I love macs. I’ve only owned Macs — mostly. I bought a 486 stripper to load Linux on in 1995. And I now own an EEEPC.
Today’s announcement of the Macbook Air is certainly cool and beautiful and they’ll probably sell a lot of them. Hell, Scoble is buying one.
I paid $400 for the EEEPC in November, which is 22% of the price of the MacBook Air.
But $1800 is a lot of cash for something that can’t do a lot of real work. It’s got integrated graphics, only one USB port, and an iPod harddrive.
Not exactly a workhorse.
I’m typing this on my 17″ Macbook Pro. It’s a mobile studio, I can edit, animate, and Photoshop all from the comfort of my bed. But it’s cumbersome for travel.
For my more mobile needs, I have the EEEPC in my bag, it weighs less than the MB Air and practically all of the functionality (yes the harddrive is limited and the screen is small, but I have most of my files on various servers on the net and the screen is usable for hours of surfing). And for even more mobile stuff, I have an iPhone.
At $400 the EEEPC provides at least 80% of the functionality of the MB Air, and when comboed with an iPhone you’re looking at 95% of the functionality at less than half the price.
The bigger thing is that the OS is becoming less and less of the factor. Which is cool for Mac OS, but it’s also cool for Linux, which is running on the EEEPC. You just need to have FireFox and OpenOffice and you can do most things.
For doing real work, I loves me my Mac Apps. But these little lappys aren’t meant to do big stretches of work. They are meant to be taken everywhere and have good net connectivity. You can have that for a whole lot cheaper than what you can get from Apple.
16 Comments
January 15, 2008 at 2:36 pm
I agree Kent! I’m using my PowerBook G4-12 and it cost me $1100 w/60gb hd, wifi’s g (hacked the airport card with an external antenna), but it’ connects. I’ll say it was worth it.
Unfortunately, it’s heavy and i can’t fit it in my purse. I purchased it early summer ’05 and I’d take it everywhere before my cellphone (waiting for iPhone ’09). I Can Not Believe the price of the MBA! If he would have said $900 I would’ve played the fool and pre-ordered. Nooooooo, $1800! And no optical drive? Dude, what type of blow are you on?!
I may not have the patience to eat, but I was a Palm user. I will wait until Steves’ last child is in its senior year of college before I grab the MBA. Maybe he’ll wise up by then and drop the price where it really belongs: $700.
Apple, Inc = Sony by 2015.
January 15, 2008 at 2:37 pm
I 100% agree with you. Nice system, but too wimpy to be a primary PC, and too expensive to be a secondary PC. Scoble likes throwing his money away.
January 15, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Being based in the UK, I might buy one when I’m in Florida next month – in the UK the prices are way off – Steve sure has a reality distortion field when it comes to exchange rates. I just recently got a base level Macbook to run alongside my iMac and I love it. But a thinner lighter one would be very cool – I could flog that one in the UK and get 1200 dollars, another 500 plus tax and it would be mine. Lower GHz spec though – would I notice. Hmmm 500 plus tax……what else could that buy? Macbook Pro perhaps? Now if they’d announce a bl0ody 13″ Macbook Pro, I’d be happy with that!
Looking forward to my free Apple TV upgrade and US Movie rentals via my US iTunes gift cards wink wink….
January 15, 2008 at 2:48 pm
That’s just like you, Kent Nichols… buying 486 strippers… gees, you animal.
January 15, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Ha, Scoble buying one shouldn’t really be news, remember the nausea inducing picture of him exiting an apple store with the iphone
Anyway, you’re dead right about the Air not being much of a work horse especially if you have any video or photography work to do. The other deal breaker for me is no dvd player, I love watching movies on my laptop when I’m traveling, and always have a few netflix in my carry on. Oh and don’t get me started on any Apple “first gen” products, i’ve been using macs since ’96 and learned early on that the 3rd generation of any Apple product line is the one to look at as they will have worked out the kinks with the early adopters.
January 15, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Without basics like multiple usb ports and an optical drive, I wouldn’t be able to use it when I’m not near a computer with an optical drive.
January 15, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Wait
you edit from your bed? I gotta’ try that…
January 15, 2008 at 3:24 pm
I agree too.
I’m wondering if the Air might actually push more folks to buy an Eee PC. If Apple emphasizes the advantages of a lightweight computer, folks may hunt around and find the Eee PC (with its multiple USB ports, lower cost, lighter weight and reasonably sleek look) and buy that instead.
Personally I’ve got an XO (runs Linux) and it’ll do for light toting AND hard use (it’s one tough little guy and even weather resistant). The upcoming 10 inch screen EeePC is tempting though.
January 15, 2008 at 5:42 pm
The EEEPC is the lamest computer I’ve seen in the 2000s. It’s just an ugly, cheap toy.
January 15, 2008 at 5:48 pm
@tom wow. It’s a cheap commodity computer that’s very, very portable. Sorry that it’s mere existence offends you.
@mike try bediting sometime. it’s awesome.
January 16, 2008 at 12:47 am
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January 16, 2008 at 12:51 am
I’m a huge Mac follower (as I type on my MBP in my bed with the lights turned off). But…
I’m with you, Kent, on your take about the Mac Book Air. It’s cute, but it’s empty.
As for the Apple TV Take 2: it’s now become what it should have been when it initially launched. At this time, with the price point and everything, I’m disinclined to switch from Netflix.
I suppose it’s difficult to follow in the wake of the iPhone to have Jobs pull the “one last thing” this time around.
January 16, 2008 at 1:00 pm
As a writer, the EEE PC is extremely appealing to me. It’s a lot more portable than my current MacBook Pro, and the connectivity features in conjunction with web-apps means I can write, research and correspond pretty much anywhere. And the $400 price point makes it an extremely affordable secondary system. Hardly a toy and certainly more useful than a tech-limited $1800 notebook with the same 2D footprint as the MacBook.
January 22, 2008 at 6:52 am
[...] Kent Nichols – Why the Macbook Air isn’t worth it [...]
March 17, 2008 at 6:58 am
Ever wondered why so many that have not had a single second of hands-on on the Macbook Air feel the need to not only have an opinion about it but also air it (haha).
The reason is ironic : both the haves and the haves-not use the Macbook Air to profile themselves, takeing a stance against it says as much about who you are than having one.
Think about it.
November 20, 2008 at 4:50 am
MSI wind running OSX. smooth.