As you undoubtedly know, the Air has a single USB port, a single micro-DVI port, and a stereo headphone jack. No ethernet. No FireWire. No ExpressCard/34 slot.
Each with it's own ramifications, problems, and solutions.
And as we saw in Fixing the Air #2, this paucity of ports and the desire to create the "world's thinnest notebook" lead in turn to other design decisions, again each with its own issues.
So let's turn our attention to the Case of the Missing Ports.
The second most contentious design decision regarding Air relates to the elimination of the internal SuperDrive.
Now, this isn't new in the world of small computers. Many systems in the ultra-portable class have offloaded the CD/DVD drive to an external enclosure, or to a docking station.
So they have an excuse. But what matters here is not that they did so, but how they did so.
And managed to get almost everything wrong in the process.
One of the more contentious design decisions that Apple made concerning the Air relates to the non-user replaceable battery.
"True" road warriors, apparently, need to be able to swap out batteries so they can use their computers for at least 15-20 hours at a time. Perfect for those non-stop New York to New Zealand trips we all take so often.
True road warriors also don't seem to carry iPods and iPhones and any of the numerous other devices we mere mortals carry in order to while away the time.
Nope. They positively, absolutely need more notebook power.
So what are the options?
MacBook Airs with the 64GB Solid State Drive (SSD) have begun arriving in the United States.
My personal order was placed online the day of the MacWorld announcement, and after waiting nearly a year (time is relative) I finally received my shipment notice last Friday.
Armed with a Fed Ex tracking number, I watched with some amusement as my future Air-to-be was picked up in Shanghai, spent Saturday night seeing the sights in Anchorage, Alaska (are there any sights to see in Anchorage?), and in due course she landed here in Denver on Sunday. Quite the world traveler.
Then again, that's exactly what she's designed to do.
It's the weekend, so indulge me as I engage in some more mathematical musings, this time with the MacBook Air vs. the relatively long-in-the-tooth but beloved 12" aluminum PowerBook.
Also, my earlier article on the Air vs. Eee has generated more than a few comments and emails and rebuttals, so I'll reply to a few of those issues as well.
Especially as they apply equally well in any discussion of the PowerBook.
ComputerWorld's Seth Weintraub just published an article detailing ten reasons why you might want to wait before buying a MacBook Air.
Assuming, of course, that you haven't already placed an order.
Among the "concerns" listed are the processor, wireless, "glitchy" components, the drives, docks, speed, expandability, size, and price.
But are those concerns justified? Let's take a look.
The Wall Street Journal's Walter Mossberg has reviewed the MacBook Air and determined that it's not for everyone.
Which to my mind should be obvious.
But it's amazing just how many people fail to appreciate the Air for what it is, and want it to remake it into something else.
Here's an excerpt from a comment on MacNN, "I think I will wait for 3 things to be addressed, Firewire port, 2 USB ports and GB ethernet port or 2 USB ports, GB ethernet port and a Cardbus [sic] slot..."
The same individual also mentions the lack of an optical drive and removable battery, which means that by the time we cram all of the "missing features" back in we essentially have a machine with the feature set and footprint of a MacBook Pro...
Which we already have.
AppleInsider seems to have scored an exclusive, having confirmed that forthcoming MacBooks and MacBook Pros will also contain the Air's new multi-touch trackpad technology.
Wow. Who saw that coming?
But even if Apple adds it to future notebooks, and even if those notebooks are coming soon, I still have a problem. Because my iMac has a acute case of multi-touch envy.
Which leads us to the question of the day:
With gestures becoming more and more important to the Mac interface, when will we get multi-touch on the desktop?
Some people have complained about the footprint the Air needs to support that 13.3" screen and full-size keyboard, saying that they would have prefered a smaller notebook like the Asus Eee PC.
A "true" subnotebook.
Well, their wish has come true, because by my calculations the Air is actually both thinner and smaller than the Eee PC.
You do the math.
According to published specifications, the Eee's dimensions are 8.9x6.5x0.9~1.4, or a total of 66.52 cubic inches in volume. But at 12.8x8.94x0.16~0.76, the Air is only 52.63 cubic inches in volume, making it over 20% smaller than the Eee.
True, the Air does weigh a bit more, and it obviously costs a lot more.
But if small is what you want, then we've got you covered.
There have been a few sites touting various conspiracy theories regarding the MacBook Air's external SuperDrive and the fact that it's only compatible with the Air.
As such, Apple has been accused of deliberately "crippling" the drive so that it doesn't work with their other computers, and some have provided "proof" that other manufacturers can make a standard USB bus-powered drive, and so Apple should have been able to do so as well.
But such accusations, and the proof that goes with them, are really little more than hot air.
Continue reading "The MacBook Air: SuperDrive Conspiracies" »
