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Speculation on Macbook tablet-esque device from no one in particular.

Design - Clam shell like. Think of the screen on of the uMBP's; now give it a bit of a 'belly' to make it into a clam shell. Solid aluminum enclosure along with non-removable lithium ion battery, like the uMBP's. Magnetic slide out keyboard. Very smooth retractability and re-engage.

OS - Same underlying OS as the iPhone/iPod touch. You can call it OS 4.0, as it will allow local file storage. Flash will be functional in Safari, since we have our uber battery. Apple will also introduce a watered down iWork for the device.

Screen - 9.7 inch touchscreen.

Internal Components/Ports - Not sure on this one.

Price - $700
 
Speculation on Macbook tablet-esque device from no one in particular.

Design - Clam shell like. Think of the screen on of the uMBP's; now give it a bit of a 'belly' to make it into a clam shell. Solid aluminum enclosure along with non-removable lithium ion battery, like the uMBP's. Magnetic slide out keyboard. Very smooth retractability and re-engage.

OS - Same underlying OS as the iPhone/iPod touch. You can call it OS 4.0, as it will allow local file storage. Flash will be functional in Safari, since we have our uber battery. Apple will also introduce a watered down iWork for the device.

Screen - 9.7 inch touchscreen.

Internal Components/Ports - Not sure on this one.

Price - $700

Too pricey for anything running iPhone OS.

Screen is too big for iPhone OS.

Apple won't make two lines of the same software.

Solid aluminum enclosure, eh? Wouldn't that be a bit heavy and useless?

Slide-out keyboard would break faster than a MagSafe catches on fire. IBM had a fold-out one a few years ago that would work for something with a 10'' screen.
 
netbook market targets for light way of using PC. mainly its purpose is internet, email, photo, video clips with decent battery life. it doens't need heavy power as you know. but it's in very narrow section what kind of poeple use it. yeah, it's popular. it's side market comparing to other PC yet. that's why Apple is not attempting to get into this market anytime just like they don't put Blu-Ray in their macs. well, Apple already has iphone & ipod touch to do all of it.


Narrow section of people who use it?

Try 90-95% of personal computer use in the world, bro--that's what "internet, email, photo, video clips with decent battery life" is.

Get out a bit more from your XCode on your Mac Pro in your darkened room and see a bit of the world.

This is all about image. Apple is not Asus.

Just like the iPod was not some rehash of a mp3 player (remember the Rio?), and the iPhone not some rehash of a lame Motorola or Nokia device, you can bet the Apple entry into this market will change the game.

Look at the Rio 5 years later. Look at Motorola 2 years later. Asus could be in the same boat by 2012 or 2013.
 
What does it take?

What does it take for the thick-headed tech press to get the message? NO, Apple will not trash their brand and their financials with some cheap, plastic, underpowered piece of trash. Get over it and move on. Next story!
 
My point was that Dell isn't making any money on them, as they are essentially a commodity buy at the low end of the market. They have to price them low to sell them, and in turn they don't turn much of a profit per unit.

That said, I have no problem with netbooks. I almost bought one.



If my purchase isn't any indication, perhaps the myriad of other Mini enthusiasts' purchases might shed some light. Don't get me wrong, DELL is not the behemoth PC company it used to be, but they still make nice machines. I loved my XPS M1710, love my Studio XPS i7, and my little portable A90 Vostro Hackintosh. The discount market isn't to be underestimated - especially in a shaky economy. Apple can make what they want, but it's a shame they can't or won't Think any Differently about Netbooks.



+1

They'll probably release an amazing tablet for about $800 and all will be forgiven. Well, almost all ... there will still be the eggheads bemoaning the end of the world once the new Precious is released. You all just go to your corners and be happy Apple nerds, alright? Let the rest of us geeks have our fun with the new toys. :p
 
Yes, they do exist in the stores now... but using antiquated technologies (shuffle aside, obviously).

Tell me... how much did an iPod cost when they came out?

$400

archos had a cheaper, higher capacity, more feature rich offering before the iPod had ever been released... and it lost out due to people's willingness to pay more for a better, more expensive, user experience.



I'm pretty sure can go back and find the "Apple is suppose to have prices out of line with the market" posts that similarly explained why there would not be a sub $100 ipod or a $99 iPhone.

Hmm, those both exist at this point at the Apple store. Likewise have been mentioned as necessary by Apple in these conference calls so that the market doesn't get umbrella pricing effect and Apple gets attacked from the bottom.
[ iPod is different because market share dominate, where on the computers where dominate, many years ago, but now have been pummeled into a minor share .... in part because did the umbrella pricing strategy. ]

Apple is doing something weird. There is a $500 gap between the Macbook and the top of this "can't build for that price range". It is almost as if they are holding it open so that some of their products don't overlap as opposed to could not come to market with a device in that range. Or just don't want to sell anything for less that $1,000 ( rounded $999 is a $1k).

The even bigger odd-ball is the MacBook Air. A quality, sub $999 version consumer line packaged equivalent would probably drop its sales precipitously. The $1,000 chasm between the MBA and netbooks is huge.


There are few "deliver customer values" aspects for this. Lots more with Apple only wanting to do a subset of the various markets. Or holding open a slot for a more expensive Touch/Phone. The latter is somewhat problematic when Apple is holding back Mac OS X computer sales to open door for iPhone OS sales.

The clear thing that Apple needs to do is not match netbooks but to match the consumer line ( above netbook and $1000 range) that the competitors have offerings in. The solitary Macbook is whacked. There is no engineering deliver blocker there other than zero effort on Apple's part.
(similar to letting the Mac mini run comatose for several years with some whacked constraints that don't really ad customer value. ]
 
I should note, that yes.... i AM waiting for that pricing void to be filled as well... and that has been the only thing keeping me from buying an HP netbook.

+1

I'm pretty sure can go back and find the "Apple is suppose to have prices out of line with the market" posts that similarly explained why there would not be a sub $100 ipod or a $99 iPhone.

Hmm, those both exist at this point at the Apple store. Likewise have been mentioned as necessary by Apple in these conference calls so that the market doesn't get umbrella pricing effect and Apple gets attacked from the bottom.
[ iPod is different because market share dominate, where on the computers where dominate, many years ago, but now have been pummeled into a minor share .... in part because did the umbrella pricing strategy. ]

Apple is doing something weird. There is a $500 gap between the Macbook and the top of this "can't build for that price range". It is almost as if they are holding it open so that some of their products don't overlap as opposed to could not come to market with a device in that range. Or just don't want to sell anything for less that $1,000 ( rounded $999 is a $1k).

The even bigger odd-ball is the MacBook Air. A quality, sub $999 version consumer line packaged equivalent would probably drop its sales precipitously. The $1,000 chasm between the MBA and netbooks is huge.


There are few "deliver customer values" aspects for this. Lots more with Apple only wanting to do a subset of the various markets. Or holding open a slot for a more expensive Touch/Phone. The latter is somewhat problematic when Apple is holding back Mac OS X computer sales to open door for iPhone OS sales.

The clear thing that Apple needs to do is not match netbooks but to match the consumer line ( above netbook and $1000 range) that the competitors have offerings in. The solitary Macbook is whacked. There is no engineering deliver blocker there other than zero effort on Apple's part.
(similar to letting the Mac mini run comatose for several years with some whacked constraints that don't really ad customer value. ]
 
So iPhone OS isn't crippling? At least on XP I can install whatever apps I want.

Aside from the fact you maybe install ANY app you want.. the netbook will freeze up with anything graphic or CPU intensive, so enjoy your bloated pc of plastic that just froze up trying to play a 3D game, or Photoshop, Video editing package etc.. Installing apps and having them run well is the point you clearly missed.

XP cripples the hardware it's on, if people don't get the basic facts of what resouces Windows needs to run they should do a bit of research on the topic. The netbook average setup 1.6 atom, 1gig ram, generic graphics chip out of the box runs XP until you then have to load all the spyware/antivirus/firewall crap just to run windows half a$$ safe and secure.

The iPhone OS does exactly what is is intended to do without having to install all the other crap just to run safely. I can edit photo's play HD video, play Youtube, Slingbox etc.. and so on with my iPhone as is, no additional software needed. Oh.. almost forgot I can also play 3D graphic intensive games very well.

Good luck watching anything remotely HD or HQ even on a XP netbook. Netbooks with Linux can be a fairly capable machine aside from the poor designs of the actual device. XP is a resource hog, bottom line, everyone knows this. That was the point of my stating it cripples netbooks.
 
Poor user satisfaction from netbooks is one of the biggest loads of crap apple has spewed, and theyve spewed a lot of crap before. They probably have the highest satisfaction rate of any laptop device, theyre toys and people who have them love them like a toy. Not to mention theyre so cheap that its hard to have buyer remorse. They need a new argument because that is just a ridiculous accusation.

Maybe its hard to make a netbook that reaches such high levels of pride that only the apple headphones, Mighty Mouse, and Hi-Fi can provide.
 
I don't think Apple is worried about a $499 laptop/netbook being hated by the world, they just don't want to lose those huge profit margins. Apple, more so than any other company, would be able to pull off a $399-$499 device that consumers love... they're just more about their "premium" image.

I'm thinking the $99 iPhone 3G and the $79 iPod Shuffle lay your theory--which is indirectly riffing off an annoying stereotype of Mac users anyway--to waste. Maybe Apple intentionally maintains an image of being a "premium" product in the computer market, but not across the entire range of its products.

There's not a lot of reason to disbelieve what was said today. I work in an environment of Macs and PCs and, without any doubt, the less expensive PCs have the highest degree of hardware failures. Dead displays, malfunctioning keyboards, hard drives dying, RAM issues, dead USB ports, etc. A lot of third-party stats and consumer polling out there supports that observation. Seems to me that Apple takes an unusual amount of pride in the quality of their computers and that translates to higher prices and an unwillingness to compete in the low-end. I don't think it has a lot to do with maintaining an image.

Poor user satisfaction from netbooks is one of the biggest loads of crap apple has spewed, and theyve spewed a lot of crap before. They probably have the highest satisfaction rate of any laptop device

"Probably." Nice weasel wording there but do you have any hard data to back that "probably" up? I mean, I wouldn't want to assume you're spewing a lot of crap as you're accusing Apple of doing.
 
Poor user satisfaction from netbooks is one of the biggest loads of crap apple has spewed, and theyve spewed a lot of crap before. They probably have the highest satisfaction rate of any laptop device, theyre toys and people who have them love them like a toy. Not to mention theyre so cheap that its hard to have buyer remorse. They need a new argument because that is just a ridiculous accusation.

Maybe its hard to make a netbook that reaches such high levels of pride that only the apple headphones, Mighty Mouse, and Hi-Fi can provide.

Actually poor user satisfaction is the biggest problem with netbooks.

The average consumer has unrealistic expectations.
 
"Probably." Nice weasel wording there but do you have any hard data to back that "probably" up? I mean, I wouldn't want to assume you're spewing a lot of crap as you're accusing Apple of doing.
Word of mouth. Not a lot of people complaining about netbooks, lots of people praising netbooks.

Actually poor user satisfaction is the biggest problem with netbooks.

The average consumer has unrealistic expectations.
That doesnt say anything about poor satisfaction, just high satisfaction. The most important thing to consider would be what percentage of people were dissatisfied, but it doesnt give those numbers.
 
Poor user satisfaction from netbooks is one of the biggest loads of crap apple has spewed, and theyve spewed a lot of crap before. They probably have the highest satisfaction rate of any laptop device, theyre toys and people who have them love them like a toy. Not to mention theyre so cheap that its hard to have buyer remorse. They need a new argument because that is just a ridiculous accusation.

Maybe its hard to make a netbook that reaches such high levels of pride that only the apple headphones, Mighty Mouse, and Hi-Fi can provide.

Then why is there a 30% return rate on netbooks? If they are so loved by the masses.
 
For those of you who are defending your Netbooks, I say great - if they meet your needs, fantastic!

I wouldn't argue against Netbooks - I would argue that Apple has no business selling them.

Let the Asus and Dells of the world fight over the scraps under the table while Apple eats the prime rib up above. Dell's race to the bottom (where market share trumps profit) has been a catastrophic strategy. Cheapening your brand is never a good idea.

Remember the Porsche 914? How about the Cadillac Cimmarron?

Epic blunders.

Your brand suffers when you target the bottom feeders.

Apple has no business creating products for the bargain bin. No business at all.
 
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