What is your mental age?

[A.Goldberg]

I disagree, the iPad has been a hugemongus hit, bringing tablets in vogue precisely because they facilitate casual browsing, entertainment, emailing, and financial endeavors without a laptop in your lap. I see business men traveling with them, service providers repairmen, and weather and news reporters utilizing these devices because...they are convienent.

There are certainly useful applications for the iPad, but as a consumer and in my line of work I don't find it particularly useful. Surely for many they are more useful and cheaper than something like Tablet PC's.

My work gave me an iPad with the primary intention of using it for drug reference. The problem is much the software isn't as comprehensive on the iPad. Additionally, much of the info is web based and when your hospital has tons of dead spots with WiFi and cellular (100 year old brick and stone buildings, underground offices and tunnels, etc) it's very difficult get reliable functionality.

Concerning the relationship between age and iPad adoration, I hated the device when it was released in my early teens (my opinion has only changed slightly over the past seven years). Alternatively, there must be folks much older than me who bought it, cranked up the text size, and found it to be a godsend for its simplicity.

I think for the general consumer market the iPad is great for old people. @Scepticalscribe I think says it best with the consumption vs creation. If Apple made an iPad Pro with OS X, I'd have different feelings.

 

[AngerDanger]

…

And that touch screen was a real pain if you were writing anything of any length. Personally, my 11" MBA (which is an outstanding computer) is a dream to work with (an don) if you are on the move; it weighs very little, is fast and powerful and reliable, and takes up very little space.

Ah, the MacBook Air; there's a product on which my opinion has completely changed since its introduction—I initially disliked it so much that I was inspired to create my first Apple parody video. At age 12, I might not've produced the most insightful work… but it has gone on receive such critical acclaim as:

Anyway, the first MBA was priced higher than MacBooks at the time, shipped sans disk drive (but wasn't netbook-sized), and had one measly USB. I was confused about the applause it received. I was, however, enamored with the new gesture-based trackpad and thought it should be incorporated into every notebook ever. The Magic Mouse was still a year from being released and, although a divisive product, would become my favorite mouse.

Only two years after initial release, the MBA got an update and an 11-inch sibling. Now that it cost less than the entry MacBook and had twice amount of USB (as well as one other port I'm forgetting), I was sold. It still wasn't the Mac for me, but the 11 and 13 inch duo were great computers.

 

[bhodinut]

I got a 7. Not sure if that's good or really bad.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Ah, the MacBook Air; there's a product on which my opinion has completely changed since its introduction—I initially disliked it so much that I was inspired to create my first Apple parody video. At age 12, I might not've produced the most insightful work… but it has gone on receive such critical acclaim as:

View attachment 684633

Anyway, the first MBA was priced higher than MacBooks at the time, shipped sans disk drive (but wasn't netbook-sized), and had one measly USB. I was confused about the applause it received. I was, however, enamored with the new gesture-based trackpad and thought it should be incorporated into every notebook ever. The Magic Mouse was still a year from being released and, although a divisive product, would become my favorite mouse.

Only two years after initial release, the MBA got an update and an 11-inch sibling. Now that it cost less than the entry MacBook and had twice amount of USB (as well as one other port I'm forgetting), I was sold. It still wasn't the Mac for me, but the 11 and 13 inch duo were a great pair of computers.

Generally, I'm pretty much in agreement with your post.

When the MBA first appeared in 2008, it was a beautifully designed computer, - in appearance - which was a triumph of form over substance (much, I suspect, as the rMB is at the moment).

However, at the same time, it was over-priced, and under powered.

Nevertheless, as a middle aged female who travels a lot, I prize portability, - my 15" MBP was too heavy to lug about comfortably, - and in 2010, I bought a MBA, the old, so-called "Rev C".

This was a very fine computer - superb for travelling - but its memory was inadequate at 128 GB (my iTunes alone - just music - is nearly 100GB), and the battery was no great shakes. Still, the portability and speed were impressive.

The MBA really become the computer it always had the potential to be with the upgrades of 2013; that was when a computer which hit the sweet spot of amazing power, awesome portability, stunning battery life, utter reliability, incredible speed, and the possibility of an impressive memory - became available.

My current MBA has 8 GB RAM, and is aCore i7, with 512 GB SSD; this is easily the best computer I have ever had; it has travelled the world with me and I absolutely love it.

 

[Huntn]

Agree it has been a "humungous hit" - it is just that I could never see a use for it for myself.

In essence, it is a device for consuming content - which it does very well, but not for creating it. Creating content - especially written content - is not easy on the iPad.

And that touch screen was a real pain if you were writing anything of any length. Personally, my 11" MBA (which is an outstanding computer) is a dream to work with (an don) if you are on the move; it weighs very little, is fast and powerful and reliable, and takes up very little space.



Great post, which sums up my position perfectly.

You are absolutely right about content creation. I spend a lot of time on my iPad responding to forum posts, as I am now, but for anything I know that will be lengthy or complicated, I go to my Mac.

 

[AngerDanger]

Generally, I'm pretty much in agreement with your post.

In fairness, I seemed really hung up on the single USB port for reasons unknown to me now.

When the MBA first appeared in 2008, it was a beautifully designed computer, - in appearance - which was a triumph of form over substance (much, I suspect, as the rMB is at the moment).

I agree, the original MBA was a striking machine—perhaps more so than the updated wedge design. I think you're right about the rMB. Some obsessive part of me feels odd about the fact that the new MacBook is more like air in lightness than the MacBook Air; a name swap would be enough to assuage it.

… Nevertheless, as a middle aged female who travels a lot, I prize portability, - my 15" MBP was too heavy to lug about comfortably, - and in 2010, I bought a MBA, the old, so-called "Rev C".

That makes sense; sounds like form was a function in your case.

… My current MBA has 8 GB RAM, and is aCore i7, with 512 GB SSD; this is easily the best computer I have ever had; it has travelled the world with me and I absolutely love it.

That's excellent. I've spent the past eight years using a MacBook Pro that's—if GeekBench scores can be trusted—less than half the average performance and twice the weight of your machine. It's amazing what changes in just three or four years.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

In fairness, I seemed really hung up on the single USB port for reasons unknown to me now.

I agree, the original MBA was a striking machine—perhaps more so than the updated wedge design. I think you're right about the rMB. Some obsessive part of me feels odd about the fact that the new MacBook is more like air in lightness than the MacBook Air; a name swap would be enough to assuage it.


That makes sense; sounds like form was a function in your case.

That's excellent. I've spent the past eight years using a MacBook Pro that's—if GeekBench scores can be trusted—less than half the average performance and twice the weight of your machine. It's amazing what changes in just three or four years.

The thing is, I don't doubt that the rMB can be improved - for now, it is an over priced and underpowered machine, just as the MBA was in its first incarnation.

If - and when - the rMB becomes what the MBA has been since 2013 - when it becomes the computer that it had always had the potential to become - in other words, a fast, reliable, powerful, portable computer, then it should ave a future.

As for USB ports, well, that is why the peripherals need to be bought, too. I couldn't do without one, and my MBA also has a Superdrive - I still buy, rip and burn CDs, and play DVDs.