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What exactly is the MBA's target demographic???

Catch said:
OH come on... you do not 'have' to! Its perfectly good as a standalone computer for non processor intensive tasks. Just add the optional super drive and you are all set. :)

Regards,

C
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If you're going to add the optional superdrive, why not just get the regular Macbook, or the Macbook Pro? You'd save $700 on the former, and pay at most $100 extra on the latter. :D
 
heatmiser said:
If you're going to add the optional superdrive, why not just get the regular Macbook, or the Macbook Pro? You'd save $700 on the former, and pay at most $100 extra on the latter. :D
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Because if you use a laptop like me then you only need the super drive to install new software. I never use my drive for anything else on my laptop. Leave it at home and still enjoy it when need be and also have superior portability. I am lucky to have a second computer that has a drive, so I did not order mine with an extra drive, but if I did not I think its a pretty good investment...

Obviously you have a point in your post as well :)

C
 
clevin said:
no, of course not. you do realize if you gonna buy a MBA, you need to buy another computer as well, right? MBA is a secondary computer.
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i'll give you a yes and a no on the secondary computer idea. It really depends on what you're doing with it and what you need. This isn't the computer for everybody but for a lot of people it will do just what they need.

For many business users, they need email, internet and running an office suite and not a lot more. The MBA will do all that just fine and be lighter to carry on the road. For many business people this will be a great computer....and less expensive than a MBP.

On the other hand, for a graphics pro or a video pro......you're right, it's unlikely to be the only computer they have. They can have the Mac Pro for the heavy work and a MBA for travel to meet with clients, etc.

It really all depends on what you need.
 
dukebound85 said:
yup it has lol
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... but it sure is hard to stop discussing it while waiting for it to arrive! I tried talking to my wife about it and she stared at me blankly for a while and said, "whatever... when is mine arriving?" The nerve!

I guess she is yet another demographic! The ones that just like it for the looks but could care less about the technology that went into making it. :eek::mad::D

Oh and I think if I tried to fit her in the Paris Hilton group I would have to pack my suitcases!

C
 
Macky-Mac said:
For many business users, they need email, internet and running an office suite and not a lot more. The MBA will do all that just fine and be lighter to carry on the road. For many business people this will be a great computer....and less expensive than a MBP.

It really all depends on what you need.
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I think for MBA, its MORE than what you NEED. for all the functions you mentioned, You can do it with ASUS EEE, with cheap price and even less weight.

Its more than what you NEED.
 
dukebound85 said:
well when a mb is more powerful than a mba and those who get mbp's get it probably for the video card.....
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Certainly there are people who decide to buy a MBP for the video card but I doubt that's what motivates most MBP buyers because most people aren't doing tasks that require the better video card.......and it doesn't really matter if a MB is more powerful than a MBA if the MBA will do the tasks you need it to do.

dukebound85 said:
....its about buying something for alot when doesnt have alot of features
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on the other hand, there are going to be plenty of people who will look at the MBA and say it's cheaper than a MBP and does what they need so it's a great value.....features are fine if you need and use them, but worthless if you don't
 
dukebound85 said:
i agree. however what im getting at is you NEED a computer that has an optical drive, that has more than 1 usb porta and has speakers i could go on
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I'm a student. I use a USB hub. I've used my optical drive thus far this school year. I use headphones. I don't use an external monitor. I don't own anything that uses FireWire. If the MacBook Air came out last year, I would have sprung for that over my BlackBook because the sacrifices that a MBA requires are sacrifices that I'm willing to make.

dukebound85 said:
im interested if you know these students that will pay a premium for a crippled machine as i must be going to all the wrong schools and be in the wrong social circles....
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I work at my school's bookstore. I can't even count on my fingers the amount of people that came in asking if we had any MacBook Airs in stock. Same for the day after. And the day after that.

"Crippled" is subjective. Do you really need that much processing power? Do you really need that many USB ports? Do you really need more internal speakers? If so, you're not within the MacBook Air's target market, which is a group of people that are willing to pay more for a still competent and more portable machine.

Running over 3 miles every day between lecture halls and discussion rooms with my MacBook in my backpack isn't exactly fun for me and I'm sure it's not very good for my back. If I could sacrifice things to reduce the weight (and thickness, some lecture halls are rather cramped) of my backpack, it would be the optical drive that I rarely use, the speakers that aren't very loud anyway, and the extraneous USB ports that I never use.
 
Macky-Mac said:
on the other hand, there are going to be plenty of people who will look at the MBA and say it's cheaper than a MBP and does what they need so it's a great value.....features are fine if you need and use them, but worthless if you don't
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sounds like you are counting on ppl making uninformed decisions...

If I could sacrifice things to reduce the weight (and thickness, some lecture halls are rather cramped) of my backpack
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oh please, cramped lecture hall..for that 1"?
 
clevin said:
I think for MBA, its MORE than what you NEED. for all the functions you mentioned, You can do it with ASUS EEE, with cheap price and even less weight.

Its more than what you NEED.
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true enough......many, or even most, people don't really NEED all of the features and power that new computers have
 
clevin said:
sounds like you are counting on ppl making uninformed decisions...
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you think it's an uiniformed decision to save money by buying a computer that meets their needs instead of buying a more expensive MBP that they don't really need??
 
Macky-Mac said:
you think it's an uiniformed decision to save money by buying a computer that meets their needs instead of buying a more expensive MBP that they don't really need??
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lol, no, of course not, I think we all know what I meant. its an uninformed decision to buy a laptop with high price when they can get another one for 1/5 the price.
 
Macky-Mac said:
Certainly there are people who decide to buy a MBP for the video card but I doubt that's what motivates most MBP buyers because most people aren't doing tasks that require the better video card.......and it doesn't really matter if a MB is more powerful than a MBA if the MBA will do the tasks you need it to do.



on the other hand, there are going to be plenty of people who will look at the MBA and say it's cheaper than a MBP and does what they need so it's a great value.....features are fine if you need and use them, but worthless if you don't
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well you asked why is it for rich people when mbp's cost a little more. those are some reasons. some people like more functionality in their computer and want to pay for it as it's justified. some people want to game or do solid modeling so its not an issue to pay more. however, there is NOTHING the mba can do that the mb cant. thats my point

butterfly0fdoom said:
I'm a student. I use a USB hub. I've used my optical drive thus far this school year. I use headphones. I don't use an external monitor. I don't own anything that uses FireWire.



I work at my school's bookstore. I can't even count on my fingers the amount of people that came in asking if we had any MacBook Airs in stock. Same for the day after. And the day after that.

"Crippled" is subjective. Do you really need that much processing power? Do you really need that many USB ports? Do you really need more internal speakers? If so, you're not within the MacBook Air's target market, which is a group of people that are willing to pay more for a still competent and more portable machine.

Running over 3 miles every day between lecture halls and discussion rooms with my MacBook in my backpack isn't exactly fun for me and I'm sure it's not very good for my back. If I could sacrifice things to reduce the weight (and thickness, some lecture halls are rather cramped) of my backpack, it would be the optical drive that I rarely use, the speakers that aren't very loud anyway, and the extraneous USB ports that I never use.
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crippled is not subjective. when a mb can do all that and more for alot cheaper how can you say it's anything but crippled? im curious

i dont take my laptop to class as im old fashioned and take notes by hand. however, the weight of books doesnt bother me. i mean its what like a max of 40lbs? in a backpack nonetheless

all im saying is pretty much all my friends use there laptops to double as
1) dvd players
2) jukeboxes
3) for cameras
4) and maybe connect external hd and a mouse and maybe a keyboard

the mba struggles with all of these. in my opinion it is INSANE for a student to have this as a sole computer. then INSANE to have it as a secondary one as you could just get a mbp instead
 
clevin said:
sounds like you are counting on ppl making uninformed decisions...
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I'd counter that statement by my own example. I am probably as informed as I could possibly be about computers and am happily buying a MBA.

I have OSX, XP, Vista, and Linux systems here at my home and office. I can and still do build my own systems, but that doesn't mean I can't get the nice stylish slick premium system that does exactly what I want.

EDIT: I'd also reiterate that the size and appearance is as valid a feature as processor speed or HD size. A lot of people dismiss this because they personally don't care.
 
Macky-Mac said:
you think it's an uiniformed decision to save money by buying a computer that meets their needs instead of buying a more expensive MBP that they don't really need??
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i think its uninformed to buy a machine thats less capable than a mb for a mbp's price tag.

this is NOT a market for students. it is a small market aimed at professional as far as i can gather
 
dukebound85 said:
this is NOT a market for students. it is a small market aimed at professional as far as i can gather
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I'd agree it's not targeted at students. I would say that Apple's market was traditionally considered to be creative professionals. I'd imagine the overall mobile professional market is a lot larger than the creative professional one. And I don't mean the computer professionals.
 
gothamm said:
professionals?
travelers?
students?
paris hilton types?
super weak anorexic people?


All joking aside, I don't understand who apple is trying to target. I have an analytical mind and like to think about stuff from a business POV.
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Why is this hard to figure out? It's people who want an ultraportable Mac.

It's NOT people who want a MB or a MBP or a MacPro or an iMac.

IT'S ABOUT PORTABILITY. There's no mystery in all this.
 
dukebound85 said:
i think its uninformed to buy a machine thats less capable than a mb for a mbp's price tag.

this is NOT a market for students. it is a small market aimed at professional as far as i can gather
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Actually I think the market aimed at business users is far greater than the student market......and indeed, this isn't a product that's aimed primarily at students
 
eba said:
Why is this hard to figure out? It's people who want an ultraportable Mac.

It's NOT people who want a MB or a MBP or a MacPro or an iMac.

IT'S ABOUT PORTABILITY. There's no mystery in all this.
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how is having a 13inch screen with an identical ftprint as the mb considered an ultrportable lol

if it had a 10 screen id be with you but that makes no sense what you said

ALL you gain is a thinner computer from an already thin mb
 
dukebound85 said:
how is having a 13inch screen with an identical ftprint as the mb considered an ultrportable lol

if it had a 10 screen id be with you but that makes no sense what you said

ALL you gain is a thinner computer from an already thin mb
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You obviously don't travel much. A laptop with a full-size screen and keyboard but that weighs 2-2.5 lbs less than a MB or MBP and is small enough to fit in a briefcase is a big deal.
 
eba said:
You obviously don't travel much. A laptop with a full-size screen and keyboard but that weighs 2-2.5 lbs less than a MB or MBP and is small enough to fit in a briefcase is a big deal.
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there is a problem with the definition of "ultraportable", exactly how do you define it?

Not to mention there are alot of products fit your description, and probably cheaper...
 
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