[X4U] MW Expo; I'm underwhelmed

[Roger Snyder]

    Well first, I'm kind of excited that I got new apps for my Touch. (And
while I love getting things free, I don't mind paying. I'm used to paying
for software upgrades.)

    I think the new laptop is cool. (I believe that is what it is supposed
to be.) It would be perfect for my wife, though her MacBook, which is brand
new - replacing a stolen one - will suit her fine for a while.

    The weight saving would be important to her, the speed is more than
adequate (mostly email and word-processing), and having a keyboard she can
type and a screen she can read puts the Air ahead of most of the
competition. (Actually, not being a Mac eliminated the other mini-laptops
from the start, so there was really no competition.)

    I'd like it for the cool and show-off factor (I still remember people
drooling over my brand new Ti G4 years ago, particularity the thinness.) But
as I will be a one computer person, I likely need more the power and
versatility of the MacBook Pro. (Though the USB to Ethernet adapter helps
considerably.)

    as to:

On 1/16/08 10:33, "Jens Selvig" wrote:

> I kind of see this new laptop as a pretty big change in direction for
> Apple. Sort of like when they dropped floppy drives. I can't see not
> having a CD/DVD drive included with the laptop. Maybe in 5 years it
> will be normal?

    I can see that being the case. The TimeCapsule gets a CD/DVD burner in a
few years, or some evolution of such a product, (maybe we plug one into it?)
and we connect to the home network to burn and read disks.

    I almost never use my built in CD/DVD drive. I use an external drive to
burn disks, which I have upgraded twice to get faster speed and LightScribe
capabilities. 

    Almost all of the software I install now is from downloads (both updates
and new purchases).

    And with internet access wherever I go, I haven't felt the need to burn
a disk or read a disk to exchange files on the road in years.

    I still burn music and DVD disks for presents and archives, but that I
could do connected to the external or over the network. Many of my music
gifts (in my family) just get loaded on the person iPod now.

    With so much connectivity, I can see the one optical drive for machine -
particularly lap tops - model going away.

-- 
Roger Snyder

Harrison's Postulate:
For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism.