P500/VGN-P530H
Note that the current MacBook Air is much heavier (1.3 kg) and larger.
Obviously, these things are all about personal preference and what works for one person may not work for another . . . but, personally, I find the 10-inch laptop an idea that looks great on paper but really doesn't come through in practice (and, trust me, I've learned this the hard way). I love the MBA *precisely* because it has a full size keyboard and a big (enough) screen. And I loved my Dell Mini when I bought it -- but after a week it began its hermitic existence in my drawer. The keyboards are just too small (and, sorry, '91 percent full-size' or however they put it just doesn't cut it when you touch type), and the screens too small (oddly, I find the smaller screen of the iPad no problem at all; perhaps because the smaller size works better with a touch interface than with mouse/trackpad.
If a 15-inch MBA meant a bigger battery and a couple more hours of juice, I'd gladly take the extra ounces.
But frankly, instead of petitioning Apple to make a smaller MBA, I feel like petitioning them to keep the MBA at all. I've got a bad vibe that it's not long for this world and that has me very worried, because I think it's really the perfect ultraportable, just big enough and light enough to work.
If a 15-inch MBA meant a bigger battery and a couple more hours of juice, I'd gladly take the extra ounces.
But frankly, instead of petitioning Apple to make a smaller MBA, I feel like petitioning them to keep the MBA at all. I've got a bad vibe that it's not long for this world and that has me very worried, because I think it's really the perfect ultraportable, just big enough and light enough to work.
hack a dell mini 10v
Someone else on this thread beat me to it, but let me say it again: hackintosh a Dell Mini 10v and you've got yourself a 10" Macbook Air.
Apple probably scoffs at this segment ("netbooks" as they say) of the PC market, especially given its refusal to compete on price.
Someone else on this thread beat me to it, but let me say it again: hackintosh a Dell Mini 10v and you've got yourself a 10" Macbook Air.
Apple probably scoffs at this segment ("netbooks" as they say) of the PC market, especially given its refusal to compete on price.
No thanks, especially since they would start working on one more project and I want them all concentrated on making a great MBA Rev. D 
I think that the 13" full screen in a laptop as light as the MBA is what makes it special. I bought the Air mainly because I got tired of those stupid netbooks with baby-finger keyboards and weird resolution screens, but I still wanted a really portable laptop to be able to take to university and not feel like I'm carrying one more thick book. I love it
I personally don't feel the iPad as useful, but in this case, I would prefer to wait for Apple to work a bit on it, fix the problems with Keynote, improve it, and it might be what you're looking for.
I think that the 13" full screen in a laptop as light as the MBA is what makes it special. I bought the Air mainly because I got tired of those stupid netbooks with baby-finger keyboards and weird resolution screens, but I still wanted a really portable laptop to be able to take to university and not feel like I'm carrying one more thick book. I love it
I personally don't feel the iPad as useful, but in this case, I would prefer to wait for Apple to work a bit on it, fix the problems with Keynote, improve it, and it might be what you're looking for.
How disgusting. The MBA's size is its advantage. One can view a real full size 13" display while cutting the weight and thickness. The reason why the MBA is successful as a premium device is the full sized display and keyboard while removing unneeded weight.
The iPad is Apple's 10" device, not the MBA. If Apple is to change the MBA, it had certainly better be to ADD a 10" MBA not to change the 13" MBA into a 10" MBA.
Quite frankly, this is a waste of time... Apple definitely would prefer selling a 10" iPad over a 10" MBA. The reason why is people will spend more and more money on apps and content on the iPad that they can usually get for free on the MBA.
The iPad is Apple's 10" device, not the MBA. If Apple is to change the MBA, it had certainly better be to ADD a 10" MBA not to change the 13" MBA into a 10" MBA.
Quite frankly, this is a waste of time... Apple definitely would prefer selling a 10" iPad over a 10" MBA. The reason why is people will spend more and more money on apps and content on the iPad that they can usually get for free on the MBA.
And we all know how well these form factors have done in the market place!
So why don't you just get this Vaio P clamshell.. or even a WinMo phone? You can certainly playback PPT presentations on them (not so sure about KeyNote).
The point is.. you will never ever see anything resembling these devices from Apple. Absolutely zero chance. That's what they position iPad for. MBA is the smallest form factor it will get for full MacOS computers.
OK, here is the deal: a complete MacBook Air line of three models (all three available at the Apple Store to choose from):
MacBook Air 7-inch. Pocketable.
MacBook Air 10-inch. Portable.
MacBook Air 13-inch. Current.
I get the first one for sure.
MacBook Air 7-inch. Pocketable.
MacBook Air 10-inch. Portable.
MacBook Air 13-inch. Current.
I get the first one for sure.
I'd rather have apple to redo/add to the current MBA.
- Get rid of those ugly bezel! either pack a 14" screen in the current form factor, or cut the bezel and make the size smaller, keeping the full-sized keyboard and 13" screen.
- 4GB of RAM
- Kensington Lock Slot
With the above, the MBA would be the perfect computer for me. I'm actually quite satisfied with 9400m and C2D in this form factor. No others could do it this thin and this nicely. But with the above upgrades, I'd be drooling all over the place as I get out my credit card.
- Get rid of those ugly bezel! either pack a 14" screen in the current form factor, or cut the bezel and make the size smaller, keeping the full-sized keyboard and 13" screen.
- 4GB of RAM
- Kensington Lock Slot
With the above, the MBA would be the perfect computer for me. I'm actually quite satisfied with 9400m and C2D in this form factor. No others could do it this thin and this nicely. But with the above upgrades, I'd be drooling all over the place as I get out my credit card.
Get an iPhone or an iPad. Seriously, you're dreaming if you expect Apple to compete there with the MBA. It's not going to happen even with millions of requests. Move on and look at the iPhone or iPad. Apple is supposedly even working on a 6" iPad, so there you go!