Students who do that stuff will almost (99%) always go with a Macbook instead. It's $700 cheaper, and that's a lot of books, pizza, and other fun stuff. In most cases, the only students who'll pick the Air over the regular will be the ones whose parents foot the bill.
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The Macbook Air: You're all really poor
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Students who do that stuff will almost (99%) always go with a Macbook instead. It's $700 cheaper, and that's a lot of books, pizza, and other fun stuff. In most cases, the only students who'll pick the Air over the regular will be the ones whose parents foot the bill.
I'm impressed with the MBA. If you get an educational discount I think it's a decent value as well.
Oh i so i called this, complaining about the price that is. More to the point though, for me i see the MacBook Air as a luxury item (speaking solely for my self), i have a Macbook from early 2006 and the specs are not that wowing nor jaw dropping enough for me to even consider a MacBook Air. I don't think that makes me cheap, but for my needs i dont need to have "the worlds thinest notebook". A plain old Macbook soots my needs just fine, plus i am pretty sure i can find a large fedex envelope i could fit it in ... if i even needed to mail a notebook. Now if the price had been say, $1299 then i would be all over it. It could be the size of a sheet of plain paper and i wouldn't pay $1799 for it, call to me cheap but i couldnt justify purchasing it. Dont get me wrong it looks awesome, i will definitely be playing with it for a while when i manage to go into my local Apple store
... if i even needed to mail a notebook. Now if the price had been say, $1299 then i would be all over it. It could be the size of a sheet of plain paper and i wouldn't pay $1799 for it, call to me cheap but i couldnt justify purchasing it. Dont get me wrong it looks awesome, i will definitely be playing with it for a while when i manage to go into my local Apple store 
Call me an idiot, but the way everyone is trashing the MBA makes me want to buy it even more.
A lot of people are complaining about the border around the screen, the battery, the speakers, the keyboard colour, and nitpicking at every other component of the MBA, but I think what everyone is really mad about is the price.
If you can't afford it, don't try to convince yourself that it is a crappy machine by pointing out all of its flaws. The MacBook Air, when finally shipped, will function perfectly for what it is meant for.
SO STOP COMPLAINING. There is nothing wrong with it. It was introduced as the world's thinnest laptop, not the world's most powerful laptop. TOO BAD IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT.
Can't wait to buy it when they have it in stores
I can afford it, easily.
Claimed against tax it is only around A$1500 for me, hardly expensive.
It sucks. No option for additional batteries? Seriously? They did it with the iPods, fine. Then the iPhones, which was pushing it. Now this, no f***ing way.
You get this all the time with the iPhone envy as well. Now those folks have a bad case of MBA envy too
... or get our companies to pay for them ... or lump the cost into a contract and get the customer to foot the bill...
What I don't understand, is how Apple can afford to attack a niche of a niche here. I mean, great they're growing again, I'm very happy for it, super nice stuff coming out in the hard & software department. But they're still tiny, no? I don't know about you "rich guys" (gogo dollar gogo) in the US (as the OP was so nice to point out), but here (Western Europe) SOME people have macs, as in 1 on 20/30.
Business people, other then designer related stuff (and art, you know what I mean), don't even look at Apple. So then comes an OS X targeted at business consumers (obviously as looking at the MBA you're basically living on the road and typing on your computer in very close quarters, with no light to see your keyboard, and carrying your laptop 24/7 justifying the weight vs functionality loss. That or you're in jail and really don't have space/light for a normal laptop and might piss off your cellmate cause you too up that extra inch of roomspace!)
Ok so there you are on your airplane with your (pretty) MBA. Since the entire business world runs Windows, of course I'll have a little problem to run those apps in OS X, and for some of you who care, in giant businesses where people allow you to buy MBA's and whatever laptop you wish (not many businesses would even give you the choice of an Apple laptop, too expensive and not compatible in their eyes) they probably write their OWN software, which I guarantee you will run only on Windows or their custom OS. Then you'd have to install XP on your MBA, taking quite a bite in your already small HD, and XP doesn't come for free last time I checked.
While on the road, again, sitting in a tiny space with no light and all that stuff, you are for sure going to want to use that CD drive. I'm the definition of a road "warrior", better yet, a sky warrior if you wish. That means my 'base' machine is a luxury more then it is a basemachine. Your portable becomes your reliable little partner. People handing out CDs at meetings, conferences, happens ALL the time! Do you seriously consider that everyone gets a USB stick at every conference, meeting,..
And then you arrive back in your tiny little hotel room where they charge you by how big your laptop is, and you can't even pick up a DVD to watch in peace before falling asleep.
Then you wake up, in freaking Waikiki and your battery dies, and no way to replace it yourself. Looks like you'll have to wait till you get home, and then some, to get that fixed Bob! But yeah, we're all poor. For the niche it's supposed to fill, good luck.
Business people, other then designer related stuff (and art, you know what I mean), don't even look at Apple. So then comes an OS X targeted at business consumers (obviously as looking at the MBA you're basically living on the road and typing on your computer in very close quarters, with no light to see your keyboard, and carrying your laptop 24/7 justifying the weight vs functionality loss. That or you're in jail and really don't have space/light for a normal laptop and might piss off your cellmate cause you too up that extra inch of roomspace!)
Ok so there you are on your airplane with your (pretty) MBA. Since the entire business world runs Windows, of course I'll have a little problem to run those apps in OS X, and for some of you who care, in giant businesses where people allow you to buy MBA's and whatever laptop you wish (not many businesses would even give you the choice of an Apple laptop, too expensive and not compatible in their eyes) they probably write their OWN software, which I guarantee you will run only on Windows or their custom OS. Then you'd have to install XP on your MBA, taking quite a bite in your already small HD, and XP doesn't come for free last time I checked.
While on the road, again, sitting in a tiny space with no light and all that stuff, you are for sure going to want to use that CD drive. I'm the definition of a road "warrior", better yet, a sky warrior if you wish. That means my 'base' machine is a luxury more then it is a basemachine. Your portable becomes your reliable little partner. People handing out CDs at meetings, conferences, happens ALL the time! Do you seriously consider that everyone gets a USB stick at every conference, meeting,..
And then you arrive back in your tiny little hotel room where they charge you by how big your laptop is, and you can't even pick up a DVD to watch in peace before falling asleep.
Then you wake up, in freaking Waikiki and your battery dies, and no way to replace it yourself. Looks like you'll have to wait till you get home, and then some, to get that fixed Bob! But yeah, we're all poor. For the niche it's supposed to fill, good luck.
Whooo, first post. Been reading the forums for a while and decided it might be time to speak up, seeing as I'm one of the people disappointed by the MBA.
I still don't a Mac and have to use Windows. I'm tired of Windows. I'm tired of my old Dell laptop, which isn't really what I've been looking for. I'm longing to own a "real" computer now to do everything I want, and not have to do different tasks on separate computers.
I've been waiting to buy a Mac for half a year now (first friends told me to wait until Leopard is released, then they told me to wait for MacBook Pro updates - which didn't happen). So a large part of me being grumpy about the MBA is - to be perfectly honest, I'd rather have had a MBP redesign than have a design study of how thin a computer Apple can build.
Anyway, I'm a uni student. I've saved up around 2500 for a new computer, so it's not the cash I lack, but rather a motivation to buy an MBA instead of an MBP. I'll grant you that the MBA is in fact a sexy computer, but apart from that I don;t really see the appeal of the MBA.
As an example... I never bothered to upgrade the RAM or HDD or had to get another battery for my Dell. But the idea that I easily could if I wanted or needed to is quite assuring. You can't do that with the MBA. That kind of makes the MBA more of a disposable toy for me. Use it until it breaks and just throw it away.
Another reason I'm not really getting warm fuzzy feelings i that I'd still need my desktop PC to handle most stuff, which is what I wanted to avoid by getting an MBP. The huge benefit of a MacBook Pro is that it's really powerful for a laptop computer. It doesn't need that much space on your desk either and - let's admit it - even though it's not ultra-slim, the MBP still is really sexy to look at.
And generally that's the attitude of a lot of students. Which is why I see a ton of MacBooks around. It's powerful enough to get the work done. It's small and light enough to be carried to wherever you need it. Speaking of which, the MBA isn't even that portable to justify buying one over a standard MacBook IMHO.
Although I can perfectly see that there are people who fell in love with the design, I fail to see who really needs a computer like this. It just seems like it's some manager toy, some kind of "I'm richer than you" gadget. Although a lot of people could theoretically afford to buy one, quite few like the idea to spend 1600 on a mere toy. At least that's the case for me. If I'm going to spend 1600-1800, I might as well just get a real computer whose only setback is the "huge" 15" footprint and the "huge" MBP weight (which - for a 15" laptop - is still incredibly lightweight).
Oh well, to each their own, but I don't think the MBA will be very popular among students at all.
I still don't a Mac and have to use Windows. I'm tired of Windows. I'm tired of my old Dell laptop, which isn't really what I've been looking for. I'm longing to own a "real" computer now to do everything I want, and not have to do different tasks on separate computers.
I've been waiting to buy a Mac for half a year now (first friends told me to wait until Leopard is released, then they told me to wait for MacBook Pro updates - which didn't happen). So a large part of me being grumpy about the MBA is - to be perfectly honest, I'd rather have had a MBP redesign than have a design study of how thin a computer Apple can build.
Anyway, I'm a uni student. I've saved up around 2500 for a new computer, so it's not the cash I lack, but rather a motivation to buy an MBA instead of an MBP. I'll grant you that the MBA is in fact a sexy computer, but apart from that I don;t really see the appeal of the MBA.
As an example... I never bothered to upgrade the RAM or HDD or had to get another battery for my Dell. But the idea that I easily could if I wanted or needed to is quite assuring. You can't do that with the MBA. That kind of makes the MBA more of a disposable toy for me. Use it until it breaks and just throw it away.
Another reason I'm not really getting warm fuzzy feelings i that I'd still need my desktop PC to handle most stuff, which is what I wanted to avoid by getting an MBP. The huge benefit of a MacBook Pro is that it's really powerful for a laptop computer. It doesn't need that much space on your desk either and - let's admit it - even though it's not ultra-slim, the MBP still is really sexy to look at.
And generally that's the attitude of a lot of students. Which is why I see a ton of MacBooks around. It's powerful enough to get the work done. It's small and light enough to be carried to wherever you need it. Speaking of which, the MBA isn't even that portable to justify buying one over a standard MacBook IMHO.
Although I can perfectly see that there are people who fell in love with the design, I fail to see who really needs a computer like this. It just seems like it's some manager toy, some kind of "I'm richer than you" gadget. Although a lot of people could theoretically afford to buy one, quite few like the idea to spend 1600 on a mere toy. At least that's the case for me. If I'm going to spend 1600-1800, I might as well just get a real computer whose only setback is the "huge" 15" footprint and the "huge" MBP weight (which - for a 15" laptop - is still incredibly lightweight).
Oh well, to each their own, but I don't think the MBA will be very popular among students at all.
So if the Macbook Air isn't going to drop in price, when will we see Macbook Pro updates? Is it going to be as unofficial as the Mac Pro updates one week prior to MacWorld? I'd rather spend a couple of hundred more than get a fancy Macbook Air...
Yeah, I think they might be upgraded silently within the next month. Nothing huge though, probably introducing Penryns and maybe a slight GPU upgrade along with bigger HDDs?
I'd really love to get the most out of my new computer, after buying cheap rubbish for quite some time now. I know MBPs are still relatively good, but it's still last year's tech for this year's price, so I'd rather wait some more.
My Dell kind of sucks, though... so having to wait even longer (after waiting for half a year now) really puts a strain on me
Honestly people, I don't know why there is so much hostility regarding the new MacBook Air. I for one agree and think this new system won't appeal to everyone regardless of the price! And for those of you who seem to moan and whine about the lack of ports just goes to prove one thing... You're new to Apple!
As for the rest of us who's been using Mac since System 7 or prior will remember the beautifully crafted, light weight and certainly compact PowerBook Duo series which did everything their bigger brother could do though it's but slightly underpowered, it lacked all the ports, except a serial and a expansion port for a dock.
Today's the new MBA has many more ports and lots of expansion possibilities via the USB2. Unlike the original Apple Serial Bus, the USB will support multiple devices via a hub. Then a digital video port for presentation/projectors plus the super fast 802.11n! And your still feckin' moaning. Jesus!
Seriously, this machine isn't for the mainstream crowd. It's target are those who really miss the Duo and would like an updated model that'll handle everything they need without the excess weight and useless accessories such as a DVD drive.
On a down side, I dunno why Apple couldn't make the system battery break the five hour barrier it seems PC sub-notebooks are going towards double figures and all the Apple range are still hovering around five. It's not like we don't have the technology to achieve this, the technology is here, we've seen it on non-apple machines. Perhaps it's more to do with compactness and cost? Whatever the reason, Apple did archive one thing, the thinest most compact yet useable laptop - it's still not the lightest!
As for the rest of us who's been using Mac since System 7 or prior will remember the beautifully crafted, light weight and certainly compact PowerBook Duo series which did everything their bigger brother could do though it's but slightly underpowered, it lacked all the ports, except a serial and a expansion port for a dock.
Today's the new MBA has many more ports and lots of expansion possibilities via the USB2. Unlike the original Apple Serial Bus, the USB will support multiple devices via a hub. Then a digital video port for presentation/projectors plus the super fast 802.11n! And your still feckin' moaning. Jesus!
Seriously, this machine isn't for the mainstream crowd. It's target are those who really miss the Duo and would like an updated model that'll handle everything they need without the excess weight and useless accessories such as a DVD drive.
On a down side, I dunno why Apple couldn't make the system battery break the five hour barrier
it seems PC sub-notebooks are going towards double figures and all the Apple range are still hovering around five. It's not like we don't have the technology to achieve this, the technology is here, we've seen it on non-apple machines. Perhaps it's more to do with compactness and cost? Whatever the reason, Apple did archive one thing, the thinest most compact yet useable laptop - it's still not the lightest! 
Wow how things change in the apple-sphere. The outrage and the perceived lack of "value" in a new product. Hello, when was Apple ever, ever, known for releasing value products? In the last year their stuff has become semi-competitive in price, but it's hardly put in the "value" category.
You pay a premium for Apple stuff because it looks good and does what its designed to do very well. If you want "value" go and buy a freaking Dell. I want one of these for the cool factor alone, even though I can see the drawbacks with their omissions. The portability combined with the fact that this thing looks beautiful makes those omissions almost irrelevant.
I've already planned various ways to get around the omissions, I'll get the external superdrive because it solves the whole no disk drive problem. I'll take the external drive if I know I'm going to be needing it, most of the time it'll probably sit in a drawer. I can plug all my accessories into a usb hub and set it up at my desk. I can walk in, plonk down my Air and plug in one plug and I'm good to go. I don't really need my Music/Music collection with me so I can setup my massive itunes library on another machine and sync my ipods with that, therefor storage on the Air won't really be an issue.
I've never ever changed the battery on a laptop. I see a problem with the machine as a problem with the machine, battery or component. It doesn't matter what's broken because with Apple support I lose it for to weeks. I'm not going to buy another battery to test it out myself first. I'm just going to send it back. The whole integrated battery drama show going on at the moment is silly.
I thought not having a firewire port is a little painful, but with the slow hard drive in these you'd be pretty silly to do much video editing on it anyway.
The size of this thing is what does it for me, I just want to throw it in a bag and go, some people wine about the 13-inch size and that its to big to throw in a bag. It's less than an A4 page guys, come on! What kind of bag are you carrying that you can't fit a freaking A4 page in? Put down the man purse. I'll throw this in a small satchel bag and be out the door, light weight equals win!
Oh and for the "it's a laptop, not a fashion statement" crowd, your clearly shopping at the wrong store, because you don't buy an Apple if you don't care how it looks at least on some level.
Did I miss anything? I'm going to have to start saving I think...
You pay a premium for Apple stuff because it looks good and does what its designed to do very well. If you want "value" go and buy a freaking Dell. I want one of these for the cool factor alone, even though I can see the drawbacks with their omissions. The portability combined with the fact that this thing looks beautiful makes those omissions almost irrelevant.
I've already planned various ways to get around the omissions, I'll get the external superdrive because it solves the whole no disk drive problem. I'll take the external drive if I know I'm going to be needing it, most of the time it'll probably sit in a drawer. I can plug all my accessories into a usb hub and set it up at my desk. I can walk in, plonk down my Air and plug in one plug and I'm good to go. I don't really need my Music/Music collection with me so I can setup my massive itunes library on another machine and sync my ipods with that, therefor storage on the Air won't really be an issue.
I've never ever changed the battery on a laptop. I see a problem with the machine as a problem with the machine, battery or component. It doesn't matter what's broken because with Apple support I lose it for to weeks. I'm not going to buy another battery to test it out myself first. I'm just going to send it back. The whole integrated battery drama show going on at the moment is silly.
I thought not having a firewire port is a little painful, but with the slow hard drive in these you'd be pretty silly to do much video editing on it anyway.
The size of this thing is what does it for me, I just want to throw it in a bag and go, some people wine about the 13-inch size and that its to big to throw in a bag. It's less than an A4 page guys, come on! What kind of bag are you carrying that you can't fit a freaking A4 page in? Put down the man purse. I'll throw this in a small satchel bag and be out the door, light weight equals win!
Oh and for the "it's a laptop, not a fashion statement" crowd, your clearly shopping at the wrong store, because you don't buy an Apple if you don't care how it looks at least on some level.
Did I miss anything? I'm going to have to start saving I think...
Well, there certainly is a fair amount of idiocy in what you wrote. You may be interested in knowing that all economic decisions, including all purchase decisions, are based on a utility vs. price relationship. When people trash the MBA, they implicitly judge it in relation to its price. There is nothing wrong in complaining about this. It is called rational economic behaviour.
I respect the use of your big words, or whatever, but you over thought everything. No one thinks about that when they begin to complain. You may be an expert in economic behavior, but you are certainly not an expert in psychology.
They all think that when they complain. Simple proof: No one would complain if the MBA sold for $100.
This thread is an embarrassment. Are you in high school? Are you spoiled? WTF? I don't care much whether you do or don't have money to throw around, I care about the technology, and discussing the merits of it.
And all this "Oh, I have money" defensiveness is just pathetic. It reminds me of being in high school, the school I went to really wasn't that great at sports and so when losing, some of the spoiled brats that went there would chant "that's alright, that's okay, you're going to work for me some day."
Get a grip, experience humility.
And all this "Oh, I have money" defensiveness is just pathetic. It reminds me of being in high school, the school I went to really wasn't that great at sports and so when losing, some of the spoiled brats that went there would chant "that's alright, that's okay, you're going to work for me some day."
Get a grip, experience humility.
Call me an idiot, but the way everyone is trashing the MBA makes me want to buy it even more.
A lot of people are complaining about the border around the screen, the battery, the speakers, the keyboard colour, and nitpicking at every other component of the MBA, but I think what everyone is really mad about is the price.
If you can't afford it, don't try to convince yourself that it is a crappy machine by pointing out all of its flaws. The MacBook Air, when finally shipped, will function perfectly for what it is meant for.
SO STOP COMPLAINING. There is nothing wrong with it. It was introduced as the world's thinnest laptop, not the world's most powerful laptop. TOO BAD IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT.
Can't wait to buy it when they have it in stores
I can afford it, and as a matter of fact I am buying a Macbook and iMac. Why not an airfarce?
1 USB
no firewire
no ethernet
no expresscard 34
max of 2 gb ram
mono sound
I'm going to end up spending more money on a MB or MBP so dollars aren't an issue; capability is. It just isn't powerful enough and has several severe limitations. I typically go on vacation with a DV camcorder and a laptop, and as time the mood permits, I dumpt off the video to the laptop. No go with the MBA.
regards
Tom
Hehe thats a pretty funny post mate...
For your information my company is not in an "arts" related field. It employs over 200 people. We are OSX only. Even our accounts department is running on Xserve/Xraid under OSX with Parallels for the accounts software. We use Tas Books and Sage which unfortunately is non OSX.
All offsite management use MacBookPros. We will place an order for six MBAs for the senior execs (some that have waited some time on the strength of rumors to upgrade). I am the CFO for the group and I just ordered mine a bit ahead of time with the SSD, as my birthday is on the 11th February and I could not wait for this thing to hit retail
Furthermore, we use a legal team based in Madeira (Portugal), and another in London, that are also OSX based. One of our financial consultants is OSX based and he is in his 60s.
I agree it is not mainstream, but many company execs I have spoken to are actively looking into shifting to OSX.
Regards,
C
when making a $500+ purchase, i try to ask myself - is it gonna be useful?
i had one of those cutting edge 3lb laptops back in '98. it had everything that you'd expect a laptop would have except an optical drive, which came free w/ the $3k price tag. granted, at just under 1", it was a lot thicker than an MBA, but i didn't have to mess around w/ adapters. it had everything - standard vga port, usb, ethernet, and even a single pcmcia slot. to top it off, both the hdd and the ram were easily accessible.
while affordability is a consideration for most folks, i think a lot of MBP users will be willing to spend $2.5k+ on a full-featured laptop that is < 3lbs. in addition, the aesthetic of the MBA is non-offensive at best. i just don't see myself spending $3k+, give up a few hundred mhz, and carry a few adapters on the road. also, the non-expandable memory is like a time bomb waiting to explode - i'm struggling w/ 2gb ram as we speak.
in any case, SJ has smartly priced the 1.6ghz at $1800, which is quite appealing to non-demanding users.
i had one of those cutting edge 3lb laptops back in '98. it had everything that you'd expect a laptop would have except an optical drive, which came free w/ the $3k price tag. granted, at just under 1", it was a lot thicker than an MBA, but i didn't have to mess around w/ adapters. it had everything - standard vga port, usb, ethernet, and even a single pcmcia slot. to top it off, both the hdd and the ram were easily accessible.
while affordability is a consideration for most folks, i think a lot of MBP users will be willing to spend $2.5k+ on a full-featured laptop that is < 3lbs. in addition, the aesthetic of the MBA is non-offensive at best. i just don't see myself spending $3k+, give up a few hundred mhz, and carry a few adapters on the road. also, the non-expandable memory is like a time bomb waiting to explode - i'm struggling w/ 2gb ram as we speak.
in any case, SJ has smartly priced the 1.6ghz at $1800, which is quite appealing to non-demanding users.
No, I think people would be saying: "i know it's only $100, but I would be willing to may an extra 200 if they added this, this, and this."