No one is saying that it's a copy simply because of the wedge shape.
Shippster has specific design elements that are clearly copied from the MBA. (I would also add the keyboard placement to his list).
Put a picture of Intel's prototype next to the images above and then next to the MBA. It is pretty clear that they did everything they could to copy the MBA.
It's one thing to have a product that just happens to look like an existing product due to design limitations (square screens, need for space for a keyboard, etc). It's another thing when EVERY design element (even the non-functional ones like the use of a brushed aluminum case) are clearly intended to create confusion.
In other words: Intel believes the best direction for the laptop market to pursue is to copy the MacBook Air.
If you look at that mock-up, its a full-blown copy.
Er how?
The asus looks square, square corners on the screen, square buttons, square trackpad. The MBA is rounded in all 3 areas. The MBA gets thinner at the edges to make it look even thinner, this doesn't. The screen on this thing looks like it is made of two pannels on top of each other, rather than one solid thing.
Quite frankly other than the large trackpad (which also still has 2 buttons), it being thin and possible the hinge what exactly is the copy?
Objective-C combines the best aspects of other languages without pulling in their downsides.
Fair enough, I suppose. I'd only say that Objective C imposes it's complexity even when I'm doing simple things.
Whereas with a language like C++, which is also a complex language, I can usually avoid the complexity unless I'm doing complex things (like the features in STL or writing code that can execute faster than FORTRAN or even hand-crafted assembly language).
No point in declaring that something or other is the future unless everybody else joins the party. Well, looks like everybody else is joining the party.
This is a no-brainer. No one complains that laptops run too many programs, are too fast, etc. The complaints have been too much weight and not enough battery life. The response the rest of the computer industry came up with was the netbook. Apple has countered with the iPad and the Air.
The netbook addressed the issue of too heavy but battery life was still an issue and with cramped keyboards, weak processors, etc. is it any wonder that Aople's response has met with greater success.
Basically Apple is trying to address shortcomings while not creating new problems, taking the high road with devices that are more upscale in feel and price whereas the competition has done what it has always done, offered inferior devices whose main selling point is lower initial cost of ownership.
I hope that some compelling products do come to market on the PC side. That will motivate Apple to offer as much value as possible. At the moment it's like shooting fish in a barrel for Apple.
In a way, I think that Jobs would get more of a kick out of the entire personal computing space going in a positive direction than out of simply continuing to accumulate that much more wealth. Fabulously wealthy individuals are a dime a dozen but doing something positive that will be remembered for generations to come, now that's really something. I believe that the name Steve Jobs will resonate long after the Conrad Blacks of the world have been all but forgotten.
Fair enough, I suppose. I'd only say that Objective C imposes it's complexity even when I'm doing simple things.
Whereas with a language like C++, which is also a complex language, I can usually avoid the complexity unless I'm doing complex things (like the features in STL or writing code that can execute faster than FORTRAN or even hand-crafted assembly language).
If you try to solve complex problems, you usually end up writing complex code . But I agree that there are some strange things about Objective-C that may appear unfamiliar if you're coming from a different language, but once you get the hang of it, it's actually much easier than C++. Right now, I have about 10 years of professional C++ experience (and quite a few more dicking around with it as a hobby), and I still don't dare call myself an expert C++ programmer (they are rare) since there are so ridiculously many pitfalls if you really start to push the envelope with C++ and use all of it's language features (think template metaprogramming, exception handling in multithreaded code, templated lambda functions, moving your code between different compilers and operating systems, or even stuff that looks deceptively easy at first sight but will bite you in the ass later on, such as custom datatypes with overloaded operators). In contrast, Objective-C literally took me 2 weeks to learn, and by that time I already felt pretty confident I could write about anything in it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by z3rO
Perl 6! Whenever it gets here!
Please don't get me started on Perl, we'll be here debating it the rest of the week, I try to avoid Perl like the plague because it's pure evil
Anyway, I think this topic was about Intel's Ultrabook strategy, so I'll leave it here with my treatise on programming languages
Looks sexy and does looks like the MBA but I can't see how Apple could sue for the tapered design. It's not as blatant as what Samsung did. It's like comparing latent fingerprints to a criminal at a crime scene, you can know they were there but without points for comparison they are gonna walk.
After the iPad debacle (as seen from everyone but Apple's pov) I think we can expect a more rapid copying process of all things Apple. (It looks to me like the depicted Asus even has a Thunderbolt port.)
I suspect that for Apple the marketing emphasis will increasingly be on the differentiating factor - the OS and services. The Apple hardware is clearly a cut above the competition both in terms of design and detailing / quality, but as manufacturers copy Apple's minimalist look, there is less and less to differentiate (at least in the all important marketing)
I don't know Asus products well, but having tried both an Asus netbook and an Asus laptop I must say that those products oozed cheapness and were horrible to operate. Their trackpads and buttons were awkward and non responsive.
well, how about you look up your own info about the Sony VAIO X505.... i wish this wasn't true.... Apple deserves to have actually created a product like that, but alas.
Fair enough, I suppose. I'd only say that Objective C imposes it's complexity even when I'm doing simple things.
Whereas with a language like C++, which is also a complex language, I can usually avoid the complexity unless I'm doing complex things (like the features in STL or writing code that can execute faster than FORTRAN or even hand-crafted assembly language).
The complexibility allows for more flexibility and the things you can consider complex become less so with use of the language... I like those things about Objective-C and also why I like using frameworks for simpiler languages like PHP.
And the names "Java" and "Cocoa" are related, Cocoa got its name from being an oppositional framework to Java on OS X.
ASUS has been right there with Apple in terms of reliability for a few years now. They're a good company and generally manufacture solid devices at reasonable prices.
ASUS has been right there with Apple in terms of reliability for a few years now. They're a good company and generally manufacture solid devices at reasonable prices.
Yes the wedge design has been done by both HP and Sony previously, but neither unit was a strong contender due to design compromises and performance issues that Apple was able to successfully side-step. The Sony (as has been noted previously) was a flexible nickel/carbon graphite case with a huge rear hinge, running a Pentium M processor with a whopping 90 minutes of battery life at a cool $3000. So superficially, yeah there were some wedgies out there prior to the MBA. But they weren't in the same class then and certainly aren't now.
FWIW, Intel routinely benchmarks a reference model for the PC makers, this is no different than before. But just because they benchmark it, doesn't mean it will be a) succesfully executed, b)popular, or c) a direct competitor to the MBA. Remember, Apple is a forward looking company and this reference design reflects current designwork most likely already supplanted on Apple's benches by someting even more interesting.
Case shapes are problematic - most designs reflect the current component reality in terms of size and shape. Most PC makers don't use custom logic board designs like Apple, opting for the more familiar motherboard design which is easier to assemble in quantity and cheaper to fab.
Dropping power by 50% allows Macbook Pro performance in a MBA size. Definitely able to replace the Macbook and it spells good things for the MBP too. Mac Pro performance at under 15W.
Wow, do a little Google searching and you never know what you find. There's probably some here who already had seen this "back in the day", but I'd never before run across ASUS leaking the iPad a couple years before it actually shipped.
Comments
The wedge design was from Sony back in 2004 with the Sony X505.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/airwave...n/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/airwave...n/photostream/
http://www.weblogsinc.com/common/ima...42647363857573
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djxLKQQEf34
No one is saying that it's a copy simply because of the wedge shape.
Shippster has specific design elements that are clearly copied from the MBA. (I would also add the keyboard placement to his list).
Put a picture of Intel's prototype next to the images above and then next to the MBA. It is pretty clear that they did everything they could to copy the MBA.
It's one thing to have a product that just happens to look like an existing product due to design limitations (square screens, need for space for a keyboard, etc). It's another thing when EVERY design element (even the non-functional ones like the use of a brushed aluminum case) are clearly intended to create confusion.
In other words: Intel believes the best direction for the laptop market to pursue is to copy the MacBook Air.
If you look at that mock-up, its a full-blown copy.
Er how?
The asus looks square, square corners on the screen, square buttons, square trackpad. The MBA is rounded in all 3 areas. The MBA gets thinner at the edges to make it look even thinner, this doesn't. The screen on this thing looks like it is made of two pannels on top of each other, rather than one solid thing.
Quite frankly other than the large trackpad (which also still has 2 buttons), it being thin and possible the hinge what exactly is the copy?
There's no such thing as a 'perfect programming language'
Objective-C combines the best aspects of other languages without pulling in their downsides.
Fair enough, I suppose. I'd only say that Objective C imposes it's complexity even when I'm doing simple things.
Whereas with a language like C++, which is also a complex language, I can usually avoid the complexity unless I'm doing complex things (like the features in STL or writing code that can execute faster than FORTRAN or even hand-crafted assembly language).
This is a no-brainer. No one complains that laptops run too many programs, are too fast, etc. The complaints have been too much weight and not enough battery life. The response the rest of the computer industry came up with was the netbook. Apple has countered with the iPad and the Air.
The netbook addressed the issue of too heavy but battery life was still an issue and with cramped keyboards, weak processors, etc. is it any wonder that Aople's response has met with greater success.
Basically Apple is trying to address shortcomings while not creating new problems, taking the high road with devices that are more upscale in feel and price whereas the competition has done what it has always done, offered inferior devices whose main selling point is lower initial cost of ownership.
I hope that some compelling products do come to market on the PC side. That will motivate Apple to offer as much value as possible. At the moment it's like shooting fish in a barrel for Apple.
In a way, I think that Jobs would get more of a kick out of the entire personal computing space going in a positive direction than out of simply continuing to accumulate that much more wealth. Fabulously wealthy individuals are a dime a dozen but doing something positive that will be remembered for generations to come, now that's really something. I believe that the name Steve Jobs will resonate long after the Conrad Blacks of the world have been all but forgotten.
I guess Apple will think twice about working 'closely' with Intel in the future.
I'm sure Apple takes it as a sign that the MacBook Air is on the right track.
Any good design is going to be copied.
Fair enough, I suppose. I'd only say that Objective C imposes it's complexity even when I'm doing simple things.
Whereas with a language like C++, which is also a complex language, I can usually avoid the complexity unless I'm doing complex things (like the features in STL or writing code that can execute faster than FORTRAN or even hand-crafted assembly language).
If you try to solve complex problems, you usually end up writing complex code
Perl 6! Whenever it gets here!
Please don't get me started on Perl, we'll be here debating it the rest of the week, I try to avoid Perl like the plague because it's pure evil
Anyway, I think this topic was about Intel's Ultrabook strategy, so I'll leave it here with my treatise on programming languages
I suspect that for Apple the marketing emphasis will increasingly be on the differentiating factor - the OS and services. The Apple hardware is clearly a cut above the competition both in terms of design and detailing / quality, but as manufacturers copy Apple's minimalist look, there is less and less to differentiate (at least in the all important marketing)
I don't know Asus products well, but having tried both an Asus netbook and an Asus laptop I must say that those products oozed cheapness and were horrible to operate. Their trackpads and buttons were awkward and non responsive.
What a sorry joke.
Exactly! Just like Apple visionaries with the MacBook Air - a complete Sony Vaio 2003 ripoff.
You don't know about design, do you?
The wedge design was from Sony back in 2004 with the Sony X505.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/airwave...n/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/airwave...n/photostream/
http://www.weblogsinc.com/common/ima...42647363857573
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djxLKQQEf34
The design of those two are a world apart.
well, how about you look up your own info about the Sony VAIO X505.... i wish this wasn't true.... Apple deserves to have actually created a product like that, but alas.
Um. No.
Fair enough, I suppose. I'd only say that Objective C imposes it's complexity even when I'm doing simple things.
Whereas with a language like C++, which is also a complex language, I can usually avoid the complexity unless I'm doing complex things (like the features in STL or writing code that can execute faster than FORTRAN or even hand-crafted assembly language).
The complexibility allows for more flexibility and the things you can consider complex become less so with use of the language... I like those things about Objective-C and also why I like using frameworks for simpiler languages like PHP.
And the names "Java" and "Cocoa" are related, Cocoa got its name from being an oppositional framework to Java on OS X.
this has the stench of solid plastic and windows. and what "Intel" store do I buy one in? And what 3rd world company is Asus?
What a sorry joke.
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/hin...d-hp-lose/6991
ASUS has been right there with Apple in terms of reliability for a few years now. They're a good company and generally manufacture solid devices at reasonable prices.
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/hin...d-hp-lose/6991
ASUS has been right there with Apple in terms of reliability for a few years now. They're a good company and generally manufacture solid devices at reasonable prices.
I agree.
The wedge design was from Sony back in 2004 with the Sony X505.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/airwave...n/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/airwave...n/photostream/
http://www.weblogsinc.com/common/ima...42647363857573
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djxLKQQEf34
Yes the wedge design has been done by both HP and Sony previously, but neither unit was a strong contender due to design compromises and performance issues that Apple was able to successfully side-step. The Sony (as has been noted previously) was a flexible nickel/carbon graphite case with a huge rear hinge, running a Pentium M processor with a whopping 90 minutes of battery life at a cool $3000. So superficially, yeah there were some wedgies out there prior to the MBA. But they weren't in the same class then and certainly aren't now.
FWIW, Intel routinely benchmarks a reference model for the PC makers, this is no different than before. But just because they benchmark it, doesn't mean it will be a) succesfully executed, b)popular, or c) a direct competitor to the MBA. Remember, Apple is a forward looking company and this reference design reflects current designwork most likely already supplanted on Apple's benches by someting even more interesting.
Case shapes are problematic - most designs reflect the current component reality in terms of size and shape. Most PC makers don't use custom logic board designs like Apple, opting for the more familiar motherboard design which is easier to assemble in quantity and cheaper to fab.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/30/a...-cpu-video-ha/
They also have the phone/tablet idea:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/30/a...unced-padfone/
and obviously the high quality Asus Transformer. The problem I can see immediately is trying to sell both the netbook/tablet and phone/tablet.
They seem to fear making a tablet that is only a tablet.
Anyway, at least we know what's possible for the MBA refresh and Intel are going their ULV route:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/30/i...es-law-defyin/
Dropping power by 50% allows Macbook Pro performance in a MBA size. Definitely able to replace the Macbook and it spells good things for the MBP too. Mac Pro performance at under 15W.
http://crave.cnet.co.uk/laptops/appl...asus-49293967/