[X4U] MW Expo; I'm underwhelmed

[James Eddy]

On Jan 21, 2008, at 2:24 AM, Eddie Hargreaves wrote:

> On 1/20/08 8:20 AM, Shawn King <shawn at yourmaclifeshow.com> wrote:
>
>> On 1/19/08 11:42 AM, "Dave B" <DaveB_Lists_1004 at gto.net> wrote:
>>
>>> the Air requires additional
>>> hardware to be fully functional.
>>
>> It obviously depends on what you mean by "fully functional". Lots  
>> of people
>> will buy the air and find it's functions as full as they need.
>
> I find it hard to believe that someone would buy the Air and not  
> need a
> program like Word, PowerPoint or Keynote. All of these would require  
> the use
> of additional hardware (external optical drive, secondary computer) to
> install these programs.
>
> Is there anyone who uses a Mac that hasn't installed software via a  
> CD or
> DVD?


There are many folks who have a desk at work that only has a couple  
small drawers. Often these desks are very nice and quite expensive.  
They don't need or want a couple built in file drawers because they  
have an assistant to handle those chores. They also may not need or  
want a fully tricked out workstation to run Photoshop, Dreamweaver,  
etc because they have another person(s) to accomplish these tasks.  
They want a decent sized screen to run Word, Excel, and Mail. They get  
pleasure from the great design and elegance of the MacBook Air. It  
does what they need, with style. It will look great and feel right on  
their desk. They won't think twice before ordering one. Still, they  
often have a workstation built into their office cabinetry somewhere.

These people probably have more money than sense. (But they probably  
have a good amount of sense). These people are sometimes my clients as  
a woodworker. But rather than seeing it as "more money than sense" I  
see it as "knowing what they want and not minding paying for it."

So the Macbook Air may be a bit Hammacher-Schlemmer-ish, but it suits  
their needs. For me, my Macbook Pro is just right. I can run Photoshop  
and Freeway and Filemaker to run my one man business, but I don't need  
a MacPro to power my way through piles of digital files as a pro  
designer would. I wanted a bigger screen than a MacBook, and I NEEDED  
a portable for my own purposes. If I could have afforded a 17" MBP I  
might have bought one, but I couldn't, didn't, and I'm quite content.

I would think that most folks who buy an MBA will copy their apps and  
files from another machine. The lack of an optical drive is a non- 
issue. Or they pay another $100 and get the drive for those few times  
they need it.

The MacBook Air is a niche machine. It will be interesting to see if  
this niche will be big enough to keep the MBA viable. I'm pretty sure  
it will.

   
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Jim Eddy                                               James Eddy  
Woodworks
giametti at mac.com               jim at jameseddywoodworks.com
                              Douglas, Massachusetts
                        http://jameseddywoodworks.com
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