Preface
There has been som really delightful to read news about the MacBook Air lately. Teardowns, analysis, photos of what ever, and insightful comments to all of this. All contributing to widening of the perspective.I Love my MacBook Air. It’s brand new and bests my wishes for a notebook. But the fact is that it is made up partly by OLD technology and HEALTHY compromises. It’s as simple as new packaging. But this time, it might be worth paying attention.
Introduction
The Macbook Air is Apple’s newest product in more ways than are bluntly obvious. The last time we saw a visionary product was the iPhone. And before that it was the titanium PowerBook. And that is quiete a while ago. Enough to blog about it.The macbook air is important because the market is bound to reflect upon it.
And that is exactly what some japanese engineers were doing, unintentionally creating quite a quarrel upon reporting their discoveries.A fresh take on the way we are headed in the portables market is evident in this new product, and I believe it powerful enough for the industri to take notice. Short version; loose the optical drive asap.
The last comparable product was the Titanium PowerBook. With it Apple raised the bar so high that it just recently caught up with the same standard in the most recent macbook pro update. I’m talking about 5.3 lbs and 1” thick, while being a full featured laptop. The newest macbook pro is still heavier than that old g4 PowerBook. And it has been 7 years(!)When it comes to beating the PowerBook G4 Titanium only the new MacBook Air does this when it comes to the experience.
Build finish, color, proportions, curves, weight, feel, sound, etc. of the new MacBook Air simply is in a league of its own. It even makes current Apple laptops look dated.So the MacBook Air is recieving a lot of attention. So Apple’s approach in engineering and designing an experience that users will forgive compromises for and also pay a premium for seems like a good business.
Background
The macbook Air was born out of an envelope. It’s parents are Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ive. I say born, because it still needs to grow up. We will definetely see more of these kind of books in the future.Steve Jobs invented the whole industry. And reinvented with the iPhone, the concept of a computer. But also what its place is in the world, that being the market, in the scheme of products. First with it being personal, and second with it running applications not written by apple, meaning the software market. That is pretty much how the modern IT marketplace is structured today.
Jonathan Ive was able to establish the same with his design. The same way Apple believes in integration of software and hardware and maybe for the same reasons, Jonathan Ive shaped Apple’s way of making products understandable and personal. A personal experience. Not that Jonathan Ive was the inventor of all good product design per se, but he really was the first person to recognize what needed to be done and then doing the solution too.
Apple is now the posterboy for Experience design, a filosophy uncovered by Don Norman. When I called MacBook Air a visionary product above, this is where i edge a sketch. The latest laptop to be designed to add something radical new to the experience is the MacBook Air.
The Experience
The machine is so light, that you don’t comsider is a computer. In effect it put’s (back) into perspective what a modern computer should be. And that is; a screen, a mouse and a keyboard. Only the things you use, anything else than aforementioned is a waste of space (and weight) to ordinary people, when it comes to notebooks.To achieve this all new experience a lot has been “compromised” if you will.There is no optical drive, limited space and only 1 port for periferals. But, if you are a first mover, and a lot of Apple fans are, you probably don’t use these things very often. Chances are, that you wouldn’t mind doing away with them.
Some people don’t value these choices. The macbook Air is basically a 2 year old macbook pro in a new package.In an extended note, I would to make you aware, that sooner or later a computer will be built into everything. But that doesn’t mean everything will be a computer. The mere recognition of a computer as a valid object in itself, is an dated point of view. The real deal lies in utility and functionality. MacBook Air is an advanced notebook. Not a computer.
And the first in the category to be designed with that objective so specifically in mind. MacBook Air a milestone achievement in this direction.
The ugly compromises,that no-one cares about (including me)
Expert Japanese engineers did a teardown of the MacBook Air. Being engineers and japanese caused their article to stir a lot more attention than anticipated. American Apple fans reacted strongly to their views on the MacBooks less than perfect design. The whole debacle was born out of the clash between filosophical and cultural differences. If you really want to stretch the matter is was like an Artist debating with a craftsman.
These compromises have obviously been nesescary to produce the most covetable laptop of todays world. And this is not understated. The birth labor is evident in all the choices necessary to be able to produce this wonder of a new world.. If you’re planning to buy a MacBook Air you should be aware of these.
The chosen harddrive is low in capacity and speed Apple has resorted to the ancient ata standard for connecting the drive. They simply didn’t have other options. Now, it is just a matter of time before this practice will be widely adopted, but I feel safe to say that things will keep getting smaller. And one day, I will be able to configure it with a 250GB SSD that is faster than you can say lucky luke.
Superdriveless? As it is today an optical drive is good to have at home in the drawer for legazy purposes.I don’t know about majority on this particular subject. But I consider it normal practice to rip feature dvd’s and afterwards storing the physical remnants far far away. Thank god for 8GB usb drives, that you can use over and over again.
Fixed memory = Not expandable. It would be nice, but would not make sense, since your machine was not made for heavy duty computing. If you use it that way, then just be patient. 2GB of memory is adequate for the intended use in light of expected life span.
Conclusion
MacBook Air presents a shift in focus. It is now apparent to most users what it is that computers do. The demand for slightly more, slightly faster, slightly more advanced technology etc. is in decline. This is also evident in the general market, in japan at least. Computers are not that interesting because they have nothing new to offer.The MacBook Air offers a new experience to that of a notebook, just like the iPhone. Currently cellphone manufactors ar scrambling to meet the competition, from it’s newfound competitor that introduced with it a whole new ball game. Same is true of the Air to a lesser extent, but Apple’s approach is garnering momentum.
A small problem:
Anyone that knows enough about computers to be the ones giving advice on what to buy will probably not recommend the MacBook Air as a good buy, simply because it’s made up of puny dated hardware.This perspective of a dubious confidence in a product because it is so new might be the biggest bump on the road to success. People might not trust it because the concept is hard to grasp.
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