In Japan, likely. But those same compact notebooks that fare so well in Japan have not been received very well in America. The primary complaints are the cramped keyboards and, to a lesser extent, the small screens. Apple is betting that the MBA form factor will appeal to Americans. If it does well in Japan and elsewhere, this will be a bonus. Quite frankly, I would be disappointed if Apple could deliver nothing different from what has already been tried.
I wonder if and how this will change as Japanese physiology changes in response to diet changes. Current generation Japanese are larger than previous generation Japanese.
Ummm... Because it's the 3rd Apple laptop? It was positioned between the MacBook, and the MacBook Pro in the Keynote? What.. Now you can not compare the MacBook's features to the MacBook Pro's features to help decide which one is for you. "For crying out loud!!!!!!!!! Wake up!"
there is a difference between a notebook and an ultra portable notebook. For instance, you wont compare sony's ultraportable (TZ series 11.1) with SZ 13.3. why? because the TZ is so slow compare to SZ and it does not even have a 2gb of ram. and yet the price of TZ is twice os SZ.
If you really want to compare, compare it with other ultra portable. Job's comparison make much more sense. because if you are in the market for ultra portable, then you wouldnt consider a macbook pro.
there is a difference between a notebook and an ultra portable notebook. For instance, you wont compare sony's ultraportable (TZ series 11.1) with SZ 13.3. why? because the TZ is so slow compare to SZ and it does not even have a 2gb of ram. and yet the price of TZ is twice os SZ.
If you really want to compare, compare it with other ultra portable. Job's comparison make much more sense. because if you are in the market for ultra portable, then you wouldnt consider a macbook pro.
But most Mac users are Mac users only. We usually don't play the field because the other side sucks. So comparing one to any POS PC laptop isn't part of the equation.
But most Mac users are Mac users only. We usually don't play the field because the other side sucks. So comparing one to any POS PC laptop isn't part of the equation.
I think the Air is targeted not only at Mac users but also OC users who are teetering and have enjoyed their iPhones. Yeah, the upper crusty ones who might convert to the Air and then proceed on to more Macs if the experience is a good one.
hmm I wonder what systems the complainers use or are considering purchasing, with real $$ right now or the immediate future?
I use my nice 12" powerbook, it isn't the fastest thing on the market but it is the size of my BOOKS it fits nicely in a backpack, and is perfect for doing my writing on which is 80% of what I use it for and 100% of what I bought it for.
I've looked at the 13" macbook's and if they had the features of the pro then I might consider one but for MY use there is NO advantage of a macbook over my current powerbook. Does it run the latest whatever software? it runs the latest that works for me and I don't see everyone quite eliminating ALL of the software I need plus even if they do then the copy I have now works just fine.
If I need more HP then I can always use my powermac, dual 2GH G5's. is that the latest? no but it currently does what I need it to. If I need more hp I do have a rack of linux machines.
Is the air the next machine for me?? I would purchase one right now if it were 12". otherwise as long as my powerbook works then I'll keep it and save my $$ for the moment. When it is time to upgrade I'll do a new powermac with whatever is in there and a matching air so that I can configure them the same. If i need someparticular port then I can always use a usb one. If i need to carry a machine that can render then forget how small or light it is just grab the beastest machine out there.
Hey folks if the specs don't work for you then I guess you are not the target market eh! move along and keep looking elsewhere. but for the folks who want this feature set, like me, then this is one sweet machine (although I would still like a 12" version but then I didn't think I wanted one when I bought this one).
I think there's a bigger market for tiny 3 lb computers than there are for big (but skinny) 3 lb computers. The thickness wasn't the problem; it was the size. The MacBook Air is no more usable in cramped quarters than the MacBook; it's just thinner.
I kind of think the same thing. When I think about ultra-portable, I think about 11-inch screens.
Every time I look at the MBA, I just don't think of it as an ultra-portable. If I saw a 13" MBA next to a Vaio and other ultra-portables, I'd be asking why the MBA was there.
The Sony TZ series has the advantage that it will fit in very small spaces - it would even be able to fit in a woman's handbag. The MBA would not.
The Sony TZ series still has an optical drive so whether or not people use it, the Sony can still be used as a DVD player on a plane.
The TZ has mobile broadband.
The TZ has a 1366x768 res display so despite the MBA screen being bigger, it can only fit roughly the same content on it at 1280x800.
The TZ is carbon fiber and has firewire, 2 usb ports, a 5 in 1 card reader, VGA out, Gigabit ethernet.
If I needed to do some video editing, I could use the TZ to capture a DV file direct from a camcorder and edit it on the move. To even get a 20GB DV file onto a MBA, you'd have to put it on a USB hard drive. But the TZ can still take footage from a camcorder while on holiday and you can edit on location. You can't do this with a MBA.
The TZ has the same keyboard as the MBA as far as I can see:
When Apple said full keyboard, I thought they were going to have a numpad on it. I don't think I've ever seen a non-full keyboard by the definition used in the keynote except on an iphone or a mobile phone.
The MBA is cheaper and faster but when I look at it, I don't see ultra-portable, I see a Macbook slim not a Macbook small.
If I wanted a full featured small laptop that was easy to take around with me, the Sony Vaio still seems to have a lot of advantages over the Macbook Air.
It seems silly when I see the features side by side:
but I've used a Sony Vaio ultra-portable and I think they are absolutely amazing. As soon as I saw the MBA, I wasn't as impressed with it as with the Vaio. What I'd be interested to see is if people who are in the market for ultra-portables will buy one or if it will just be people who like to have unique computers.
In that respect, I don't think the MBA will be another cube, it will be another iMac. That's a good thing for Apple and a good thing for people who want Apple to be that kind of company. It's devastating to 'the rest of us' who just want some higher priority for the sensible, useful products.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bergermeister
Apple has enough money now to dabble in specialized markets.
Is anyone else tired of Apple trying to go after specialized markets?
In 1984, Apple said the Mac was "The computer for the rest of us". How times have changed.
Actually when I see that side by side to me the TZ looks silly. So underpowered processor and FSB that I would never want to do video editing. I can't read these high-res/small screens so the pixel count is a negative. Included is only 1GB, which is too little for video editing, especially with a 533 FSB. Older graphics, which most here have said is crap. etc. etc. etc.
My point is not to argue one or the other but that this is a very varied market with the 'important' points being different. The lower-priced end of the light-weights has been under-served by high-power machines so this is a new entry.
As to addressing specialty markets, this is very good for Apple, as long as they make money on each, which they will here. The multi-touch is already spinning off to their main lines. Other technologies will as well.
What is your point? So people are saying things about about PC laptops, but are Mac users buying them??? No.
What? Try reading those posts again. They don't say what you think they say. I would have thought that the second one, being short and only containing one point, would be hard to misinterpret, but I guess I was wrong.
I'll try again:
The set of Mac users currently intersects the set of ultra-light laptop users/potential users to a very very small degree, because Apple have not offered an ultra-light laptop for a very long time. Therefore anyone who really needed/wanted an ultra-light laptop bought and used a PC laptop; it was their only option. Only die hard Mac fans would forgo their need/desire for ultra-light in order to stay with Apple/Mac OS.
Therefore, the current set of Mac users is not the target market for the MacBook Air. This leads us to two points:
1.) As this forum is for Apple fans, it is hardly surprising that most people seem not to like it.
2.) Comparing the MacBook Air to the MacBook or MacBook Pro is unhelpful as that is what a current Mac user would do. And of course they are going to favour the latter over the former - otherwise they'd currently be using an ultra-light/ultra-portable PC laptop.
The real question is, how is the wider market going to take this laptop? Does the market really consider the small screens and keyboards of traditional ultra-portables to be compromises, or are they features?
But most Mac users are Mac users only. We usually don't play the field because the other side sucks. So comparing one to any POS PC laptop isn't part of the equation.
Quote:
What is your point? So people are saying things about about PC laptops, but are Mac users buying them??? No.
Actually, we do know that some Mac users opt for PC laptops when they can find no offering from Apple that matches their needs: several posters in this very thread (and others) have commented on their EEE-PCs (I know this is yet a different class of computer but it still disproves your point) and other small laptops. Some of these primarily Mac users will now have a Mac for their consideration if weight was a primary consideration.
But you are looking at Apple's opportunity from the wrong side. The MBA is really a play to get people who are traditionally PC users to consider a Mac. Apple has identified what they think is a soft target and designed what they think will be a more acceptable set of compromises. Will Apple succeed in this play? It's hard to say since we have no idea of what Apple's measure of success is, but I am pretty confident that this will not be the abject failure that some suggest.
Really, Apple has very little to lose here. Even very modest adoption by movers-and-shakers and what so many here characterize as poseurs will provide Apple with more high-visibility free advertising for their products (like the iPod, iPhone and MBP).
The MBA also likely serves as an in-service testbed for Apple's ongoing efforts to make ever smaller devices. Some of what is tried first in the MBA will find its way into other Apple offerings (there are already rumors that the next MBP will have the new trackpad). This will hopefully contribute to a steady stream of incremental improvements in Apple's existing products as well as the potential for other new classes of products.
I think that the MBA will provide a number of both financial and intangible benefits to Apple.
It's devastating to 'the rest of us' who just want some higher priority for the sensible, useful products.
Why do you use loaded terms like "sensible, useful products"? As I previously said, I know 2 people who have already purchased the MBA. One is a lawyer and the other a sales executive and the MBA's thinness means that they can easily carry some of their other required paperwork (e.g., contracts). A unit with smaller x and y dimensions does absolutely nothing to address their needs yet you suggest their choice is neither sensible or useful.
Why is it that people cannot accept that the "rest of us" also includes these very people who would previously not even have considered Apple's other offerings?
I've seen some posts here where people have said the Seal-A-Meal® battery is a non-issue.
Last I checked, any plane trip that isn't cross-country (in the States, I mean) - i.e. trans-Pacific or trans-Atlantic - automatically exceeds the battery limit of the MacBook Air. What if you are a businessman on a trip from LA to Sydney and feel like using your computer for more than 1/3rd of the flight?
I can see these possible responses:
"If you want to use a computer for that long while in-flight, there must be something wrong with you. Read a book or watch a movie instead."
Who are we to judge how long someone should want to use their computer for in-flight?
"Well, use the in-seat power adapter, duh "
I have a plane power adapter for my MacBook Pro and it's hit-or-miss whether the plane will have one - much less the right one. It's much easier to swap in a 2nd battery and never have to worry about the issue.
Also, in case people have forgotten, there was that little problem with MacBook Pro batteries swelling up and popping out of their cases a while back. I ought to know - I was one of the people affected. All I had to do was remove the swollen battery and replace it with my back-up battery and I was good to go, and could wander down to the Apple Store to have the bad one replaced at leisure. What will happen if a similar phenomenon occurs to the MacBook Air batteries?
Aside from the battery issue, I agree with the other posters about the dimensions - having used a 12" PowerBook provided by my work for a business trip, I thought it was really nifty to have, especially on plane flights where your meal tray space is limited. (I've also brought my own 17" laptop on trips, and to say it was unwieldy to use is an understatement.) Apple should've been targeting 12" or less for the dimensions of the Air.
I played with one at Macworld and it is alright. True, if it was priced $500 less, it would sell like there is no tomorrow.
Would I buy one at the present price point? No, because for an extra $100 and the weight penalty, I would rather have the features of the base Mac book Pro and I am sure Apple would be cool with that decision. However, I would consider myself a power user and don't find the base mac book series meeting my needs.
Right now, I see people who are concerned as much with style as function picking one up. Women will love this since it has style and it is a lot easier to carry around all day whether in business or on a college campus.
Whether it matters to you or not, style sells products and the Mac book Air does have style. Combine style with light weight and there is a market of users out there for the product. Possibly even new customers who will take the leap into the mac world.
Don't get sidetracked by the photos on the side, but here are some clips from Japanese morning news programs the morning of the Air's release, a matter of hours after Steve left the stage, which means Apple reps were in studios across Tokyo prepping the announcers on how to make their presentations.
I won't bother translating as it is pretty obvious what is being said. But do note: these machines were in the hands of the media only hours after the keynote. Apple is aiming to sell lots of them in Japan.
Seems to be money well spent: the Air is, as of this posting, ranked #3 in computer sales on www.amazon.co.jp (after two versions of the much less expensive EeeePC); the MacBook comes in at a very distant #30.
The Air has also moved up to #2 on Amazon's US page.
Don't get sidetracked by the photos on the side, but here are some clips from Japanese morning news programs the morning of the Air's release, a matter of hours after Steve left the stage, which means Apple reps were in studios across Tokyo prepping the announcers on how to make their presentations.
I won't bother translating as it is pretty obvious what is being said. But do note: these machines were in the hands of the media only hours after the keynote. Apple is aiming to sell lots of them in Japan.
Seems to be money well spent: the Air is, as of this posting, ranked #3 in computer sales on www.amazon.co.jp (after two versions of the much less expensive EeeePC); the MacBook comes in at a very distant #30.
The Air has also moved up to #2 on Amazon's US page.
Very cool info. Thanks for the insights and data. It's a gamble with Japan, but the MBA looks like it's a well-thought-through gamble. Excellent!
Comments
In Japan, likely. But those same compact notebooks that fare so well in Japan have not been received very well in America. The primary complaints are the cramped keyboards and, to a lesser extent, the small screens. Apple is betting that the MBA form factor will appeal to Americans. If it does well in Japan and elsewhere, this will be a bonus. Quite frankly, I would be disappointed if Apple could deliver nothing different from what has already been tried.
I wonder if and how this will change as Japanese physiology changes in response to diet changes. Current generation Japanese are larger than previous generation Japanese.
I couldn't find the article I was looking for and I think you'd need access to science papers anyway but I bumped into this: http://www.thestar.com/Life/article/211747
Which is humorously off topic but provides substantiation that diet is changing Japanese body structures.
Ah...here it is...page one only.
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=002...3E2.0.CO%3B2-S
I'm average size for a US guy and them small keyboard suck for me even though I don't have large hands.
It'll sell just fine. I bet lots of folks order this WITH the new base stations.
The base station just needs a blu-ray optical drive, and then it will be a complete solution.
Ummm... Because it's the 3rd Apple laptop? It was positioned between the MacBook, and the MacBook Pro in the Keynote? What.. Now you can not compare the MacBook's features to the MacBook Pro's features to help decide which one is for you. "For crying out loud!!!!!!!!! Wake up!"
there is a difference between a notebook and an ultra portable notebook. For instance, you wont compare sony's ultraportable (TZ series 11.1) with SZ 13.3. why? because the TZ is so slow compare to SZ and it does not even have a 2gb of ram. and yet the price of TZ is twice os SZ.
If you really want to compare, compare it with other ultra portable. Job's comparison make much more sense. because if you are in the market for ultra portable, then you wouldnt consider a macbook pro.
there is a difference between a notebook and an ultra portable notebook. For instance, you wont compare sony's ultraportable (TZ series 11.1) with SZ 13.3. why? because the TZ is so slow compare to SZ and it does not even have a 2gb of ram. and yet the price of TZ is twice os SZ.
If you really want to compare, compare it with other ultra portable. Job's comparison make much more sense. because if you are in the market for ultra portable, then you wouldnt consider a macbook pro.
But most Mac users are Mac users only. We usually don't play the field because the other side sucks. So comparing one to any POS PC laptop isn't part of the equation.
But most Mac users are Mac users only. We usually don't play the field because the other side sucks. So comparing one to any POS PC laptop isn't part of the equation.
Please see previous posts from this very thread:
http://forums.appleinsider.com/showp...&postcount=154
http://forums.appleinsider.com/showp...&postcount=158
Please see previous posts from this very thread:
http://forums.appleinsider.com/showp...&postcount=154
http://forums.appleinsider.com/showp...&postcount=158
What is your point? So people are saying things about about PC laptops, but are Mac users buying them??? No.
What is your point? So people are saying things about about PC laptops, but are Mac users buying them??? No.
Do you have data to support that?
I use my nice 12" powerbook, it isn't the fastest thing on the market but it is the size of my BOOKS it fits nicely in a backpack, and is perfect for doing my writing on which is 80% of what I use it for and 100% of what I bought it for.
I've looked at the 13" macbook's and if they had the features of the pro then I might consider one but for MY use there is NO advantage of a macbook over my current powerbook. Does it run the latest whatever software? it runs the latest that works for me and I don't see everyone quite eliminating ALL of the software I need plus even if they do then the copy I have now works just fine.
If I need more HP then I can always use my powermac, dual 2GH G5's. is that the latest? no but it currently does what I need it to. If I need more hp I do have a rack of linux machines.
Is the air the next machine for me?? I would purchase one right now if it were 12". otherwise as long as my powerbook works then I'll keep it and save my $$ for the moment. When it is time to upgrade I'll do a new powermac with whatever is in there and a matching air so that I can configure them the same. If i need someparticular port then I can always use a usb one. If i need to carry a machine that can render then forget how small or light it is just grab the beastest machine out there.
Hey folks if the specs don't work for you then I guess you are not the target market eh! move along and keep looking elsewhere. but for the folks who want this feature set, like me, then this is one sweet machine (although I would still like a 12" version but then I didn't think I wanted one when I bought this one).
/usr/flames > /dev/null &1
I think there's a bigger market for tiny 3 lb computers than there are for big (but skinny) 3 lb computers. The thickness wasn't the problem; it was the size. The MacBook Air is no more usable in cramped quarters than the MacBook; it's just thinner.
I kind of think the same thing. When I think about ultra-portable, I think about 11-inch screens.
Every time I look at the MBA, I just don't think of it as an ultra-portable. If I saw a 13" MBA next to a Vaio and other ultra-portables, I'd be asking why the MBA was there.
The Sony TZ series has the advantage that it will fit in very small spaces - it would even be able to fit in a woman's handbag. The MBA would not.
The Sony TZ series still has an optical drive so whether or not people use it, the Sony can still be used as a DVD player on a plane.
The TZ has mobile broadband.
The TZ has a 1366x768 res display so despite the MBA screen being bigger, it can only fit roughly the same content on it at 1280x800.
The TZ is carbon fiber and has firewire, 2 usb ports, a 5 in 1 card reader, VGA out, Gigabit ethernet.
If I needed to do some video editing, I could use the TZ to capture a DV file direct from a camcorder and edit it on the move. To even get a 20GB DV file onto a MBA, you'd have to put it on a USB hard drive. But the TZ can still take footage from a camcorder while on holiday and you can edit on location. You can't do this with a MBA.
The TZ has the same keyboard as the MBA as far as I can see:
http://www.apple.com/uk/macbookair/design.html
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3956
When Apple said full keyboard, I thought they were going to have a numpad on it. I don't think I've ever seen a non-full keyboard by the definition used in the keynote except on an iphone or a mobile phone.
The MBA is cheaper and faster but when I look at it, I don't see ultra-portable, I see a Macbook slim not a Macbook small.
If I wanted a full featured small laptop that was easy to take around with me, the Sony Vaio still seems to have a lot of advantages over the Macbook Air.
It seems silly when I see the features side by side:
http://dealmac.com/features/-Head-to...ok/208393.html
but I've used a Sony Vaio ultra-portable and I think they are absolutely amazing. As soon as I saw the MBA, I wasn't as impressed with it as with the Vaio. What I'd be interested to see is if people who are in the market for ultra-portables will buy one or if it will just be people who like to have unique computers.
In that respect, I don't think the MBA will be another cube, it will be another iMac. That's a good thing for Apple and a good thing for people who want Apple to be that kind of company. It's devastating to 'the rest of us' who just want some higher priority for the sensible, useful products.
Apple has enough money now to dabble in specialized markets.
Is anyone else tired of Apple trying to go after specialized markets?
In 1984, Apple said the Mac was "The computer for the rest of us". How times have changed.
It seems silly when I see the features side by side:
http://dealmac.com/features/-Head-to...ok/208393.html
Actually when I see that side by side to me the TZ looks silly. So underpowered processor and FSB that I would never want to do video editing. I can't read these high-res/small screens so the pixel count is a negative. Included is only 1GB, which is too little for video editing, especially with a 533 FSB. Older graphics, which most here have said is crap. etc. etc. etc.
My point is not to argue one or the other but that this is a very varied market with the 'important' points being different. The lower-priced end of the light-weights has been under-served by high-power machines so this is a new entry.
As to addressing specialty markets, this is very good for Apple, as long as they make money on each, which they will here. The multi-touch is already spinning off to their main lines. Other technologies will as well.
What is your point? So people are saying things about about PC laptops, but are Mac users buying them??? No.
What? Try reading those posts again. They don't say what you think they say. I would have thought that the second one, being short and only containing one point, would be hard to misinterpret, but I guess I was wrong.
I'll try again:
The set of Mac users currently intersects the set of ultra-light laptop users/potential users to a very very small degree, because Apple have not offered an ultra-light laptop for a very long time. Therefore anyone who really needed/wanted an ultra-light laptop bought and used a PC laptop; it was their only option. Only die hard Mac fans would forgo their need/desire for ultra-light in order to stay with Apple/Mac OS.
Therefore, the current set of Mac users is not the target market for the MacBook Air. This leads us to two points:
1.) As this forum is for Apple fans, it is hardly surprising that most people seem not to like it.
2.) Comparing the MacBook Air to the MacBook or MacBook Pro is unhelpful as that is what a current Mac user would do. And of course they are going to favour the latter over the former - otherwise they'd currently be using an ultra-light/ultra-portable PC laptop.
The real question is, how is the wider market going to take this laptop? Does the market really consider the small screens and keyboards of traditional ultra-portables to be compromises, or are they features?
But most Mac users are Mac users only. We usually don't play the field because the other side sucks. So comparing one to any POS PC laptop isn't part of the equation.
What is your point? So people are saying things about about PC laptops, but are Mac users buying them??? No.
Actually, we do know that some Mac users opt for PC laptops when they can find no offering from Apple that matches their needs: several posters in this very thread (and others) have commented on their EEE-PCs (I know this is yet a different class of computer but it still disproves your point) and other small laptops. Some of these primarily Mac users will now have a Mac for their consideration if weight was a primary consideration.
But you are looking at Apple's opportunity from the wrong side. The MBA is really a play to get people who are traditionally PC users to consider a Mac. Apple has identified what they think is a soft target and designed what they think will be a more acceptable set of compromises. Will Apple succeed in this play? It's hard to say since we have no idea of what Apple's measure of success is, but I am pretty confident that this will not be the abject failure that some suggest.
Really, Apple has very little to lose here. Even very modest adoption by movers-and-shakers and what so many here characterize as poseurs will provide Apple with more high-visibility free advertising for their products (like the iPod, iPhone and MBP).
The MBA also likely serves as an in-service testbed for Apple's ongoing efforts to make ever smaller devices. Some of what is tried first in the MBA will find its way into other Apple offerings (there are already rumors that the next MBP will have the new trackpad). This will hopefully contribute to a steady stream of incremental improvements in Apple's existing products as well as the potential for other new classes of products.
I think that the MBA will provide a number of both financial and intangible benefits to Apple.
It's devastating to 'the rest of us' who just want some higher priority for the sensible, useful products.
Why do you use loaded terms like "sensible, useful products"? As I previously said, I know 2 people who have already purchased the MBA. One is a lawyer and the other a sales executive and the MBA's thinness means that they can easily carry some of their other required paperwork (e.g., contracts). A unit with smaller x and y dimensions does absolutely nothing to address their needs yet you suggest their choice is neither sensible or useful.
Why is it that people cannot accept that the "rest of us" also includes these very people who would previously not even have considered Apple's other offerings?
Last I checked, any plane trip that isn't cross-country (in the States, I mean) - i.e. trans-Pacific or trans-Atlantic - automatically exceeds the battery limit of the MacBook Air. What if you are a businessman on a trip from LA to Sydney and feel like using your computer for more than 1/3rd of the flight?
I can see these possible responses:
"If you want to use a computer for that long while in-flight, there must be something wrong with you. Read a book or watch a movie instead."
Who are we to judge how long someone should want to use their computer for in-flight?
"Well, use the in-seat power adapter, duh
I have a plane power adapter for my MacBook Pro and it's hit-or-miss whether the plane will have one - much less the right one. It's much easier to swap in a 2nd battery and never have to worry about the issue.
Also, in case people have forgotten, there was that little problem with MacBook Pro batteries swelling up and popping out of their cases a while back. I ought to know - I was one of the people affected. All I had to do was remove the swollen battery and replace it with my back-up battery and I was good to go, and could wander down to the Apple Store to have the bad one replaced at leisure. What will happen if a similar phenomenon occurs to the MacBook Air batteries?
Aside from the battery issue, I agree with the other posters about the dimensions - having used a 12" PowerBook provided by my work for a business trip, I thought it was really nifty to have, especially on plane flights where your meal tray space is limited. (I've also brought my own 17" laptop on trips, and to say it was unwieldy to use is an understatement.) Apple should've been targeting 12" or less for the dimensions of the Air.
On MacPolls, over 8% of almost 20 thousand respondents said they have ordered.
On Amazon, the Air is currently ranked #5 in purchases for electronics.
This is a fairly specialized computer with a set of limitations that many people seem willing to accept.
It is selling, sealed battery, no optical drive and all.
Would I buy one at the present price point? No, because for an extra $100 and the weight penalty, I would rather have the features of the base Mac book Pro and I am sure Apple would be cool with that decision. However, I would consider myself a power user and don't find the base mac book series meeting my needs.
Right now, I see people who are concerned as much with style as function picking one up. Women will love this since it has style and it is a lot easier to carry around all day whether in business or on a college campus.
Whether it matters to you or not, style sells products and the Mac book Air does have style. Combine style with light weight and there is a market of users out there for the product. Possibly even new customers who will take the leap into the mac world.
Don't get sidetracked by the photos on the side, but here are some clips from Japanese morning news programs the morning of the Air's release, a matter of hours after Steve left the stage, which means Apple reps were in studios across Tokyo prepping the announcers on how to make their presentations.
http://japansugoi.com/wordpress/macb...n-japanese-tv/
I won't bother translating as it is pretty obvious what is being said. But do note: these machines were in the hands of the media only hours after the keynote. Apple is aiming to sell lots of them in Japan.
Seems to be money well spent: the Air is, as of this posting, ranked #3 in computer sales on www.amazon.co.jp (after two versions of the much less expensive EeeePC); the MacBook comes in at a very distant #30.
The Air has also moved up to #2 on Amazon's US page.
OK, the big news is on Amazon and in Japan.
Don't get sidetracked by the photos on the side, but here are some clips from Japanese morning news programs the morning of the Air's release, a matter of hours after Steve left the stage, which means Apple reps were in studios across Tokyo prepping the announcers on how to make their presentations.
http://japansugoi.com/wordpress/macb...n-japanese-tv/
I won't bother translating as it is pretty obvious what is being said. But do note: these machines were in the hands of the media only hours after the keynote. Apple is aiming to sell lots of them in Japan.
Seems to be money well spent: the Air is, as of this posting, ranked #3 in computer sales on www.amazon.co.jp (after two versions of the much less expensive EeeePC); the MacBook comes in at a very distant #30.
The Air has also moved up to #2 on Amazon's US page.
Very cool info. Thanks for the insights and data. It's a gamble with Japan, but the MBA looks like it's a well-thought-through gamble. Excellent!