Thinnovation... (MacBook Air)

[fldsfslmn]

I still use my 12" PowerBook G4 every day, a model which I tend to believe is the single finest consumer item ever produced. It is a machine that is just built for public space and the people who make use of it (many of these end up becoming writers). To take it a step further, it is the closest that personal computing has ever come to distilling—and promulgating—an ethos of convivial and non-sedentary urbanism.

What disappoints me about MacBook Air, though, is that its announcement comes with the same uneasy promise of “five hours of battery life” that was offered when I bought my PowerBook five years ago.

They’ve come along way on some things, but whether it’s “five hours” or five hours, it’s simply not good enough.

[matt]

@fldsfslmn

I still use my 12" PowerBook G4 every day, a model which I tend to believe is the single finest consumer item ever produced. It is a machine that is just built for public space and the people who make use of it (many of these end up becoming writers). To take it a step further, it is the closest that personal computing has ever come to distilling—and promulgating—an ethos of convivial and non-sedentary urbanism.

What is it about the Powerbook G4 that you like?

I am looking at getting myself a new portable laptop, to use as a secondary machine, so I care little for power, storage space, etc, and am more concerned with portability and battery power (so long as it will run Scrivener).

I have seen a few of them floating around second hand… what would make this a better option (besides price) than a new 13-inch Macbook?

[fldsfslmn]

@matt

I have seen a few of them floating around second hand… what would make this a better option (besides price) than a new 13-inch Macbook?

Nothing, other than its historical importance. Go MacBook; the PPC architecture is already rocketing toward “unsupported.”

[matt]

Fair enough

Matt

[Hilko]

I love the Air, and if I had the money I would buy one immediately. However, as it is, it just isn’t worth the price.

First of all, I now have MacBook. I’ve resigned myself to carrying it with me most of the time, even though it’s a bit too heavy and bulky to be comfortable. Still, it does the job.

Secondly, the Air isn’t smaller, just thinner. In fact, I hear it’s slightly bigger in width and depth than the MacBook. After some thought, I realised that this is probably a smart decision. It can fit in pretty much any bag, and usually I find that it’s more of a bother to carry thicker things (books) than it is to carry ‘larger’ things (folders, articles, etc.). Still, I would have preferred a smaller screen.

Thirdly, the whole point for me would be primarily to have a ‘lite’ computer for writing, music, etc. I wouldn’t need to watch movies, process photos or images, or do other intensive tasks. I can do that stuff at home on my MacBook, or occasionally just bring the MacBook along. So as it is, the Air is really quite overkill.

In the end, I just don’t really get it. Had apple created a smaller, or at least less advanced laptop, something in between an iphone and a mac, and with a lower price, I would have sold my liver to get one. The Air seems to be geared more towards rich, gadget-addicted suits who travel frequently. You still can’t use the Air as a replacement for a good pc, but it’s still too expensive to get as a travel companion. I don’t mind them creating it, but it makes a true in-between, cheap writing/travelling laptop from apple less likely. Hell, I’d have settled for an iphone on steroids with a proper keyboard!

[Hilko]

As an aside, does anyone have tips for comfortably carrying around a macbook, an adaptor, an assortment of readers, and a book or two? I’ve been using a shoulder bag for as long as I remember, and I’m wondering if it might be smart to switch to a more conventional, but somewhat geekier (at least here in Holland) backpack. I’ve seen some people with a special laptop backpack to go along with their shoulder bag, but I’m afraid it might make me too much bait for robbers here in Amsterdam.

[brett]

I’ve seen lots of cool-looking messenger bags and other laptop briefcases, but nothing yet that’s inspired me to give up the one I’ve used for four years now: an Eagle Creek briefcase style nylon bag that converts to a backpack in seconds. I’ve been on plenty of assignments and trips in which one or the other configuration made more sense, sometimes both in the same day. I put my 15" PowerBook in a padded sleeve inside the bag. It also has 2 separate zippered compartments in front. It doesn’t really scream “I’ve got a laptop!” yet looks good.
Is Amsterdam really that scary? Didn’t seem so when I visited there this summer, carrying my PowerBook in that same bag – backpack style, I think.

[Jaysen]

Warning on bags…

make 100% certain that you have “crush protection” not just edge protection. Think about slipping on the ice, pulling the bag to the front so your backside hits the pavement not the laptop, but still putting your hand on top of the laptop hinge. A MBP 17" does NOT like that. Neither does the Apple warrante. This whole thing would have been avoided with a bag upgrade to a crush resistant bag.

Crush resistent bags will have a stiffener in the edge padding of the laptop compartment and a stiffening brace or two in in the large panels. I am still looking for a good bag for my 17", but there are a number for the 13" and 15".

If only I could buy one for may spine… fell in Dec, but still can’t quite get over the back issue. The Dr. kid has nice braces now though.

[grumbleboy]

@fldsfslmn

I still use my 12" PowerBook G4 every day, a model which I tend to believe is the single finest consumer item ever produced. It is a machine that is just built for public space and the people who make use of it (many of these end up becoming writers). To take it a step further, it is the closest that personal computing has ever come to distilling—and promulgating—an ethos of convivial and non-sedentary urbanism.

What disappoints me about MacBook Air, though, is that its announcement comes with the same uneasy promise of “five hours of battery life” that was offered when I bought my PowerBook five years ago.

They’ve come along way on some things, but whether it’s “five hours” or five hours, it’s simply not good enough.

I also still have and love my 12" PB. I’d have thought the lack of an optical drive in the Air would be a deal breaker for me, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how rarely I ever use the optical drive in my PB. Still, if and when I get a new laptop, I want something I can run Logic on.

@Hilko

As an aside, does anyone have tips for comfortably carrying around a macbook, an adaptor, an assortment of readers, and a book or two? I’ve been using a shoulder bag for as long as I remember, and I’m wondering if it might be smart to switch to a more conventional, but somewhat geekier (at least here in Holland) backpack. I’ve seen some people with a special laptop backpack to go along with their shoulder bag, but I’m afraid it might make me too much bait for robbers here in Amsterdam.

I use this with one of these inside the main compartment. There’s plenty of room for books, notebooks, etc. The leather bag is a bit pricey, but it was a gift from my wife when I finished my master’s.

[howarth]

1. I slip my MPB into a padded zipper sleeve made by Case Logic. It’s large enough for 15 and 17-inch screens; usually I add a mousepad for extra protection. (Currently $16.33 US at Amazon.com)

2. I slip that sleeve into a soft-sided nylon Carryall Briefcase from L L Bean, $49.00 US. It has a padded divider for the laptop, another for books and papers, and many pockets for accessories like mouse, cord, adapter, and external drive. Also room for a phone, PDA, etc. Has a padded carry handle and a shoulder strap, and a strap on the rear will attach it to the top of a rolling luggage cart.

That’s good protection for under $60 and it easily stows in overhead bins or under seats on planes.

[Lord_Lightning]

Well, expecting something really elegant and inexpensive from 'frisco, and being hugely disappointed, I sold my kids to medical science and just ordered a 2G MacMini.

Now, if Keith brought out a really backward compatible version of Scrivener - say, compatible with OSX 10.2 then I could use my beautiful mothballed Wallstreet G3.

Still, as Steve said, there are still another 50 or so weeks left in 2008. Anything could happen.

[KB]

@Hilko

In the end, I just don’t really get it. Had apple created a smaller, or at least less advanced laptop, something in between an iphone and a mac, and with a lower price, I would have sold my liver to get one. The Air seems to be geared more towards rich, gadget-addicted suits who travel frequently. You still can’t use the Air as a replacement for a good pc, but it’s still too expensive to get as a travel companion. I don’t mind them creating it, but it makes a true in-between, cheap writing/travelling laptop from apple less likely.

You know, I think you’ve hit the nail on the head with this one. The whole reason I “went Mac” in the first place was that I wanted a really portable laptop that was reliable, had good battery life and wasn’t too expensive. The iBook G4 blew everything else out of the water. At £800, five pounds in weight or whatever and with a compact 12" screen, it just blew everything else out of the water. It was lighter, smaller and looked better than everything else - but it was also cheaper. If I were still a PC owner, there is nothing really in the current line-up that would have made me switch were I looking the same things as I was back then. There is still absolutely no replacement for the iBook 12" (or PB 12" for that matter). The MacBook 13.3" fits awkwardly into a record bag, and is heavier rather than lighter than the iBook. The battery life of the MacBooks are far worse than the iBooks (the battery life of my MBPro is very shoddy).

And now this MacBook Air… Expensive, wide and completely dependant on wireless connectivity. That wipes out half of the UK market straight away. I only went wireless a few months ago, and I’m a geek. Most of the UK are only just starting to get decent broadband! It would be fine around my house - but if I take it to Cornwall for a holiday to see the in-laws, or out and about, I suddenly can’t connect it to anything (aside from the one USB port).

Yeah… It looks lovely. I kinda want one. But: it’s too expensive; it’s too wide (make a fracking 12" model? Why are they so resistant to that when users have been hounding for one for two years now?); I want a CD burner on my most portable machine (because when I go and visit family, I want to burn photos taken onto a CD). It just sort of misses the mark.

Oh well. I just wish they would finally produce something that instilled in me the same love I still feel for that iBook 12".

Best,
Keith

[Jaysen]

I kind of disagree about there being nothing in the mac lineup to attract “converts”. If you compare hardware specs, macs are actually cheaper than comparable laptops (in the US anyway). If a person is looking for a mid to high end machine, and a model that has a good reputation they are looking at a laptop in excess of $us1200. In that range you have the MB and for a few dollars more the MBP.

The problem is that a cheap, “throwaway”, dell is half the price of a mac. It is hard for most people to ignore that.

[kewms]

@Jaysen

I kind of disagree about there being nothing in the mac lineup to attract “converts”. If you compare hardware specs, macs are actually cheaper than comparable laptops (in the US anyway). If a person is looking for a mid to high end machine, and a model that has a good reputation they are looking at a laptop in excess of $us1200. In that range you have the MB and for a few dollars more the MBP.

The problem is that a cheap, “throwaway”, dell is half the price of a mac. It is hard for most people to ignore that.

Oh, I can. It’s one thing to buy a cheap throwaway computer. It’s another to discover that the failure that causes it to be thrown away will always come at the worst possible time. I know lots of people who’ve had reliability problems with Dell laptops.

Katherine

[KB]

I was really just expressing my disappointment that there is still no true iBook replacement, and the iBook was my favourite machine of all time. An optical drive, a replaceable battery and a smaller screen on the MacBook Air and I would have been in love. Don’t get me wrong. I love my MBPro. It’s better than anything on the PC market, in my opinion. I just wish their was a light-weight alternative for travelling to see family that didn’t make you sacrifice so much non-wireless connectivity. Only connect, and all that…
Best,
Keith

[Boys_of_Summer]

I love that notebook…

A bit expenive bt looks so neat.

My wife said she wold leave if I buy one more toy.

I need to weigh my options.

Latest cool Mac thing/30 year marriage.
Latest cool Mac thing/30 year marriage.
Latest cool Mac thing/30 year marriage.

Hmmm…

This will not be easy…
H

[vic-k]

Howard!
get the Mac.

If yer wife leaves, I`ll gladly send you mine

vic

[nadinbrzezinski]

three to four years down the line when the MB might need replacing… MIGHT… I like to use computers for as long as possible…

And given my needs, given my laptop is my primary machine… I use my WIN machine less and less these days… I think I will go for the pro model then

[Lord_Lightning]

engadget have posted some useful comparison pictures.

engadget.com/2008/01/15/appl … -showdown/

[Maria]

@Hilko

As an aside, does anyone have tips for comfortably carrying around a macbook, an adaptor, an assortment of readers, and a book or two? I’ve been using a shoulder bag for as long as I remember, and I’m wondering if it might be smart to switch to a more conventional, but somewhat geekier (at least here in Holland) backpack. I’ve seen some people with a special laptop backpack to go along with their shoulder bag, but I’m afraid it might make me too much bait for robbers here in Amsterdam.

Here in Japan it is not cool any more to use backpacks – it is for people aged over 30. Because I am old enough to enjoy to be seen as one of my husband’s students when we are walking in our hometown, I changed to mostly using a under-30 cool canvas bag or put my ibook into some larger handbag if super young is not needed. Since my 5300 I put all my notebooks into whichever backpack or bag or suitcase I was using anyway. They all survived, and I think nothing is cooler than picking up a computer from somewhere among the sandwiches, newpaper and research notes.

OK, I would not recommend this seriously, at least it works fine for me…

Maria