Economy, opportunity seen leading to $599 Apple netbook - Page 2

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

I going to assume your not just being a troll here (cause you said you weren't), but this stuff above is just 100% BS.

You are faulting the company with the best design chops, the highest build quality and the highest customer satisfaction rate in the entire industry over the last 20 years or so (and they lead the pack by a huge amount in all three) for ...

poor quality products?

Absolute nonsense.

Originally Posted by teckstud

Who wants one now? Whoever wanted it already has it. I don't think it something to aspire towards- an underperforming large sheet of metal. Small, not large is the way to go. Analysts have already stated it's underperforming for Apple.

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

these are now being joined by cash-strapped customers even within the US, making it that much less likely any of them will pay Apple's minimum asking price. At $999, the least expensive MacBook is twice or more the cost of the most frugal Windows alternatives, Gottheil says.

"It is too much to ask consumers to pay more than twice as much for a PC in these times," the analyst says.

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

As with most Windows PC makers, Apple would reportedly have to accept the risk of cannibalizing sales for some of its more lucrative notebook models but could theoretically maintain its profit margins and continue to grow its Mac shipments ahead of the industry curve.

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Like the MacBook Air ultraportable, this future system would be at least as thin and light as others in its category but would potentially have a larger surface area to allow a larger display or more comfortable input. Netbook owners carry their systems "in stacks with papers and books" and care more about thickness than footprint, according to Gottheil.

Originally Posted by Gregg Thurman

Like nearly all "journalists" this guy has no experience or financial education.

All economic slowdowns/recessions have a finite life. In the US the longest recession, since WWII, lasted 18 months. This one is now 12 months old. That means this has only 6 months to go before it too fades into our memories. That duration isn't anywhere near long enough to cause Apple any concern about "cash strapped" consumers.

This is just another bullsh*t article based on nothing more than the author's desire to generate hits.

Originally Posted by robogobo

bullshit. Why is the bezel on the MBA larger than any of the other portables? The larger footprint is a direct result of the thinness, because you have to pack a big processor in there. The MBA processor is a very capable one, only slowed down by memory and bus limitations. It's nowhere near a netbook (not that I want it to be). But a 13" screen with the same footprint as a 15" MBP is pretty lame. Why this obsession with thin? The 12" powerbook was the perfect size footprint, and it could be made much thinner with today's components, while still maintaining a full keyboard and "comfortable" input. The MBA was the ultimate of compromises, and it failed miserably. If it hadn't, you would've heard the 'netbook crowd hush up as they flocked toward it. That didn't happen.

Can I have a show of hands of those who care more about footprint than thinness?

Originally Posted by sflocal


The MBA is selling quite well

Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer

Who the hell wants a POS netbook with a pissant screen other than bored commuters in heavy urban centers that use rails and need an hour to distract themselves?

No one interested in serious computing of any measure is going to jump on the crippled system bandwagon.

Originally Posted by Takeo

Everyone keeps saying that netbooks make no sense. I highly disagree. I'm a web developer with a 24" iMac at home hooked up to a second 24" monitor. That's where I do all my work. That's what I *need* to do my work. But I also spend a lot of time meeting clients in coffee shops and meeting rooms... etc... where the only thing I really need a computer for is to show a Keynote presentation and / or some JPG's and be able to send emails and surf the web. A $999 plastic MacBook is far too much computer for these basic tasks. I'm not willing to spend that much on a computer that I will NEVER use except for meetings. Plus it's big and bulky and a pain to carry around compared to a "netbook" or the Air. The Air would be great for meetings... but it's even more money! A LOT more money. I would be first in line to buy a simple, small, light, stripped down Apple laptop.

Originally Posted by ipodrulz

I would hate it if Apple released anything below 900$. It just makes the Apple brand look cheap, and crappy. And it allows all these other people to be carrying around a fruit logo when they shouldn't be. In the end Apple will just dilute their brand. Please Steve Jobs - don't do it!

Originally Posted by MacTel

Mac Mini? Though it hasn't been updated for over a year and is pretty crappy specs-wise.

Originally Posted by ipodrulz

I would hate it if Apple released anything below 900$. It just makes the Apple brand look cheap, and crappy

Originally Posted by HyteProsector

Want an Apple netbook? Get a 12" PowerBook refurbished. Inexpensive, small processor, and practical. Maybe a smidge too big but none the less, it'll do the trick just the same.

Originally Posted by t0x

Yes, poor quality. Look at the display on the Macbook. For a $1300+ machine, it's utter garbage. Also, I'm not impressed with the metal unibody. It dents easily and hinders wifi reception. Let's not get into the widespread problems the plastic Macbooks had with their cases.

Sure, there are always lemons in the batch, but Apple has been increasingly cutting corners while maintaining their unwarranted premium pricing.

I wanted to buy a new Macbook, but after seeing it in person, I couldn't justify throwing away $1300 on something that had a display worse than other displays I've seen in less expensive (or better spec'ed) notebooks.

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Faced with the perfect storm of a bleak market and a boom in ultra-budget portables, Apple is believed by some to be readying its own take on the netbook for the first half of 2009.

Analyst Ezra Gottheil from Technology Business Research (TBR) cautions that Apple may no longer have the luxury of keeping its notebook pricing high when many buyers are much more concerned about price than they were even a few months ago.

The company has until now insisted on keeping its prices largely unchanged and instead has upgraded the specifications of its systems to maintain that price. That has kept its average selling price high but has also all but locked the company out of the entry-level and developing-world markets; these are now being joined by cash-strapped customers even within the US, making it that much less likely any of them will pay Apple's minimum asking price. At $999, the least expensive MacBook is twice or more the cost of the most frugal Windows alternatives, Gottheil says.

Gottheil dismisses the notion of an artificial premium on Apple products, noting that they often compete well for the features, but is certain that the Cupertino, Calif.-based company has reached a breaking point where perceived quality can't override genuine financial woes from customers.

"It is too much to ask consumers to pay more than twice as much for a PC in these times," the analyst says.

Moreover, the market is also understood to be shifting away from the Mac's traditional price range. The sudden explosion in the popularity of netbooks -- portables with 10-inch or smaller screens that are often based around low-power processors and meant for basic Internet use -- has pushed the price of a notebook to as little as $300. Apple can't ignore this, Gottheil claims.

But while the Mac maker's chief Steve Jobs has argued that the iPhone is netbook-like in fulfilling many of the same online roles, the researcher believes that the desire for a keyboard ultimately the usefulness of the iPhone for certain software and that something more is necessary.

Instead, he and TBR are confident that Apple will release a computer in the netbook class within the first half of next year, but one that doesn't obey many of the rules dictated by the industry. Like the MacBook Air ultraportable, this future system would be at least as thin and light as others in its category but would potentially have a larger surface area to allow a larger display or more comfortable input. Netbook owners carry their systems "in stacks with papers and books" and care more about thickness than footprint, according to Gottheil.

Crucially, he also takes to heart Jobs' assertion that $500 systems are typically "junk" and believes that Apple will price the system at $599. The figure would be just low enough to draw customers who would pass over the plastic MacBook but high enough to avoid the risk Apple's co-founder perceives in dropping the price particularly low.

As with most Windows PC makers, Apple would reportedly have to accept the risk of cannibalizing sales for some of its more lucrative notebook models but could theoretically maintain its profit margins and continue to grow its Mac shipments ahead of the industry curve.

While the market conditions are widely accepted and are potentially supported by rumors of an unknown device being tested at Apple that would more closely fit the bill, Gottheil's statements do contradict some of Jobs' own beliefs about netbooks and Apple's role in the marketplace. He believes netbooks are part of a "nascent" category that may not pan out and has said he would be "surprised" if large volumes of notebook buyers shifted to the very bottom of the price spectrum and created problems for Apple.

Still, TBR's analyst warns that buyers, including those looking at Macs, were "more cautious" even in the summer and that Apple in its current position would gain share mainly at the expense of its revenue as users opt for less expensive models whenever possible.

Originally Posted by Kolchak

As others have pointed out: iPhone, iPod touch, Mac mini.



You forgot to mention slow as hell. I still have my 7-year-old PB 12" and I watch the CPU meter spike into the high 80s just by having iTunes open. Not playing, just open. It's as heavy as a Macbook, not exactly aiming at the people who want a 2 pound netbook. And where are you going to find a refurb nowadays? The thing's been discontinued for years.

Many people here seem to fall into the same trap. If they don't want it, it's a terrible idea. I'd hate to see what Apple would be like if they were in charge. There'd be one notebook and one desktop.

Originally Posted by TBell

Apple already has a net book. It is called an iPod Touch. It is fully capable at surfing the internet, and sending email. This is for less then three hundred dollars.

Originally Posted by zunx

WE NEED THOUSANDS for our University:

- Light (about 300 to 400 g). The MacBook Air is too heavy for us!

Originally Posted by t0x

You do realize that the iPod touch is nowhere near as fully featured as a netbook, right?

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

Proof? (Unless you're blowing smoke......)

Originally Posted by HyteProsector

You're right a powerbook would be slow as hell, but it'd handle leopard way better than most netbooks would handle Vista. I envisioned the Air to have the same footprint as the 12" powerbook maybe even a tad smaller due to the aspect ratio of the monitor. I sure as hell hope the 2nd Gen. Air has a smaller footprint.

Oh yeah, and as to where you can find a powerbook, theres this little website called eBay. Also you could try Googling "used Apple computers", isnt that where most people start their internet search?

Originally Posted by vinney57

The iPhone/Touch is the mobile platform. Any 'netbook' type device will be built up from that, not down from the MacBooks. I've always assumed that there will be an 8" version of the iPhone at some point... and I'm sure there is. When and whether it gets released depend on a whole slew of technological and economic factors.

Originally Posted by Gregg Thurman

Like nearly all "journalists" this guy has no experience or financial education.

All economic slowdowns/recessions have a finite life. In the US the longest recession, since WWII, lasted 18 months. This one is now 12 months old. That means this has only 6 months to go before it too fades into our memories. That duration isn't anywhere near long enough to cause Apple any concern about "cash strapped" consumers.

This is just another bullsh*t article based on nothing more than the author's desire to generate hits.

Originally Posted by ipodrulz

I would hate it if Apple released anything below 900$. It just makes the Apple brand look cheap, and crappy.

And it allows all these other people to be carrying around a fruit logo when they shouldn't be.

In the end Apple will just dilute their brand. Please Steve Jobs - don't do it!

Originally Posted by skellener

Apple will never make a $599 laptop. They have a netbook, it's called the MacBook Air and it's $1800.

Why would the create another machine just to charge less money when they make a healthy profit on the Air?

Originally Posted by AppleInsider


But while the Mac maker's chief Steve Jobs has argued that the iPhone is netbook-like in fulfilling many of the same online roles, the researcher believes that the desire for a keyboard ultimately the usefulness of the iPhone for certain software and that something more is necessary.

Instead, he and TBR are confident that Apple will release a computer in the netbook class within the first half of next year, but one that doesn't obey many of the rules dictated by the industry. Like the MacBook Air ultraportable, this future system would be at least as thin and light as others in its category but would potentially have a larger surface area to allow a larger display or more comfortable input. Netbook owners carry their systems "in stacks with papers and books" and care more about thickness than footprint, according to Gottheil.
.

Originally Posted by fraklinc

A netbook will never happen from Apple i think, why? who the heck is gonna buy the $1700 Macbook air then?

Originally Posted by wizard69

...

Dave

Originally Posted by wizard69


Like it or not the AIR was poorly speced at the onset of design. That was further complicated by poor engineering that resulted in AIRs that simply don't operate up to the expectations of the owners.

It will be interesting to see if the revised AIRs can address the reliability issues and AIRs ability to meet performance expectations. Even if it does it still sits on the market with a limited feature set and a very bad reputation. AIR is simply a very limited appeal machine. It is niether a netbook nor a real laptop as such does not appeal to either group.


Dave

Originally Posted by Kolchak

You're guessing about how well the Powerbook works. I'm not. I use mine every day. Believe me, most people would never tolerate it. Besides, your point is wrong. Netbooks don't come with Vista. They either have Linux or Windows XP installed.

Originally Posted by HyteProsector

Alright bud, you missed the point completely here. I guess you didn't pick up on the implication, so I'll make it explicit. The point is that an Apple laptop does not need the newest Apple software to be a successful "netbook". All the netbooks on the market, as you so keenly pointed out (**claps hands for acomplishment**) run XP or Linux. Take it easy on the software, just like PC netbooks. That was the point.

Also, I think its a really good point as was stated at the top of page 2 that netbooks are too big to carry without a bag and too small to need a bag. They're right in the middle. Kinda akward. I agree.

Remember POGs? How about tiddly-winks to the older generations? Just a hot fad that died out. Same with netbooks. I don't doubt that they're selling like hot cakes now, but in a year? I doubt they'll have any staying power. Besides, I'd like to see the demographics of who is actually buying these things. I believe it to be hot only in a niche market right now.

Smartphones and hand-held portables seem like a viable solution, I must agree.

(Oh yeah for the record, I've owned 2 12" powerbooks, I buy and sell the things on eBay... I know all about 'em)

Originally Posted by desides

Am I the only person getting tired of netbooks? Fine, they make ultraportable notebooks intended solely for browsing the Internet and responding to email. Great! Why do we keep hearing about how great they are? They're narrow-use products. I'm already tired of the term netbook, just like how I got tired of the terms like "Web 2.0" and "blog" years ago. Enough.

Snow Leopard and a rumored $99 iPhone are bigger deals than an Apple netbook.

Originally Posted by FuturePastNow

People like you are the reason there's a lot of hate for Mac users out there.