Have they spoken?
If you only offer glossy, and folks purchase the laptops, have they really made a choice between matte and glossy.
Well, up until recently, HP and Dell both offered a full range of matte and glossy screens. However, people didn't buy them. Dell now only offers one matte option on their consumer lines and HP completely removed the option for a matte screen.
Look at the MacBook. The screen looks 10x better than the iBook screens ever did and it's selling much better than the iBooks ever did. My girlfriend's sister has the last iBook revision and she looks at my MacBook (and HP) screen and gets green with envy over the quality over the colors.
And, again, up until recently, the tens of millions of people who bought Dell, HP, Gateway, etc. with a glossy screen over matte made it clear that people prefer the more vibrant colors and brighter and better overall image of a glossy screen.
I even know someone who bought into all of this "glossy strains your eyes and gives you a headache" nonsense. He was afraid to upgrade from his PowerBook because of the glossy screens being offered. But he saw the glossy and matte MBP side by side in the Apple store and didn't hesitate one second when telling the clerk he wanted the MBP with a glossy screen.
For example, say I want an MBA because it will do what I want. Except it has that darn glossy screen which I dislike. So now I am in a quandary. Do I purchase the MBA because it does what I want but has a screen that is terrible for me? Or do I forgo the MBA purchase because of the screen and not have a computer that I want?
For some, they will go ahead and purchase the MBA and suck it up with the glossy screen. Others like me, the glossy screen becomes a show stopper.
I would really like a Black MB. Love how they look. It would work great for me. I would bump the RAM up to 4GB and the HD to 320GB and be a happy camper except for the glossy screen. Well, and the keyboard. But I can get used to the keyboard. However, the glossy screen is a no go for me.
But seriously, what's wrong with glossy? The poll here might show that people prefer matte, but the millions of MacBook and tens of millions of PC buyers have proven that people in general want glossy screens.
I've been using glossy screens on my notebooks for a couple of years now. Every time I see matte the colors look dull and washed out and it just doesn't appear as "bright" as a glossy screen. I have never once had an issue with reflections or glare, even using my MacBook in a building with very large and uncovered windows facing east in the late afternoon with my screen facing them. I have never been in a situation where any light or anything has had any kind of impact on the screen.
If I did any kind of work that required color accuracy.. well, theres not a notebook on the planet that has a screen good enough for that.
Glossy screens just look better. If someone has a problem with eye strain then they need to have their eyes examined or just not sit in a way where you have a light deliberately reflecting off the screen.