i' curious what your 'non-primary' computer is if you use your netbook that exclusively and how heavily you use your primary machine. what application could you not live without? i'm guessing you're not running photoshop on it...
Netbooks are not a desktop replacement. They are not intended to run PS and are not suitable for doing so. They are "good enough" for sending real replies to email, working on text documents, connecting to servers which many corporations use for running apps and so on. They are smaller, lighter and easier for a business traveler (or any one else for that matter) to carry when on the go.
Whats wrong with what he said, netbooks are just part of the annoying complaints we have to deal with. Theybare cheapening the computer market, next people will be demanding 200 dollar macs.
"They are cheapening the computer market...." That is the nature of the market, like it or not. An IBM 360 cost $1,000,000 and filled a room. Is that where you want to go?
It's a real shame that so MANY people don't see that it's expensive to make things smaller. They see that the speed of the product affects the price, but think Apple just decide to charge triple for fun.
It's not as simple as that. How can netbooks who are smaller, lighter, have more features, be cheaper than the MacBook Air?
It comes down to quality of materials and profit margins. It may cost them more to build using aluminum instead of cheap plastics, but in the end, it still comes down to margins. Apple simply requires higher, much higher margins on it's products.
I'm surprised the MacBook Air isn't positioned below a MacBook. Yes, it's lighter, and slimmer, but is it as feature rich? It's probably too late at this point in it's product life, but the MacBook Air would have really taken off at the $900-$1000 price point.
I guess none of you people read MacWorld magazine. They featured an article with Steve Jobs himself that said Apple has no interest in making a Netbook at this time, however, they are watching the market to see if it is successful. If the Netbook becomes a popular option, they have some good ideas.
Based on the parameters of a Netbook: small, low powered, feature-less portable; Apple already has a laptop that meets those parameters: their overpriced MacBook Air. Compared to the MacBook and MacBook Pro, the Air is Apple's Netbook. It is smaller, low powered, and less features than the standard lineup. Too bad they overpriced it.
The Air shouldn't be a luxurious choice, it should be marketed as Apple's smallest and weakest entry model. I guess the Air was a pioneer trying out a number of new technologies, but now that it's been proven to work, just ramp the production and lower the price. There's really no point in the Air being one of Apple's most expensive computers. It's not good for anyone.
Bull if Sony can charge up to 4000 dollars for their laptops in the Air's category, why can't Apple, why don't you go tell Sony to drop the price of TT to 599.
The Air has been the target of lots of fussing, almost entirely by people who don't own one and who can't conceive of why someone would. Either out of envy or what have you (the price point does put it out of reach of many possible buyers), they love to attack it. There was a thread earlier this year that went on and on about how bad it was. In the mean time, I bought one and put it to use; it paid for itself within two months and continues to work wonders.
The difference in weight alone b/w my Air and my wife's MacBook (not to mention my MacBook Pro) is worth the extra cost. Add to that the savings in space occupied in my bag and I now can carry a full-sized Wacom tablet instead of the tiny one on days when I plan to do heavy artwork (which is regular and yes, the Air handles it very capably).
The rantings against the Air almost reached an insulting level at one point; it really was quite ridiculous.
The MBA serves a particular market, has given Apple sufficient cash flow to more than pay for itself as a project, and performs many important tasks for the people who own it.
It's called jealousy, they want but don't want to put up the money for it, so they insult it.
"They are cheapening the computer market...." That is the nature of the market, like it or not. An IBM 360 cost $1,000,000 and filled a room. Is that where you want to go?
Heck no, but I sure don't want to see laptops selling for 100 dollars, what's next people wanting them for 50 dollars.
It's not as simple as that. How can netbooks who are smaller, lighter, have more features, be cheaper than the MacBook Air?
It comes down to quality of materials and profit margins. It may cost them more to build using aluminum instead of cheap plastics, but in the end, it still comes down to margins. Apple simply requires higher, much higher margins on it's products.
I'm surprised the MacBook Air isn't positioned below a MacBook. Yes, it's lighter, and slimmer, but is it as feature rich? It's probably too late at this point in it's product life, but the MacBook Air would have really taken off at the $900-$1000 price point.
Dude go check out the price of the Sony TT, if Sony can charge that much for a computer, why can't Apple?
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.
I so wish this was true. I have the Touch, my third iPod. I was so turned on by the coolness of having my music collection and the internet in my pocket. But it's not. I've got all the music and audio books, as I do in another iPod. And I can surf to some of the internet. But I can't get my favorite radio stations (not without a lot of work and work arounds and not much of it successful...yet). Further, I can't access the videos/sites I generally do. Many, many of the sites in my Favorites list simply won't open on my Touch. I think if the Touch could/would handle Flash most of these issues would be cleared up. I also think that's not gonna happen. On top of all that is the general limit of having only one application running at a time. If an application provides me with the radio station I want, I'm tied to it...I can't surf at the same time.
When I can access/play the same sites on my Touch as I do on my five year old XP PC I'll be very happy. But until then, the Touch as an internet device remains severely crippled. A netbook does what I'm looking for...except fit in my pocket.\
5. One Laptop per Child XO (Give a Laptop, Get a Laptop) $399.00
6. Samsung NC10, $482.99
7. Asus eeePC 904, $384.95
8. Asus eeePC 900, $329.99
9. Apple Macbook 2.0 Alu, $1268.98
10. Acer Aspire One , 6-cell, pink, $399.00
The next real notebook:
15. Toshiba Satellite L305, $599.99
Out of curiosity I've been checking the Amazon notebook bestsellers from time to time during the last two months. Always the same picture: 8-9 netbooks and one or two Macbooks in the top ten!
Imagine Apple had a $700 10" or $800 11" netbook in their program and guess who would lead this list then?
Netbooks are mainly secondary computers. They would sell iMacs, Macbook and Macbook Pros like hot cakes to switchers who got hooked to OSX via affordable Mac netbooks. That's where Apple's real profit lies in the long run.
No matter what Jobs said two months ago, market trends and recession will force Apple to jump on the netbook bandwagon rather sooner than later.
There is nothing like the smell of switcher blood in the morning!
Apple only cares about it's statistical ranking if they are making money to achieve it. Then they market the crap out of that ranking. Apple is probably making more net profit from that single MB at rank 9 than the combined net profit of the 8 netbooks above it. The real testament here is that Apple is still in the top 10 with an item that is on average more than 3x the cost of the other items.
PS: How many non-netbooks, non-Macs trump out Apple's current product range on Amazon? This is why the Mac segment is half of Apple's profit.
5. One Laptop per Child XO (Give a Laptop, Get a Laptop) $399.00
6. Samsung NC10, $482.99
7. Asus eeePC 904, $384.95
8. Asus eeePC 900, $329.99
9. Apple Macbook 2.0 Alu, $1268.98
10. Acer Aspire One , 6-cell, pink, $399.00
The next real notebook:
15. Toshiba Satellite L305, $599.99
Good point. It wasn't that long ago that an Apple computer was always at the top of Amazon's computer bestsellers. So much for the netbooks not being popular.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bergermeister
The difference in weight alone b/w my Air and my wife's MacBook (not to mention my MacBook Pro) is worth the extra cost.
Yes, people who say Macbooks are plenty light haven't had to haul them for any length of time. A 2-pound netbook would be even more convenient.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lemon Bon Bon.
Yes. Expanding the 'iPod/iPhone' touch computing platform. I can see that happening. Add your own k/b...or use the built in multi-touch one.
As I've written, I don't think it's a good idea to work up from the iPhone. Full OS X is many times more functional than the iPhone OS. It should be fairly easy to get OS X to run iPhone apps, assuming they don't take advantage of hardware that's unique to the iPhone, like the 3G modem, accelerometer or GPS. It might even be possible to get each iPhone app to open in its own window, so you can work on several things at a time, impossible on the iPhone. The iPhone is simply not designed as a windowing, multitasking OS (other than having something run in the background). You still have to wait for Apple to add cut & paste and Flash, Silverlight and other plug-ins are already available for OS X while there's a good chance they won't show up on the iPhone for years. AFAIK, it's still impossible to play most video formats back on the iPhone, including Xvid and WMV. All easy with the Perian and Flip4Mac plug-ins or VLC for OS X. Even Quicktime movies, either separate files or embedded on websites, won't play back on iPhones, and that's Apple's own technology!
Quote:
Originally Posted by satchmo
It's not as simple as that. How can netbooks who are smaller, lighter, have more features, be cheaper than the MacBook Air?
Nobody's saying netbooks are supposed to have more features, except maybe a built-in 3G modem or other things that already exist in the iPhone. Part of the cost savings would be from having a smaller screen. Smaller screens always cost less. A smaller screen needs less juice, so you can use a smaller, cheaper battery. Instead of a Core2Duo, they could use a Moorestown, which can run the same code, although not as snappily as some people like. The whole Atom line is designed to be used on small, low power, low cost devices, not full-blown laptops. Although for Moorestown, we may have to wait another 9 months to a year.
Apple only cares about it's statistical ranking if they are making money to achieve it. Then they market the crap out of that ranking. Apple is probably making more net profit from that single MB at rank 9 than the combined net profit of the 8 netbooks above it. The real testament here is that Apple is still in the top 10 with an item that is on average more than 3x the cost of the other items.
PS: How many non-netbooks, non-Macs trump out Apple's current product range on Amazon? This is why the Mac segment is half of Apple's profit.
This is the problem these guys don't get, the only reason they are on there is because they are low priced. Apple is probably making more money than all those products.
It's no way I use my iPhone for making fast notes in a meeting. I want a netbook priced somewhere between $400 and MAX $600.
Macbook are SO expensive, it's a pricecrap for us with modern needs.
Apple - please do not come with a fancy netbook that are priced over $600!!
My netbook has its place but that niche is considerably smaller than my full-size keyboard MB and my very versatile and portable iPhone. People aren't saying that the iPhone/Touch 'are' netbooks, but that they fill the void that most people want in a portable device better than a netbook. These PMPs and MIDs are more portable as they will fit in your pocket and offer significantly longer battery life. They can also be used easily while standing in a line or even walking.
And here is the kicker... they offer most of what people want for a portable internet device. With a netbook you have to open it up and start up or wake it. It won't fit in your hand and the price is doubt that of an iPod Touch. And even if you own a netbook you aren't substituting the cost of the iPhone/iPod Touch probably going to be carrying some sort of PMP anyway.
- Light (about 300 to 400 g). The MacBook Air is too heavy for us!
- Small (pocketable; about 5-inch screen or so). The MacBook Air is too large for us!
- Full and genuine and native Mac OS X 10.5.5 inside (not just OS X)
- VGA port out to connect to videoprojectors for videopresentations.
- FireWire for Target Disk Mode repairs and much better file transfer performance.
- Touch screen.
- Tablet form factor.
- Pricing is NOT an issue.
Your university is going to buy 'thousands' of devices that only have a 5-inch screen? What in the world can you do that is useful on a 5-inch screen. The iPhone's touch screen is nice, but no serious person can get ANY serious work done on a 5-inch screen, let alone a 2.5 inch screen. You'd be lucky to do anything beyond word processing on a 10-inch screen.
I don't know what the fascination is with small-screen devices? Unless there is some type of video-out where you can connect the small-screen device to a larger screen, they are useless for anything other than checking email and surfing the web as a hobby.
1) Do I need to explain again what the MBA can accomplish? I'm a oprofessional and the MBA was a very wise investment.
2) Nope, there isn't right now, at least not from Apple. (and yes, I own a MBP and a MB; the MBA blows them away as far as my needs are concerned)
So the MacBook can't do what you did with the MacBook Air? You're lying to justify your purchase. You could have completed the exact same tasks, and then some with the MacBook as opposed to the Air. And you could have gotten it done faster.
And I do carry my MacBook around with me, so I know what it's like to travel with it.
Your university is going to buy 'thousands' of devices that only have a 5-inch screen? What in the world can you do that is useful on a 5-inch screen. The iPhone's touch screen is nice, but no serious person can get ANY serious work done on a 5-inch screen, let alone a 2.5 inch screen. You'd be lucky to do anything beyond word processing on a 10-inch screen.
I don't know what the fascination is with small-screen devices? Unless there is some type of video-out where you can connect the small-screen device to a larger screen, they are useless for anything other than checking email and surfing the web as a hobby.
- Eric
I am not sure of the poster's intent here, but the difference between an MID and a Netbook will be noticeable. There are obvious compromises between a Netbook and an MID, but then the MID has fewer compromises than a smartphone (including the iPhone). [Note: Widespread WiMax adoption is not likely to occur any time soon and so most of these devices will probably ship with either a 3G capability or both 3G and WiMax.] Some MIDs will be more "accessorized" to bridge the gap between devices.
One specific advantage of a Netbook over either a smartphone or an MID is the ability to actually type with more than two fingers (and have fewer errors. Even an MID will be a lot better for actually typing with fewer errors than any of the existing smartphones.
None of these devices should be confused with UMPCs such as the MacBook Air.
Comments
i' curious what your 'non-primary' computer is if you use your netbook that exclusively and how heavily you use your primary machine. what application could you not live without? i'm guessing you're not running photoshop on it...
Netbooks are not a desktop replacement. They are not intended to run PS and are not suitable for doing so. They are "good enough" for sending real replies to email, working on text documents, connecting to servers which many corporations use for running apps and so on. They are smaller, lighter and easier for a business traveler (or any one else for that matter) to carry when on the go.
Whats wrong with what he said, netbooks are just part of the annoying complaints we have to deal with. Theybare cheapening the computer market, next people will be demanding 200 dollar macs.
"They are cheapening the computer market...." That is the nature of the market, like it or not. An IBM 360 cost $1,000,000 and filled a room. Is that where you want to go?
Apple must go in this direction, with something, soon, or it will lose real marketshare.
It's a real shame that so MANY people don't see that it's expensive to make things smaller. They see that the speed of the product affects the price, but think Apple just decide to charge triple for fun.
It's not as simple as that. How can netbooks who are smaller, lighter, have more features, be cheaper than the MacBook Air?
It comes down to quality of materials and profit margins. It may cost them more to build using aluminum instead of cheap plastics, but in the end, it still comes down to margins. Apple simply requires higher, much higher margins on it's products.
I'm surprised the MacBook Air isn't positioned below a MacBook. Yes, it's lighter, and slimmer, but is it as feature rich? It's probably too late at this point in it's product life, but the MacBook Air would have really taken off at the $900-$1000 price point.
Based on the parameters of a Netbook: small, low powered, feature-less portable; Apple already has a laptop that meets those parameters: their overpriced MacBook Air. Compared to the MacBook and MacBook Pro, the Air is Apple's Netbook. It is smaller, low powered, and less features than the standard lineup. Too bad they overpriced it.
How exactly did the MBA pay for itself in 2 months for you? IOW, there is no other machine that could have done the same but at a cheaper cost to you?
1) Do I need to explain again what the MBA can accomplish? I'm a oprofessional and the MBA was a very wise investment.
2) Nope, there isn't right now, at least not from Apple. (and yes, I own a MBP and a MB; the MBA blows them away as far as my needs are concerned)
This is simple.
Just sell the Air at $599 and you're good to go.
The Air shouldn't be a luxurious choice, it should be marketed as Apple's smallest and weakest entry model. I guess the Air was a pioneer trying out a number of new technologies, but now that it's been proven to work, just ramp the production and lower the price. There's really no point in the Air being one of Apple's most expensive computers. It's not good for anyone.
Bull if Sony can charge up to 4000 dollars for their laptops in the Air's category, why can't Apple, why don't you go tell Sony to drop the price of TT to 599.
The Air has been the target of lots of fussing, almost entirely by people who don't own one and who can't conceive of why someone would. Either out of envy or what have you (the price point does put it out of reach of many possible buyers), they love to attack it. There was a thread earlier this year that went on and on about how bad it was. In the mean time, I bought one and put it to use; it paid for itself within two months and continues to work wonders.
The difference in weight alone b/w my Air and my wife's MacBook (not to mention my MacBook Pro) is worth the extra cost. Add to that the savings in space occupied in my bag and I now can carry a full-sized Wacom tablet instead of the tiny one on days when I plan to do heavy artwork (which is regular and yes, the Air handles it very capably).
The rantings against the Air almost reached an insulting level at one point; it really was quite ridiculous.
The MBA serves a particular market, has given Apple sufficient cash flow to more than pay for itself as a project, and performs many important tasks for the people who own it.
It's called jealousy, they want but don't want to put up the money for it, so they insult it.
"They are cheapening the computer market...." That is the nature of the market, like it or not. An IBM 360 cost $1,000,000 and filled a room. Is that where you want to go?
Heck no, but I sure don't want to see laptops selling for 100 dollars, what's next people wanting them for 50 dollars.
It's not as simple as that. How can netbooks who are smaller, lighter, have more features, be cheaper than the MacBook Air?
It comes down to quality of materials and profit margins. It may cost them more to build using aluminum instead of cheap plastics, but in the end, it still comes down to margins. Apple simply requires higher, much higher margins on it's products.
I'm surprised the MacBook Air isn't positioned below a MacBook. Yes, it's lighter, and slimmer, but is it as feature rich? It's probably too late at this point in it's product life, but the MacBook Air would have really taken off at the $900-$1000 price point.
Dude go check out the price of the Sony TT, if Sony can charge that much for a computer, why can't Apple?
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.
I so wish this was true. I have the Touch, my third iPod. I was so turned on by the coolness of having my music collection and the internet in my pocket. But it's not. I've got all the music and audio books, as I do in another iPod. And I can surf to some of the internet. But I can't get my favorite radio stations (not without a lot of work and work arounds and not much of it successful...yet). Further, I can't access the videos/sites I generally do. Many, many of the sites in my Favorites list simply won't open on my Touch. I think if the Touch could/would handle Flash most of these issues would be cleared up. I also think that's not gonna happen. On top of all that is the general limit of having only one application running at a time. If an application provides me with the radio station I want, I'm tied to it...I can't surf at the same time.
When I can access/play the same sites on my Touch as I do on my five year old XP PC I'll be very happy. But until then, the Touch as an internet device remains severely crippled. A netbook does what I'm looking for...except fit in my pocket.
john
It's no way I use my iPhone for making fast notes in a meeting. I want a netbook priced somewhere between $400 and MAX $600.
Macbook are SO expensive, it's a pricecrap for us with modern needs.
Apple - please do not come with a fancy netbook that are priced over $600!!
Amazon's current notebook bestseller list:
1. Aspire One blue, $384.99
2. Aspire One black, $385.82
3. Aspire One white, $ 388.99
4. Aspire One pink, $ 349.99
5. One Laptop per Child XO (Give a Laptop, Get a Laptop) $399.00
6. Samsung NC10, $482.99
7. Asus eeePC 904, $384.95
8. Asus eeePC 900, $329.99
9. Apple Macbook 2.0 Alu, $1268.98
10. Acer Aspire One , 6-cell, pink, $399.00
The next real notebook:
15. Toshiba Satellite L305, $599.99
Out of curiosity I've been checking the Amazon notebook bestsellers from time to time during the last two months. Always the same picture: 8-9 netbooks and one or two Macbooks in the top ten!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers...f=pd_ts_pc_nav
Imagine Apple had a $700 10" or $800 11" netbook in their program and guess who would lead this list then?
Netbooks are mainly secondary computers. They would sell iMacs, Macbook and Macbook Pros like hot cakes to switchers who got hooked to OSX via affordable Mac netbooks. That's where Apple's real profit lies in the long run.
No matter what Jobs said two months ago, market trends and recession will force Apple to jump on the netbook bandwagon rather sooner than later.
There is nothing like the smell of switcher blood in the morning!
Apple only cares about it's statistical ranking if they are making money to achieve it. Then they market the crap out of that ranking. Apple is probably making more net profit from that single MB at rank 9 than the combined net profit of the 8 netbooks above it. The real testament here is that Apple is still in the top 10 with an item that is on average more than 3x the cost of the other items.
PS: How many non-netbooks, non-Macs trump out Apple's current product range on Amazon? This is why the Mac segment is half of Apple's profit.
Amazon's current notebook bestseller list:
1. Aspire One blue, $384.99
2. Aspire One black, $385.82
3. Aspire One white, $ 388.99
4. Aspire One pink, $ 349.99
5. One Laptop per Child XO (Give a Laptop, Get a Laptop) $399.00
6. Samsung NC10, $482.99
7. Asus eeePC 904, $384.95
8. Asus eeePC 900, $329.99
9. Apple Macbook 2.0 Alu, $1268.98
10. Acer Aspire One , 6-cell, pink, $399.00
The next real notebook:
15. Toshiba Satellite L305, $599.99
Good point. It wasn't that long ago that an Apple computer was always at the top of Amazon's computer bestsellers. So much for the netbooks not being popular.
The difference in weight alone b/w my Air and my wife's MacBook (not to mention my MacBook Pro) is worth the extra cost.
Yes, people who say Macbooks are plenty light haven't had to haul them for any length of time. A 2-pound netbook would be even more convenient.
Yes. Expanding the 'iPod/iPhone' touch computing platform. I can see that happening. Add your own k/b...or use the built in multi-touch one.
As I've written, I don't think it's a good idea to work up from the iPhone. Full OS X is many times more functional than the iPhone OS. It should be fairly easy to get OS X to run iPhone apps, assuming they don't take advantage of hardware that's unique to the iPhone, like the 3G modem, accelerometer or GPS. It might even be possible to get each iPhone app to open in its own window, so you can work on several things at a time, impossible on the iPhone. The iPhone is simply not designed as a windowing, multitasking OS (other than having something run in the background). You still have to wait for Apple to add cut & paste and Flash, Silverlight and other plug-ins are already available for OS X while there's a good chance they won't show up on the iPhone for years. AFAIK, it's still impossible to play most video formats back on the iPhone, including Xvid and WMV. All easy with the Perian and Flip4Mac plug-ins or VLC for OS X. Even Quicktime movies, either separate files or embedded on websites, won't play back on iPhones, and that's Apple's own technology!
It's not as simple as that. How can netbooks who are smaller, lighter, have more features, be cheaper than the MacBook Air?
Nobody's saying netbooks are supposed to have more features, except maybe a built-in 3G modem or other things that already exist in the iPhone. Part of the cost savings would be from having a smaller screen. Smaller screens always cost less. A smaller screen needs less juice, so you can use a smaller, cheaper battery. Instead of a Core2Duo, they could use a Moorestown, which can run the same code, although not as snappily as some people like. The whole Atom line is designed to be used on small, low power, low cost devices, not full-blown laptops. Although for Moorestown, we may have to wait another 9 months to a year.
Apple only cares about it's statistical ranking if they are making money to achieve it. Then they market the crap out of that ranking. Apple is probably making more net profit from that single MB at rank 9 than the combined net profit of the 8 netbooks above it. The real testament here is that Apple is still in the top 10 with an item that is on average more than 3x the cost of the other items.
PS: How many non-netbooks, non-Macs trump out Apple's current product range on Amazon? This is why the Mac segment is half of Apple's profit.
This is the problem these guys don't get, the only reason they are on there is because they are low priced. Apple is probably making more money than all those products.
iPod or iPhone is NOT a netbook!!
It's no way I use my iPhone for making fast notes in a meeting. I want a netbook priced somewhere between $400 and MAX $600.
Macbook are SO expensive, it's a pricecrap for us with modern needs.
Apple - please do not come with a fancy netbook that are priced over $600!!
My netbook has its place but that niche is considerably smaller than my full-size keyboard MB and my very versatile and portable iPhone. People aren't saying that the iPhone/Touch 'are' netbooks, but that they fill the void that most people want in a portable device better than a netbook. These PMPs and MIDs are more portable as they will fit in your pocket and offer significantly longer battery life. They can also be used easily while standing in a line or even walking.
And here is the kicker... they offer most of what people want for a portable internet device. With a netbook you have to open it up and start up or wake it. It won't fit in your hand and the price is doubt that of an iPod Touch. And even if you own a netbook you aren't substituting the cost of the iPhone/iPod Touch probably going to be carrying some sort of PMP anyway.
WE NEED THOUSANDS for our University:
- Light (about 300 to 400 g). The MacBook Air is too heavy for us!
- Small (pocketable; about 5-inch screen or so). The MacBook Air is too large for us!
- Full and genuine and native Mac OS X 10.5.5 inside (not just OS X)
- VGA port out to connect to videoprojectors for videopresentations.
- FireWire for Target Disk Mode repairs and much better file transfer performance.
- Touch screen.
- Tablet form factor.
- Pricing is NOT an issue.
Your university is going to buy 'thousands' of devices that only have a 5-inch screen? What in the world can you do that is useful on a 5-inch screen. The iPhone's touch screen is nice, but no serious person can get ANY serious work done on a 5-inch screen, let alone a 2.5 inch screen. You'd be lucky to do anything beyond word processing on a 10-inch screen.
I don't know what the fascination is with small-screen devices? Unless there is some type of video-out where you can connect the small-screen device to a larger screen, they are useless for anything other than checking email and surfing the web as a hobby.
- Eric
1) Do I need to explain again what the MBA can accomplish? I'm a oprofessional and the MBA was a very wise investment.
2) Nope, there isn't right now, at least not from Apple. (and yes, I own a MBP and a MB; the MBA blows them away as far as my needs are concerned)
So the MacBook can't do what you did with the MacBook Air? You're lying to justify your purchase. You could have completed the exact same tasks, and then some with the MacBook as opposed to the Air. And you could have gotten it done faster.
And I do carry my MacBook around with me, so I know what it's like to travel with it.
... the researcher believes that the desire for a keyboard ultimately the usefulness of the iPhone...
does a board op want to fix that syntax?
Your university is going to buy 'thousands' of devices that only have a 5-inch screen? What in the world can you do that is useful on a 5-inch screen. The iPhone's touch screen is nice, but no serious person can get ANY serious work done on a 5-inch screen, let alone a 2.5 inch screen. You'd be lucky to do anything beyond word processing on a 10-inch screen.
I don't know what the fascination is with small-screen devices? Unless there is some type of video-out where you can connect the small-screen device to a larger screen, they are useless for anything other than checking email and surfing the web as a hobby.
- Eric
I am not sure of the poster's intent here, but the difference between an MID and a Netbook will be noticeable. There are obvious compromises between a Netbook and an MID, but then the MID has fewer compromises than a smartphone (including the iPhone). [Note: Widespread WiMax adoption is not likely to occur any time soon and so most of these devices will probably ship with either a 3G capability or both 3G and WiMax.] Some MIDs will be more "accessorized" to bridge the gap between devices.
One specific advantage of a Netbook over either a smartphone or an MID is the ability to actually type with more than two fingers (and have fewer errors. Even an MID will be a lot better for actually typing with fewer errors than any of the existing smartphones.
None of these devices should be confused with UMPCs such as the MacBook Air.