Jobs on Mac Netbooks: Not Yet, But...

[Vulpinemac]

Wouldn't Apple be able to sell more computers by offering a mid-tower design for about $1200? *snip* I would love to see a Mac mid-tower that looks a lot like Dell's Inspiron. The fact that most PC desktops are mid-towers and Apple doesn't make one STILL kinda surprises me, especially when they have such a jones for the MacBook Air (twice the price, half the guts!).

By mid-tower are you talking about a machine 15" tall and has to sit on a separate shelf or cupboard in order to leave desktop space open for other purposes? To me that's a full tower, not a mid-.

However, maybe some enlarged version of the Mac Mini would serve... say, 6 to 8 inches tall, about the same deep and about 6 inches wide... similar, perhaps, to the Shuttle and some other compact PCs I've seen and built. Give it all the power of the iMac while making it possible to upgrade video (as can be done in the Pro,) double or even quadruple the amount of on-board RAM, etc. Now that would be nice.

 

[Sulley Muntari]

Netbooks are toys for little children to play with.

 

[azshopper]

I agree. I don't see the market for people needing something between an iPhone and the Macbook Air. Seriously, are there those of you out there that need something like that?

I think it isn't a market in north America where you can haul your 13"/15" in your car. But those netbooks are very popular in Asia where most people don't drive and they have to carry the laptop + power supply waiting in the bus stop. Japan is a very good example, subnotebook is very popular over there for leisure and business usage. Macbook Air is considered to be heavy over there.

 

[Vulpinemac]

Netbooks; Laptops; Don't want 'em.

What's the draw to a Netbook? Low cost? Tiny size? Sheesh! They still have clamshell opening and take up too much space when open. PDAs? iPhone? iPod Touch? Too small!

I want something about the size of a trade paperback that is nothing but display unit. If you have to have a cover over it, let it be something that can fold back completely out of the way so you can hold it with one hand and operate it with the other; and yet be big enough to comfortably read a page of standard-sized text for reading e-books and other documents while still having reasonable web browsing and other functional capabilities.

Do I want a tablet? Yes. But so far nobody, not even Amazon, has come up with anything I even remotely like. And honestly, that little tablet that was #25 on the Amazon Top 25 list linked earlier was not only ugly, but wasted too much space with a physical keyboard.

Apple has proven they can make a functional device using only one physical key and a combination of multi-touch and virtual keys. Make it bigger--book sized 5"x9"--with most of the capabilities of the MacBook Air, and then I'll buy. Until then, I'll stick to what I have until it dies of old age.

 

[djellison]

Netbooks are toys for little children to play with.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov2kJMTK62c&feature=related

There's a netbook - doing EVERY DAMN THING of day to day computing, under OSX, and doing it quickly, smoothly, and with stunning performance. Expose working perfectly. 20 windows open whilst playing a movie - smooth as anything. Safari. Mail. iTunes.

THEY ARE NOT TOYS. THEY ARE FANTASTIC NOTEBOOK COMPUTERS.


Take off the MSI badge, put on an Apple badge - you would stop calling it a toy and call it the greatest revelation in computing.

Admit it - Apple are behind the times. No bluray in their high-end stuff because they're unable to do what Dell, HP, Toshiba, Sony, Lenovo, Acer et.al. have done and get the licencing sorted ( utterly pathetic ) and no sub-notebook like every other manufacturer can manage because they can't figure out how to make one that doesnt 'suck'

I'm rapidly leaning towards an MSI wind (with VGA out, three USB ports, and a memory card reader) rather than the new MB with it's reflectovision screen, £20 adaptors for external displays, two USB ports rammed too close together and no card reader.

What I wouldn't give to march into an Apple board meeting and rattle their snobbish, blinkered, crazy minds. I love the OS ( although it drives me to dispair sometimes ) but the hardware they demand their users buy to use that OS being specified by utter mentalists.

Doug

 

[NT1440]

Again, I sense that for some reason here people think that Apple is in the wrong for not making a notebook.

 

[djellison]

Again, I sense that for some reason here people think that Apple is in the wrong for not making a notebook.

I think people are in the wrong for continually refering to sub-notebooks as toys, simply because Apple don't make one.

The problem ( and it is unique to Apple ) is that the choice of OS is links to the choice of Hardware.

If I want to run XP or Vista - I can have a sodding great 19" laptop with Full HD, I can have a tablet, a sub-notebook, a Blu-ray equipped 15", I can have any sort of machine I can possibly imagine, and because there are so many, I can have it cheaply.

It is frustrating beyond words to have what I consider some monumentally bone-headed decision choices put infront of me as the only laptop options to use OSX with. There is no technical reason for Apple to not produce a blu-ray equipped laptop, or a 10" sub-notebook. They just decide not too - and it's frustrating as hell.

Doug

 

[djellison]

Netbooks are toys .

ARHGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHGHGHG

You are so so so damn wrong it's not even funny. I pity you for being so blinkered by Steve Jobs - I really do.

 

[NT1440]

There is no technical reason for Apple to not produce a blu-ray equipped laptop, or a 10" sub-notebook. They just decide not too - and it's frustrating as hell.

Doug

Does every company do everything people think they should?

I'm not saying that the netbook is a toy or anything (i just happened to post after your post) and yes they COULD bring one to market. Then again they could bring a car to market, a gaming rig to the market, etc. All im really saying is that just because they have the means doesnt mean they have to or should.

 

[djellison]

just because they have the means doesnt mean they have to or should.

Obviously. It's all opinion based. I just can not comprehend the decision making processes that are going on at Cupertino right now. They're doing some things that I find jaw droppingly stupid, and they're not doing things that a palm-on-forehead obvious.

With XP - I can have any sort of machine I want. With OSX, I'm stuck paying 50% more, to buy whatever it is Apple thinks I should have. It's the dissonance between the OS I want, and the laptop I want not being from the same company.

And then, whatever hardware Apple makes, the Apple fanboy network claim is the best ( when often, it isn't ) and anything they don't make is a toy or some other derisory comment. Yet - the moment they start making something that other people have been doing for some time, and usually, have been doing it better - suddenly the Apple one is the best. Steve Jobs does it - something is rubbish until it's a feature, then it's pure brilliance. Apple is a very very hard company to like sometimes.

Doug

 

[hithere]

Blu Ray? Why?
CD's and DVD's are going to die. I wish Apple removed the drive from its MB's and MBP's and gave a decent external one as an option.

 

[hithere]

And I would not like to sound as a fanboy, but when Apple will come out with a subnotebook/tablet/netbook/whatever, I think (and I hope) it will have the same quality of the iPhone or of their laptops (forget about the new screens, which I don't love).

And no, I can bet that there will not be anything on the supercheap side. You want cheep and low quality, get something else.

 

[DanBUK]

I think people are in the wrong for continually refering to sub-notebooks as toys, simply because Apple don't make one.

The problem ( and it is unique to Apple ) is that the choice of OS is links to the choice of Hardware.

If I want to run XP or Vista - I can have a sodding great 19" laptop with Full HD, I can have a tablet, a sub-notebook, a Blu-ray equipped 15", I can have any sort of machine I can possibly imagine, and because there are so many, I can have it cheaply.

It is frustrating beyond words to have what I consider some monumentally bone-headed decision choices put infront of me as the only laptop options to use OSX with. There is no technical reason for Apple to not produce a blu-ray equipped laptop, or a 10" sub-notebook. They just decide not too - and it's frustrating as hell.

Doug

It will come but not until the rest of the ecosystem is in place. Apple has a very certain style when releasing brand new products- it always has an internal logic and integration.

MobileMe is one link, but will need to be developed.

I can forsee a real push by Apple toward Cloud computing coming but things are still "nascent". Possibly a web-based iWork utility suite a la google docs (hopefully less annoyingly buggy) and a relaunch of iDisk.
materialising.

I also believe that it will be an upscaling of the iPhone rather than a cheapening and shrinking of the MacBook- Apple will herald it as a new category, and take the glory for making cloud computing viable.

Also- there is no way it will manage all that above and be a professional class tablet for creative design. Can't see it.

Late '09 earliest. (IMHO)

 

[DMann]

Blu Ray? Why?
CD's and DVD's are going to die. I wish Apple removed the drive from its MB's and MBP's and gave a decent external one as an option.

Digital Hollographic Disk (DHD) and/or Holographic Versatile Disc are next, along with Programmable Metallization Cell (Terabyte Flash on a USB stick)

Blu-Ray support will likely be included in Snow Leopard, along with fast H.264 encoding, but Blu-Ray, as well as CDs and HD-DVDs will all likely be soon phased-out (by way of the floppy disk) as Metallization Cell Memory is introduced. No more worry about degradation of discs, or having rooms filled with spindles to store them on - I am greatly looking forward to this.

 

[highjumppudding]

if apple HAS to conform to netbooks or cheap prices, they will. but apple is doing well and will continue to do well in a recession. before i quit working at apple in january the managers kept saying over and over that apple will continue to be strong even through a recession (and apple retail would still have jobs).

 

[localoid]

if apple HAS to conform to netbooks or cheap prices, they will. but apple is doing well and will continue to do well in a recession. before i quit working at apple in january the managers kept saying over and over that apple will continue to be strong even through a recession (and apple retail would still have jobs).

I remember visiting IBM in the 90s and hearing their people talk about how their Micro Channel bus was going to win the Battle of the (IBM) Clones. They thought that largely due to group think.

Just saying...

 

[latchthekid]

Alright, so I tried to paste my previous post from another thread but it got deleted for repeating posts... So I am just gonna link to my post. If you read it, please do, let me know what you think guys. Thanks.

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=6473129#post6473129

 

[Pablo]

I'm rapidly leaning towards an MSI wind (with VGA out, three USB ports, and a memory card reader) rather than the new MB with it's reflectovision screen, £20 adaptors for external displays, two USB ports rammed too close together and no card reader.

Do it. It requires a little effort to swap out the WiFi card, but once done you have a very nice little machine. If you can install RAM (which you should also do while you are opening the case) you can install a new WiFi card.

I'm really enjoying mine.

 

[johnmcboston]

Blu Ray? Why?
CD's and DVD's are going to die. I wish Apple removed the drive from its MB's and MBP's and gave a decent external one as an option.

So I can play blu ray movies without buying a really expensive TVs... 'round silver media' may certainly die, but it's still a long way off...

 

[koobcamuk]

Take off the MSI badge, put on an Apple badge - you would stop calling it a toy and call it the greatest revelation in computing.

Rubbish. What screen size is that? My friend had (note had) an eeePC and I have my 12" PB G4. My G4 has a 250GB Hard Drive, Photoshop, Office, all the software I need and all on Leopard. The eeePc is only good for what, emailing? my iPhone does that better. I can't see how the eeePC is better than my 12" PowerBook. Even if Apple made one, I wouldn't get it. Tablet, maybe, netbook in notebook format, no way. My 12" PowerBook is portable and I have 3 batteries and can take it anywhere.

Netbooks are toys at this stage. You can't work properly on something so damn tiny (sub 11" screen) for any real length of time. Useless to many.

 

[pmpknetr21]

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov2kJMTK62c&feature=related

There's a netbook - doing EVERY DAMN THING of day to day computing, under OSX, and doing it quickly, smoothly, and with stunning performance. Expose working perfectly. 20 windows open whilst playing a movie - smooth as anything. Safari. Mail. iTunes.

THEY ARE NOT TOYS. THEY ARE FANTASTIC NOTEBOOK COMPUTERS.


Take off the MSI badge, put on an Apple badge - you would stop calling it a toy and call it the greatest revelation in computing.

Admit it - Apple are behind the times. No bluray in their high-end stuff because they're unable to do what Dell, HP, Toshiba, Sony, Lenovo, Acer et.al. have done and get the licencing sorted ( utterly pathetic ) and no sub-notebook like every other manufacturer can manage because they can't figure out how to make one that doesnt 'suck'

I'm rapidly leaning towards an MSI wind (with VGA out, three USB ports, and a memory card reader) rather than the new MB with it's reflectovision screen, £20 adaptors for external displays, two USB ports rammed too close together and no card reader.

What I wouldn't give to march into an Apple board meeting and rattle their snobbish, blinkered, crazy minds. I love the OS ( although it drives me to dispair sometimes ) but the hardware they demand their users buy to use that OS being specified by utter mentalists.

Doug

Dude, get over yourself. "Utter mentalists"? Check the pace at which Apple sells notebooks and desktops versus the rest of the industry; they outpace everyone. Check out Amazon's top 20 selling portables; it's only Macs and netbooks. Read the run-down for Apple's latest earnings call earlier this week and see how great the company is doing. Utter mentalists? Mmm, not so much.

Now, if you wanna get frustrated because of the passion and brand loyalty that Macheads have for Apple and don't always give other cpu manufacturers just credit, then do so. But don't go off on an unfounded tangent about Apple's Senior Leadership team's inability to deliver stunning products. They choose to develop and sell what they want, and the company is better for it. If your pissed 'cause they don't make a netbook or include Blu-Ray support, then go buy an Asus and Dell and call it a day.

 

[kingtj]

Has nothing to do with Apple, really ....

Like I said earlier, I already *own* an Asus eeePC "netbook", so I'm pretty familiar with the things first-hand.

I *do* still have to agree with those who'd label these "netbooks" as toys, because ultimately, that's all you can really categorize them as!

I have yet to meet ANYONE who bought one because it met all their computing requirements, and who is now using it as a primary machine. I have yet to meet anyone who even bought one and was able to then use it as their only "portable device" without finding it lacking!

When you ask people (yes, myself included) WHY we bought one? It boils down to being fascinated with the small size and some kind of "fuzzy idea" in our heads that surely, we could find SOME cool use for such a thing.

If Apple made one today, and made it comparable to what the competition offers, it wouldn't change my opinion a bit. I'd still say it's essentially just a "neat toy". I think it'd sell pretty well, because it's cheap, would run OS X, and people would make excuses for why they want/need one. (EG. Hey, I could throw it in a toolbox and take it with me when I need to reprogram phone systems, or routers, or ??)

So far, my eeePC has spent more time getting alternate OS's loaded on it (playing around with my options) than it has getting any useful work done for me whatsoever. I'm really starting to realize that my Apple iPhone gets MUCH more real work done for me, because it's smaller than a "netbook" and has better battery life, always has a connection wherever I have cellular signal (not JUST wi-fi), and all of its apps are designed for its small screen.

These "netbooks" use non-standard sized LCD displays, but try to run applications originally written assuming you had larger screens. You wind up scrolling everything around just to see all of your program, and wasting a lot of time tinkering with adjusting font sizes and so forth. It's just not that practical.

I think people are in the wrong for continually refering to sub-notebooks as toys, simply because Apple don't make one.
Doug

 

[pmpknetr21]

Does every company do everything people think they should?

I'm not saying that the netbook is a toy or anything (i just happened to post after your post) and yes they COULD bring one to market. Then again they could bring a car to market, a gaming rig to the market, etc. All im really saying is that just because they have the means doesnt mean they have to or should.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! You said it perfectly.

Everybody thinks that Apple should do this or that because Apple has so much success with everything else, that they could do this or that really well also. But like NT1440 said, just because they can doesn't mean they should.

Besides, ever stop to think that maybe Apple is successful because of the things they chose NOT to do? They're methodical in their process and will (usually) take the time necessary to develop a product right.

 

[Urenstaat]

I just can not comprehend the decision making processes that are going on at Cupertino right now. They're doing some things that I find jaw droppingly stupid, and they're not doing things that a palm-on-forehead obvious.

With XP - I can have any sort of machine I want. With OSX, I'm stuck paying 50% more, to buy whatever it is Apple thinks I should have.
Doug

I couldn't agree more. The 13-inch The MacBook Air (nothing more than an overpriced thin but otherwise normal notebook) should have been a 10-inch Mac Netbook. Not too thin, just a small footprint. Give it 2x USB 2.0, Displayport, Ethernet, audio out & in (so you can use it to record interviews), wel basically give it what the MSI Wind or the Lenevo S10 has (latter has even an ExpressCard slot!). Not thin, but small footprint!! That's what matters in a netbook. The Air is such a stupid concept..

A 10-inch netboook screen is typically 1024 x 600 pixels. Well, guess what? My old iBook and 12-inch Powerbook both had 1024 x 768 pixels. I've used both professionally for 3 + 4 = 7 years. Yes, the screen is small, but workable.. Of course, most people buy it as a second, or third machine.. For lots of other people, it's all they need. My sister is not interested in computers at all, still she needs one to log into her schools intranet from home. I advised her to buy a MSI Wind. It's really all she needs. And less than 400 euro is all she wants to spent..

 

[rtdunham]

...I'm really starting to realize that my Apple iPhone gets MUCH more real work done for me, because it's smaller than a "netbook" and has better battery life, always has a connection wherever I have cellular signal (not JUST wi-fi), and all of its apps are designed for its small screen.

If apple authorized one of the accessory companies to make a folding keyboard to attach to the iPhone, is there a word processing/note-taking app for the iPhone that would allow students to take notes in class, users to write and edit short documents, etc?