if they could infuse the MacBook Air with that new car smell?

Talk about an impulse buy.

Passion!

I keep hearing the complaints about what it doesn't have, but as I sit here, typing on my Pismo, that's _loaded_, thinking about the MBA.... I keep wondering what all the complaints are about....

My Pismo is my main and only computer. I'm looking to replace it in this year, or maybe even wait until next MacWorld. In any case, I'm looking at what's out there, and the MBA seems to be fitting my needs the best, so, what is it missing???

Ok, let's try to list them.
1. No Firewire. But if I get the MBA, I will _definitely_ be wanting the Time Capsule--so, no FW needed.
2. 1 USB.... but what do we need USB for? Let's look at what I have plugged int at the moment (4 ports--two internal, and 2 USB 2.0 on the PC slot)
Mouse--on the MBA, it'll be BlueTooth... not needed.
Printer--on the MBA, connected to the Time Capsule--not needed.
BlueTooth dongle--nuf said
Power for my USB card--again, not necessary
Palm sync cable--use once in a while
Camera--use once in a while.

So, in the end, I have two devices to plug into my USB port, and granted, the Palm could probably do BT, for as often as I sync. I do all my installs, and file transfers via BlueTooth, and doubt I will be continuing to use the Palm much longer anyway, so my only real need is for the camera.

Now, the next issue... CD/DVD. Ok, without internal, it will be USB, but today was the first day in a couple months that I've used my drive, and I used it only to install Fedora 8 onto an extra hard drive just for kicks... So, even running that via USB is not going to clash with my single port. I just don't use the drive much--most installs for me now are downloads.

What else do I need.... Ethernet? on the rare instance I need it, a dongle to USB works just fine...

So, looking at the MBA, I can't see it missing anything I need as far as ports for gadgets, etc.

now, battery... People want to be able to swap out a battery... But on my Pismo, I could never do that without being plugged in... So what good is a swappable battery if you have to plug in to do it? Maybe the backup is powerful enough? or has a capacitor? In any case, 5 hrs, or even 4 is long enough. I used to take my Pismo to Warsaw and back again (2.75 hrs each way), and the battery survived. (and the trains all have outlets now!) Flying--sorry, I _hate_ using my computer on the plane. That's what handhelds are for. But 5 hours, or even 4 is longer than any other modern laptop, and even better than my Pismo in its best days.

So, what do I still lack--oh, processor. Hm... 550mhz G4 on a slow bus, designed for a G3... to 1.6mhz intel core-whatsit. Blow me away!

So far, I have no problems with the MBA. Sure, it's a bit more expensive than the MacBook, but I'm sorry, but I'm tired of hauling around clunky, chunky computers. It hangs off my shoulder most days of the week.... The MBA is something I'm definitely considering.

However, in the end, I have only one concern, or question. My Pismo has lasted me now, going on 8 years. I have no doubts that there is _no_ computer I could buy today that would last me that long. Hey! I'm running Tiger on this guy, and it runs Tiger better than it runs either Fedora or Ubuntu! (It's all in the graphics) How long could I expect the MBA to last in comparison to an MBP? I doubt the plain MB would last as long as either, but if I could make the MBA last about as long as an MBP, then It's a bargain in comparison. That's where I stand--and I can well imagine that there are tons of people just like me, or similar enough. People who get paid to play with these things, don't have, IMO a realistic enough view of what normal people need, nor how they use their computers. That's my point of view, for what it's worth...

-Jon

That was quite poetic! I have been saying this since MBA was first demonstrated at MW. This computer will be extremely popular with women. Remember, they are the ones who control our family wallets. Their first question when they're buying a laptop is "How heavy is it?". They don't care about the specs; it'll do their e-mail, blog, web surfing/shopping, Skype/iChat video/audio conferencing, their digital pictures, MySpace, occasional MS Word and Office document... It'll do everything they need it to do.

Let's wait for a month or so to give people a chance to actually see it and hold it.

I've seen about 50 reviews from fanboys about how great the AIR is for "other people" such as "women, " and the fanboys would love to buy it but it's too "expensive", and doesn't have the features but "other people" should buy it since "other people won't need the features.

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vasic wrote:
I have been saying this since MBA was first demonstrated at MW. This computer will be extremely popular with women.

Whoa. Really? Purse-strings or no, I as "women" am not interested in the MBA. Why? I'm not interested in limitations...what can I say, I need an optical drive. My first question isn't, "How heavy is it?" I ask, "How much of a bad m-f will I be if I buy this?" Alternately, I ask, "Will this do what I need it to do?"

Frankly, as a women, I have more lap space on a plane for a full-size laptop. (Last flight I took I had plenty of room for myself and my MacBook Pro.) Your target market--if we are to make broad and sweeping unfounded generalizations--should be gigantic men who travel a lot on airplanes but who can't afford seats outside coach.

I suspect your Pismo has an AirPort card and will supplement the MBA perfectly.

Thank goodness 9 years ago the SCSI connector was replaced with Firewire and the floppy drive was abandoned. It's called technology. As soon as ppl realize the MBA is a product with all of the unnecessary fat trimmed, it will be a hit. Why use wires and aluminum/plastic discs when all you need is air. It's the way of the future.

Quote

Anonymous wrote:
I suspect your Pismo has an AirPort card and will supplement the MBA perfectly.

Thank goodness 9 years ago the SCSI connector was replaced with Firewire and the floppy drive was abandoned. It's called technology. As soon as ppl realize the MBA is a product with all of the unnecessary fat trimmed, it will be a hit. Why use wires and aluminum/plastic discs when all you need is air. It's the way of the future.

My Pismo, is, unfortunately, Airport-free (but not my Newton!). But I agree with you--time to move on from cables, etc. Oh, and spinning platters will be a thing of the past, as well, as the $1000 SSD drive for the MBA portends--ok, so maybe it's not here yet, but it is coming.

-Jon

Showed the MBA to my niece; a student who has to pack around books, lunch, work clothes and her current notebook (a gifted Dell). She's willing to cut off her cable TV in order to pay for one if only to lighten her load.
The MBA is her perfect (but not cheapest solution). The deal maker for her is the backlit keyboard, as often in lecture the lights are dimmed for (her words):
"Someone presents a clunky, junky non-informative Powerpoint waste of time. I'd like to work on what's gonna matter getting ready for my GRE and for that I need to see the keys I'm hitting."

I love the idea of a wireless "tether" for back-up storage, optical drive, printer, and of course to connect to the rest of my network. The MBA is another step in this direction, shed the things you don't need all the time, but access them remotely with a few clicks without a clumsy docking station.

You can save a whole bunch of movies on your hard drive or buy them through iTunes, and leave your DVDs (and DVD cases) at home for your next trip – 1’s and 0’s on your hard drive are much lighter and they don’t come with a plastic wrap that’s impossible to remove! So who needs the optical drive while on the move anyway?

As far as the complaints about the battery - How often do you change your batteries to make this a concern???

I have a first generation Titanium G4 PowerBook (the first with a 15" widescreen, slot-loading DVD, 1" thick, and WiFi, shockingly it didn’t have a built in 3.5” ‘floppy’ drive) the battery lasted 3 years - I never needed to take it out until then. Same thing with the second battery, and I'm now on number 3 in 7 years time. It's not that big of a deal to undo a number of screws remove the back and swap the battery once every three years. BTW, Apple will do it for you for the same amount of money as a replacement battery cost (about $129) and recycle the battery for you (you don’t throw your old batteries in the trash do you?).

The rationale behind refusing to buy a MBA because the battery replacement requires a screw-driver is like refusing to buy a car because the oil change requires wrench every three months.

What about all the other laptops out there with cover plates screwed to the bottom of the machine that need to be removed before you can access the battery?

It cost too much? If you want to be the thinnest, it will cost more. BTW, my PowerBook, the thinnest laptop with the largest screen in its day, cost $2800 (or $400/year for these past 7 years) when I bought it. LOL, I thought $1799 was a really good price for a laptop that will last you 8 years or more. ($225/year for 8 years isn’t bad value at all).

Change is so difficult, but necessary to move forward. The MBA is a good step forward in portable computing in my opinion.