I told Mike, via Curtis: “MacBook Air: It’s what left in your pocket if you buy one.”
I don’t like this price, $1799. Although it may sell, I don’t see the value proposition. At a different price, maybe.
I’m sure it’s really cool in person and a status symbol type of product … but we’ve had one of those in the Mac lineup already recently, and it was called the Power Macintosh G4 Cube. (I was there at the keynote when it was introduced. I have the “actual size” poster. I’ve got a Post-I™ on the poster which adds “Actual product lifespan: 11 months.”)
Maybe Apple’s recent history of defying sense and logic with its increasing sales will continue with this notebook. They sell more Macs than ever before, after doing very little to update the lineup since before the Intel Macs debuted. I don’t get it.
I want Apple’s system prices to go down, rather than up, but they’ve gone up lately. In 2008, we’ve seen a thin $1799 laptop, and an eight-core Mac Pro that costs $300 more than it did last year.
The MacBook Air also has an interesting set of compromises: no FireWire, one USB 2.0 port, no built-in Ethernet (although with a USB Ethernet adapter optional), no accessible components, and integrated battery. It’s almost a sys admin’s nightmare, unless I’m missing something.
Oh, and boo on the new acronym: “MBA.”