Apple announcement recap

[David Cake]

At 11:42 AM -0500 19/1/08, Charlton Wilbur wrote:
>On Jan 19, 2008, at 6:42 AM, David Cake wrote:
>
>>Perhaps I'm weird like this, but I know many many people for whom 
>>'work' involves almost entirely writing words, often in a single 
>>document at a time.
>
>Or where it involves almost entirely writing code, often in a single 
>file at a time.

	I write code for a living, and I have to admit I wouldn't do 
it on a sub-notebook. I like to keep reference docs open pretty 
often, I often seem to work on things that require a bit of grunt 
(audio apps, for example), I often need odd ports for stuff.

>>I think most of the complaints about it are from people who aren't 
>>in its target market, and aren't likely to buy one. Though I think 
>>some people who are in its target market are annoyed about the lack 
>>of replacable battery, because they'd really like to use it for 12 
>>hours on a flight over the pacific. Interesting, thuugh, the 
>>biggest complaint from such people seems to be actually screen 
>>width.
>
>I'm in the market for a new laptop - in fact, I am planning to buy a 
>new laptop in February.  I intentionally waited for Macworld so I 
>could see what was on offer.
>
>I'm not sure yet if I'm going to get a MBA.  The last time I bought 
>a laptop, it was the original 12" Powerbook.  I opted for 
>portability over power, and I'm glad I did.  This laptop has seen 
>heavy use for 5 years; I replaced the hard drive myself when it 
>died, and I replaced the keyboard myself when, after 4 years of use, 
>the keys started to wear out and fall off.  I honestly can't see the 
>MBA's hard drive or battery being any harder to replace than an iPod 
>battery or a 12" Powerbook or 12" iBook's battery -- all of which 
>I've done -- and still, I'll have AppleCare for the first 3  years 
>anyway, if that needs to be done.
>
>The fuss about ports isn't a problem for me; as noted, I don't 
>remember the last time I used the Ethernet or phone ports.  (At a 
>guess, Ethernet, when setting up my parents' wireless network, back 
>in 2004 or so; phone, before my parents had a wireless network, in 
>2002-2003.  And I think I've sent 2 or 3 faxes.) The last time I 
>used the FireWire port was when I synched my third-generation iPod; 
>I have never used two USB ports at the same time.
>
>So the choice is between the MBP and the MBA for me: the tradeoff 
>between processor power and portability.  I'm still not sure which 
>way I'll go.  When my employer provided me with a 15" MacBook Pro, I 
>found it on the edge of comfortable as far as size goes; I preferred 
>the smaller 12" Powerbook.  The MBA is offering me a computer with a 
>slightly larger footprint but at about half the weight, with a 
>significant upgrade in processor power and memory capacity than the 
>machine I'm typing this on, and the elimination of several ports I 
>don't use anyway.
>
>So it's not at all obvious to me that this machine is poorly 
>designed or targeting a nonexistent market; in fact, the principal 
>thing it did in my consideration of a notebook is eliminate the 
>MacBook from consideration.
>
>Charlton
>
>
>--
>Charlton Wilbur
>cwilbur at chromatico.net
>cwilbur at gmail.com