MacBook Air demand trails that of original Intel-based MacBook - Page 5

What's your problem wizard? Upset that others may see the world differently?

I have given up on this thread because you and truckturd refusing to see that others see the world differently and have other needs and priorities. You have wasted much to much time arguing about the short comings of the Air. Much more than the product is worth.

And for your information esthetics does matter. I have found over and over again that when someone takes the time and effort to make something look good they have usually taken the time to make it right. A good rule of thumb is "If it looks like crap, it probably is crap.

Now you have been arguing constantly that the right computer for everybody is a MacBook. For me it isn't. My main problem with it is its screen size. I would much rather have a 15" screen. But as my G4 PowerBook has now passed its fourth birthday I have been looking at both the MacBook and the MacBook Pro for a replacement. And while I have been rejecting the Pro for its cost, and my current needs are modest, I can't accept the MacBook because of its unprofessional/kiddy like appearance. Thus I am waiting for the new Pro's to come out. At which time I will look at them, inspect the Air and see if that 2" delta is a big deal or not. None of your other so called limitations of the Air matter to me. I can live with these "limitation" because they mean nothing. I don't use them now, so why should I feel limited.

Are you saying the premise of this article is wrong? Are you saying the financial analysts don't know which unit is selling more?

This list you link to only includes sales at the online store. Apple Retail Store sales are over 20% (and growing) of their revenue ... so that is not reflected. Also other retail outlets like Best Buy/J and R/ etc, etc. account for very significant sales.

I would expect sales for the Air to be higher at the online store because it costs more money to buy it online at apple then to buy it from most other large retail establishments. This follows the niche market theory that most agree with on this postings

Can you quantify "significant? I am under the impression that Best Buy accounted for the least amount sales between Apple's Online store and theor B&M stores.

I don't the OP is saying the article is wrong at in any sense. It's obvious that a cheaper machine that fits the majority's needs is going to sell more units. I think they were only showing that the MBA was not the DOA failure that many on this board are trying to make it out to be.

I don't think using Apple's site is a good measure because they not impartial. Amazon's stats currently list is as #9, with the two white MacBooks as the ONLY Macs or $1000+ computers ahead of it in ranking. All other computers, including iMacs and MBPs are below it.

As for the propensity for certain machines to sell better or worse whether they are in the online or B&M store I have no comment expect to say that I've seen no data that would suggest that that more expensive items are more likely sold online. From a personal standpoint, I tend to buy my cheaper items online but recently when to an Apple Store to get a "Harpertown" Mac Pro, but one result does not a pattern make.

What a clusterfuck of a thread.

Personally I would never buy a laptop that didn't have a parallel port. I had a dot matrix printer fused into my spine in 1986 (it seemed like a good idea at the time) and I use it all the time.

I am actually SO glad that Apple realized in ultralight design that so many of the "legacy" features in computing aren't used by a very large portion of their userbase, compared to the display and keyboard which are used by EVERYONE all the time, and the movement is towards an almost-completely wireless world. I have been moving toward fulfilling this need for a pretty long time.

The MBA is a device that shows Apple taking the lead technologically, not following, creating a device that is designed for those of us who plug in peripherals maybe once a year and would love to have a "full size" computer that was light enough to pick up with one hand, wasn't hot enough to sterilize us for using it on your lap, and something simple to drop into an overnight bag and still have room for your clothes. If only it had parallel.

Well said. Frankly the same goes for the removeable battery. I want to carry 2 extra batteries weighing in at at maybe 1.5 lbs each. A portable external monitor would be nice too. Sometimes a 13" screen isn't enough (even with Spaces).

The article states the obvious and then certain folks in this thread have drawn the wrong conclusion from it, that if the MBA doesn't outsell the MacBook then its a failure on the level of the G4 Cube. Thats not true which is what I'm trying to point out. The MBA has two goals, to satisfy the needs of business travelers and those who want a lightweight laptop no matter the cost, and to draw people into the Apple Stores. Its doing both. No other OEM has sales of their ultra portables exceed their budget laptops, why is anyone expecting Apple to be different?

Your last paragraph makes no sense by the way. You are saying that sales at the online store are higher because it costs MORE there?

Sigh. Portable means, basically, minimally inconvenient to lug around. The three factors that go into that are size, shape, and weight. As others have pointed out, once you get above pocket-sized the critical size dimension is thickness. I put my Air in a bag along with notepads and papers and folders. Shaving an inch off a dimension other than width makes absolutely no difference to me (and really sucks if it compromises screen size or rigidity/strength). So sizewise, the Air is more portable than the MacBook. Obviously from a weight perspective the Air is much more portable since I could almost carry 2 of the weight of a MacBook. I would argue that my Air is more portable than my 12" PB, since it's lighter. I am more likely to bring it with me as a result, therefore it's more useful.


Well if IT won't buy Apple, then it doesn't matter what features the Air has or doesn't have, so why bring it up. On the other hand, I bought my own Air even though I could get a Windows laptop for free if I asked. Using VPN and Remote Desktop I can "enjoy" the Windows experience as needed without ever installing XP or Vista.

Excellent point. My 12" PB with a 1 GHz processor runs a LOT hotter than my warm Air with 2 1.6 GHz cores. That's another area where the Apple engineers had to balance competing goals and make a nice compromise.

Not at all, what I'm concerned about is Apple missing the mark by such a fractional amount that it makes one wonder what their priorities where building AIR.

Well first I really do wish you would learn to read for content because I've said nothing of the sort. In fact I acknowledges that there are special cases where AIR might be OK. My concern is that there are not enough "special" people out there to justify AIR.

Well at least you are admitting AIR is over valued.

This CAN be true but it doesn't make it true in every case. AIR could be perfectly fine or the case design could lead to serious thermal issues. No one knows at the moment but something to consider.

In any event it is very poor engineering to give up good design to good looks.

Again learn to read for content as I've never said such a thing. What I've said is that the Mac Book and AIR don't differ significantly in physical size which is very obvious when you walk into an Apple store. All this chatter about how small AIR is strikes me as a big joke as it isn't.

Oh you poor boy sounds like a candidate for a OLPC machine. I suppose you are the type of person that judges somebody by the appearance of the laptop they carry around.

Well I'm glad you are fixated on size.

That may very well be true for simplistic applications of a laptop. I just don't believe every body is that easy to satisfy.

Dave

This wizard dude never has anything positive to say about Apple, always negative, goes on different websites to bash Apple.

AnandTech with a indepth review of the MacBook Air:

"Apple can't help but talk up the fact that the MacBook Air is incredibly thin; something you honestly can't really appreciate until seeing/holding it in person.

"The design is amazing and Apple's designers styled the Air in such a way that the shape of the notebook further accentuates how thin it is. It truly is beautiful, and I was a skeptic going into this review. PC notebook manufacturers are always asking me how they can better compete with Apple, designs like the Air are the perfect example of what we should be seeing from the Dells and Lenovos of the world but just aren't.

"Many consider Apple to be a leader in the computing world, but in many ways it is an attentive follower. Apple hasn’t historically been the first to introduce a new type of device, but rather a company that looks at where others have done poorly and attempts to do better. Apple didn’t invent the ultra portable, but with the MacBook Air it’s attempting to do it right."

•

http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=3226

At first I was thinking that wizard was a paid FUD'ster from Microsoft or one of the generic computer manufactures. Now I'm beginning to think he might be a Apple Marketing drone trolling for some good quotes for a future add campaign.

I disagree that the business traveler (at least for large corporations) would buy it because their windows IT biggots won't let them ... or at least tell them they won't support them if something goes wrong. Microsoft has them so entrenched it is disgusting.

The point I was trying to make in last paragraph is that the MacBook Air sales will skew high on the online store and the apple retail stores because if you can afford the 1,700 or even 3,000, your not going to shop around for a cheaper price ... your just going to order it online or order it at the apple store after you play with it. So I am not surprised it is #1 seller at apple online.

I just don't think it is #1 seller over all. I believe MacBook is.

I really can't quantify because apple release their financial under the "portable" umbrella, they don't give you breakouts on their 10-K. They also don't disclose their retail vs others in the 10-K, so maybe some analysts have figured it out, but I haven't read anything credible. I do know their own retail stores are at about 20% which is very impressive because they have so few stores.

I know that many sales come out of new york at J and R and B & H photo alone. Amazon sells a lot. Best Buy is "getting it" and starting to sell more. There are some other biggies out there also.

I would like a MacBook Air but I certainly don't need one. I have a 2 month old black MacBook and I love it. It's small enough for easy portability and have everything. Unless you just like pissing away cash to have the latest and greatest what's the point?

I get your sentiment, but you analogy falls flat.

The MacBook Air doesn't have a software segment analogy.

However, the MacBook Pro to the MacBook has the analogy of Final Cut Pro to iMovie.

Call me crazy, but I don't think their target audience was people who bought a brand new MacBook 2 months ago. More likely it was (in part) people like me who have been waiting to replace their many year old 12" PowerBook with something a lot more portable than a 5lb MacBook.

Seeing, ahem, that there's nothing like too little subtlety on AI:


I have a 4 year old Treo 650 and I love it. It's lighter, cheaper and more portable than the MBA and is arguably more expandable (I can add a 2GB ram stick in 3 seconds...try that on your MBA). Like the MBA, it's got a real QWERTY keyboard (unlike the iPhone). It's got backlighting. It surfs the web. AND IT HAS A REMOVABLE BATTERY. Heck, even with 6 spare batteries, it's still lighter than your MBA. Heck, it's so much cheaper, I could buy and carry 6 Treos and they'd still be lighter and cheaper than the MBA! And think - instead of TWO processors, you'd have SIX!!! And they said the PALM OS couldn't multitask!

So, unless you just like pissing away cash to have the latest and greatest, why would ANYONE want to buy the MBA. Just buy a 4-year old Treo; it does almost everything the MBA does, just lighter and CHEAPER. Cos MBA is good, but CHEAP is BETTER.

Yeah!

Wow, I'm so good, PALM should hire me as a shill.

"And that's why you'll never own Ferraris, mansions in Malibu or Mussoni suits," he said in response to the obvious joke.

It's satire. No need for the insult.

Um, I think logic2.6 was being sarcastic.

Are you being sarcastic too? Doesn't seem like it to me, and as such you may need to take the advice given in that picture you posted.

Um, no, it doesn't fall flat. Final Cut Pro does cost significantly more than iLife and by proxy iMovie, it's not necessarily a market segment analogy.

Equally "In other news, Wii outsells Xbox 360" works for the same reasons.

@bikertwin, the OP: I actually laughed out loud. It's so true.

Talk about a heavily slanted comparison...

While I don't expet them to compare to the rigidity and build quality I do expect them to compare the processing power and RAM for a set price. There is no way Vista is going to run well on the Lenovo.

It's tardgadget, what do you expect? Who cares that the processor in the Air is 33% faster? I'd like to see a comparison by volume.

What do you mean by "volume"? Unit sales?

No, volume volume, how much space it occupies in a three dimensional sense.

This just in...

you're an idiot

Wow! You registered just to say that? Way to make a first impression. If that's the kind of thing you have to say, kindly go away and don't come back.

Don't be too hard on them. We all know it's someone here that didn't have the guts to say it under their own handle, so they had to register under a new "identity." They're just cowards.

Hmmm, they're having a hard time finding people willing to pay nearly $3,000 for one USB port?

Tough to figure.