$600 is the premium of the MBA over the cost of the (more-powerful) base model of MB.
-Clive
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Apple Announces MacBook Air
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$600 is the premium of the MBA over the cost of the (more-powerful) base model of MB.
-Clive
I'm sorry to point this out but I think that you should learn the difference between a transitive and intransitive verb.
In the phrase "you allowed your wife to fall victim of the RDF." the verb allow is used in a transitive way because it uses a direct object (your wife). In the dictionary example you reported the intransitive use was without a dirrect object "The poem allows of different interpretations".
As a rule of thumb, a verb is transitive if you can answer to the question "WHO?" or "WHAT?". In your frase you can say: You allowed "WHO?" to fall wictim of the RDF? so it is a transitive verb.
So the meaning is that described in the first part of the dictionary definition you reported so, yes, the phrase is (I bet unintentionally) sexist.
more info on transitive/intransitive verbs on
http://www.arts.uottawa.ca/writcent/hypergrammar/trnsintr.html
http://www.arts.uottawa.ca/writcent/hypergrammar/trnsintr.html
Okay, so minor grammar mishap. My apologies. The point is that it wasn't meant as a sexist remark. He didn't intervene in his wife's falling victim to the RDF. That's the meaning of the sentence.
I was a physics major, not an english major. I'm pleased well-enough to know there exists transitive and intransitive verbs.
Thanks for the English help... guy from Italy. (Okay, that's a little embarrassing.)
-Clive
Because...
Actually, that's exactly what it means if "your needs" includes enough people. And it certainly does with this disastrous product.
What you clearly go on to say (I won't quote your long post) is that you want a MacBook Air because other people will be impressed by it and you like to look at it.
1) If other people are impressed with how much money you or your father wasted on an underpowered, horribly-featured computer, what does that say about them? Your father could get the same result by putting a thousand-dollar bill in his shirt pocket and he could buy a useable laptop with the remaining $800.
2) It's great if you regularly purchase peices of art for $1800. There aren't enough people like that even the richest country in the world, the USA, for Apple to target that market. And honestly, if you're going to drop $1800 on a piece of art, you can do better than a very thin laptop in black and silver. It's NOT beautiful. It's so stripped-down and unremarkable. But that's a question of aesthetics and it's all opinion. If I had $1800 I'd buy a beautiful sculpture or a great piece of jewelry.
It can't be useful, because it's so underpowered compared to cheaper computers. You can throw that hopeless justification out the window. And if you find it "appealing", you have a very unique sense of beauty.
There is NO DOUBT that this will be a huge bomb for Apple, make no mistake.
Actually, that's exactly what it means if "your needs" includes enough people. And it certainly does with this disastrous product.
What you clearly go on to say (I won't quote your long post) is that you want a MacBook Air because other people will be impressed by it and you like to look at it.
1) If other people are impressed with how much money you or your father wasted on an underpowered, horribly-featured computer, what does that say about them? Your father could get the same result by putting a thousand-dollar bill in his shirt pocket and he could buy a useable laptop with the remaining $800.
2) It's great if you regularly purchase peices of art for $1800. There aren't enough people like that even the richest country in the world, the USA, for Apple to target that market. And honestly, if you're going to drop $1800 on a piece of art, you can do better than a very thin laptop in black and silver. It's NOT beautiful. It's so stripped-down and unremarkable. But that's a question of aesthetics and it's all opinion. If I had $1800 I'd buy a beautiful sculpture or a great piece of jewelry.
It can't be useful, because it's so underpowered compared to cheaper computers. You can throw that hopeless justification out the window. And if you find it "appealing", you have a very unique sense of beauty.
There is NO DOUBT that this will be a huge bomb for Apple, make no mistake.
Whenever Apple releases a new product people think it will bomb.
Apple fans are Apple's biggest critics. It just boggles my mind.
This isn't something I need, but I think it's incredible!
So, what you're telling me is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder except for mine because it disagrees with yours? If you've bothered to go through these threads, they are littered with posts that say that it may not be functional for my needs but it sure looks great (I'm paraphrasing). I just happen to be one of those people for who this laptop DOES meet my needs and I find it visually appealing. What's so wrong with that? Why does that make this a poor purchase?
And your point that it "can't be useful, because it's so underpowered" is ridiculous. What, oh what, did we do for all those years before the current iteration of the MBP and MacPro came out? How did we survive or prosper with those useless, underpowered laptops we were forced to attempt to be productive with? There are corporations out there who are still using Windows 95 or even older operating systems and software applications that still function for what they were intended to do.
I know, it's shocking!And finally, your part about art (which I admit wasn't the best comparison I could have made) and the fact that there are not enough people out there that would spend $1800 on a piece to make it profitable. How do you know? Apple has sold over 4 million iPhones that are arguably, underpowered and overpriced! But they are pretty! And fun to play with too!
So, why can't the MBA have a niche?
Whenever Apple releases a new product people think it will bomb.
Apple fans are Apple's biggest critics. It just boggles my mind.
This isn't something I need, but I think it's incredible!
I agree it's an incredible piece of engineering. To me, it just doesn't seem to fit the product line. A more refined, but stripped down MacBook isn't what I expected.
Yes. I would find it useless as I want the screen real estate and typing on a small keyboard is annoying as hell.
Like the post you quoted said, there is a market for this laptop. I don't get why everyone jumps all over it because it's not for them. Steve and company would have to make 1000 diffferent models and lose $1000 on each one just to make some of you happy.
Why are people getting so upset about this?
Such drama... I hate to tell you this, but in the business world, people judge how successful you are by how you dress, what car you drive, what technology you carry, etc. Fair? No. True. Yes. Having a MBA will give people the perception (or illusion) that you are successful. People want to work with others they perceive to be successful.
I do Photoshop & Illustrator work on my PowerBook G4 (1.25GHz, 1GB RAM) without much trouble, and I'm sure the MBA would smoke my PBG4. So, for some people, it does have enough power.
Just because you can't find a use for it doesn't mean that no one can. Relax.
Such drama... I hate to tell you this, but in the business world, people judge how successful you are by how you dress, what car you drive, what technology you carry, etc. Fair? No. True. Yes. Having a MBA will give people the perception (or illusion) that you are successful. People want to work with others they perceive to be successful.
I do Photoshop & Illustrator work on my PowerBook G4 (1.25GHz, 1GB RAM) without much trouble, and I'm sure the MBA would smoke my PBG4. So, for some people, it does have enough power.
Just because you can't find a use for it doesn't mean that no one can. Relax.
Whenever Apple releases a new product people think it will bomb.
Apple fans are Apple's biggest critics. It just boggles my mind.
This isn't something I need, but I think it's incredible!
Nice work on finding that archived thread! When I read how much people were bashing the MBA, I wondered what people said about the iPod when it first came out. Sure, it wasn't perfect in its first incarnation, but look what they did with it! 7 years later we get 32x the storage plus video for 13% less in price! The MBA could turn into a 3.0GHz, 8GB RAM, 200GB SSD, 20-hr battery, $1500 notebook down the road, but it's not going to get there all at once. You have to start somewhere...
I didn't have time to read the archive but did you notice if anyone who said they'd buy one got trashed as much as we are about the MBA?
And Clive, please don't take this as an insult, but thank you for posting that you were a physics major. I'm really suspecting that you have never been in sales or another field where style does matter (as a previous poster noted) and not just for vanity's sake. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
It is a wonderful machine, really nice and sexy. It is well featured (and reasonably priced) in relation with its market (ultra thin). It is NOT meant to be a replacement of other macbooks, it's not even in the same market niche.
This laptop is aimed at tech people with a low budget or video (or photoshop) professional? Obviously no, because it doesn't have enough horse power (but the sony has even less...). It is this laptop aimed to people with no other computer? No, it isn't either.
Is its market target the medium to top exec/manager whose primary application is office and web browsing and whose main concern is "look"? Absolutely YES. This kind of people many times doesn't even know what a ethernet port is, they do not install themselves any application (there is the IT department for that) and all they use is word (as a typewriter), Excel, powerpoint (or keynote), a web browser and a mail application. They live in a windows world and this kind of laptop is perfect to make them switch (remember, sometimes they just don't know what a mac is).
The MBA is a status symbol laptop (just as a Ferrari car), and is so sexy that this execs will just go and buy it (or ask to the IT department to buy it). And it will work with the PC drives over there, so there will be no hassle for the IT guys...
This is a wonderful leverage into the corporate world. It will sell a lot. just as the ipod. (and I can understant it can be unfit for many of the people in this forum (most of us are tech-oriented people), I have to admit that it is not fit even for my needs (I have a macbook and I'n really fine with it), but I see a big market (a corporate one) for the MBA.
Remember, a Ferrari is not the best choice when you buy a car if you plan to go camping, but many (really more than you can imagine) just buy a ferrari. Someone prefer a suv and will say that the ferrari is overpriced and underpowered (less trunk space, more problems on slopes and so on), but I can assure you that some kind of people will buy the ferrari at once.
So they will do with the MBA. It is not designed for many of you, but it is designed for them.
So relax. It will not bomb.
Quotes about the first iPod from the archived thread:
"iPod?
iPoop... iCry. I was so hoping for something more."
"Great just what the world needs, another freaking MP3 player. Go Steve! Where's the Newton?!"
"I still can't believe this! All this hype for something so ridiculous! Who cares about an MP3 player? I want something new! I want them to think differently!
Why oh why would they do this?! It's so wrong! It's so stupid!"
"I really wanted to like it. Really. But do the math:
20GB hard drive: $199 from APS tech.
MP3 player: $50 from Best Buy.
You save $150 plus get an extra 15 Gig of storage!"
These are two of my favorite quotes, and they're right on the first page of the iPod thread.
"I'd call it the Cube 2.0 as it wont sell, and be killed off in a short time...and it's not really functional."
"All that hype for an MP3 player? Break-thru digital device? The Reality Distiortion Field™ is starting to warp Steve's mind if he thinks for one second that this thing is gonna take off."
Ha ha ha!
Priceless.
"I'd call it the Cube 2.0 as it wont sell, and be killed off in a short time...and it's not really functional."
"All that hype for an MP3 player? Break-thru digital device? The Reality Distiortion Field™ is starting to warp Steve's mind if he thinks for one second that this thing is gonna take off."
Ha ha ha!
Priceless.
It was cool when i first looked at it, then once I sat down and thought about the product I realized the fact that it forces you to use the itunes store for all of your multimedia needs, unless you want to buy and carry around the superdrive with you.
Did you miss the part about remote disk? I am assuming anyone who'd buy one of these already has a main computer... Handbrake for your DVDs and iTunes to store/organise your music, download podcasts... I never buy anything with it (though I'll pick up the freebies)
Apple has done it. They took the iPhone and made it into a computer. Everybody wants one because it's bleeding edge and very good. They might have just gotten themselves into the notebook business.
Yeah, really... why is everyone assuming you have to carry around the SuperDrive with you? Honestly, how many times do you need to pop in a CD or DVD while on the go? I've really never needed to use my drive except when I'm at home.
I'll agree that it's not nearly as viable now as it will be. I remember a couple years ago when my 256MB flash drive was the biggest and most expensive one on the market... Hell, I remember when I was using floppies and zip disks! Look at the iPod example. My girlfriend points out that nothing Apple releases is anywhere near its potential when it's still first generation, because the first generation is just the innovation. You have to start somewhere. Just imagine where this thing will be in a couple years.
Apple's changed a lot though...look at the first iPod Mini and the first Shuffle...those are extremely popular, and were when they came out. The Macbooks, though gaining in popularity, didn't really lack anything (as far as I know) when first introduced. This product has the design down..the improvement is now out of Apple's hands...they have to wait for Intel and other companies to innovate before they can use those products in their own.
Both the mini and the shuffle were building on the already successful iPod. When the iPod first came out (see the other forum) everyone thought it was destined for failure. The MacBooks also weren't really any massive innovation from the previous notebooks, just improvements and new designs. Many people (including myself) were skeptical about the iPhone. When I first heard about it with its massive price tag and obligatory service from a provider I don't like, I thought it'd be a flop, but I was wrong. I'm just saying the MacBook Air could be the same. Whether it's great right now or not, it's still pretty innovative and could be where computers are headed. Remember when the iMac lost the floppy drive?
The MacBook Air isn't something I'd be thinking about going out and getting anytime soon, unless I had a lot of money to throw around. Especially with my current MacBook still running great, the price tag is still a bit too high and the specs a little too low for me, but when the gen 2 or 3 MacBook Airs come around, I may be the first in line.
And I believe the Macbook Air is building on the already successful Macbook. The majority of people with them don't need all the memory and HD space, just like most people with iPods don't fill them up. But, one thing is for sure, I've heard an overwhelming response as far as design goes, and the average buyer who can afford to pay the extra cash and loves the design might go for it.
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