MacBook Air launch and video
 

Apple launched this. But it's what is not said that is interesting as far as video is concerned.

Here's Steve Jobs. Watch for what it says about movies being downloaded.

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/play...php?cl=5962486


This is from Gizmodo. See how the notebook does not have a burner or optical drive and you have to get one as an add on.

http://gizmodo.com/

Where one just suspected it, it's now obvious as far as what Apple really thinks of content and how the Internet is to be the pathway to video and music.

As for the notebook. It is pretty slick. A bit pricey though. But I'm sure Mac fans will love it!

Very expensive the the size. Also is there a PRO version coming out? if so that thing will be like $5k.

I don't think a pro release will come. This is called a SUB notebook, it's for a special niche market of businessmen who just want someting that's small and light. In that market, the Macbook Air is actually pretty cheap, considering the competition (many others are slower, and more expensive).

If someone wants a PRO laptop, they should buy a Macbook Pro. That's why this is just an addition in the notebook line-up.
You can't pack a pro machine in such a thin machine, it would overheat.

All in all it's a cool machine. I would buy one if I were rich just for email and stuff like that. led screen, backlit keyboard, option ($$$$!!!!) SSHD, nice stuff for the gadget king, or queen.
Jon

It would be good if it turned out to be <cool> - I could fry eggs on some of the Mac laptops I've had. Definitely not to be used when wearing Speedos.

I had been waiting for the release before upgrading my almost 5 year old PowerBook G4 because it sounded really interesting to me. I think it will be a successful product for Apple, and I really wanted to like it. But it just isn't quite what I was hoping for. I don't care about the missing DVD drive, but the lack of ethernet and firewire bother me. Although, if the base model had the flash drive I might have been tempted to overlook the other things. But that option is just too pricey for me to justify.

So today I just got a new 2.4ghz MacBook Pro. Hopefully this machine will get me through the next 4 years just like my G4 did :-)

The problem is there is no realistic market for it.

Think about it, it's competing against it's own Macbooks.

You could buy a cheaper Macbook thats the same performance with more I/O, that's... slightly thicker... It's still the same footprint essentially, it's just not as thick.

$1000 for a 64gb SSD? Newegg has a 128gb for $400... although that's 2.5in format and it may have a 1.8" Ipod style drive in there.

That's another thing... for $1800 you get... an Ipod drive... all for the sake of the "Air" name and making it small, same with the lack of ethernet port... it would not have changed the footprint to add an ethernet port, but instead they'll sell you a USB accessory, and only give you 1 USB port.

If you need an ultra-portable laptop look at the Asus Eee... it's $300-400, does basic computer functions perfect, if all you want to do is email, web-browsing, and watch some videos you can do that on there... they come in 2gb, 4gb and 8gb SSD drives and the only moving part is the Fan which can be disabled without much of an increase in temperature... 7" 800 x 480 screen... It's basically the size of a portable DVD player.

You're not doing HD video editing on the Air, you have a workstation for that :)

Has an SDHC card reader, and 16gb cards are down to $65... 2GB of Ram is $26 after rebate...

http://lousyhero.com/blaze/seee3.jpg

The Wall Street Journal just gave that machine a somewhat less than enthusiastic review. At least the MacBook Air is a "real" Mac...

http://ptech.allthingsd.com/

I agree this machine is over priced, and may have limited use, but I think the same for most of the stuff apple makes. But it's a cool/nice design. it's features and options are all going in the right direction, for me. Will I buy one? No way.
Jon

I don't like macs unfortunately.

And I don't see how the Air is a step in the right direction. They just made it thinner. It's the same foot-print as a "standard" laptop, maybe an inch smaller all around, it's thinner, not smaller.

How is thinner... better? You still have to have a laptop case the same size as before, the Eee is the size of a portable DVD player...

Asus has sold over 350,000 Eee's since it came out in November... 2 months ago...

I doubt apple will sell even 100,000 Air's... ever.

I do like Macs and I have to agree with you, I think it's just something to have in the line-up as an option. I feel there is probably something else to come. I have a 15" Macbook Pro and an iPhone and they do everything I need them to.

I don't think everything that Apple releases HAS to be a landmark product!

Personally, I don't think it's "thinness" is the ENTIRE point.

It could have been thin and UGLY.

Instead, it's thin and beautiful.

Say what you will about Jobs - he inspires designers to do some magnificent work.

When they write the history of this era's design standards - only a fool would argue that some pages must belong to Apple.

Personally, the older I get the more I appreciate the aesthetics of great design.

Function without form is OK. And clearly cheaper to achieve.
But having the option to purchase both in a single product is pretty sweet.

The MBA is thinner, lighter, but still large enough to be used comfortably for an extended period of time. The keyboard on the EEE is cramped so it's not suited for extended usage. The MBA and the EEE are designed with different purposes in mind.

IMO the MBA is to laptops what the original iMac was to desktops. The iMac shook things up by dropping legacy ports and the floppy drive and the MBA is doing the same thing by shedding ports/drives and relying primary on wireless connectivity for I/O.


-A