Tag Archives: computers

Apple’s New Tiny, Thin Notebook Computer

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Who will buy Apple’s new expensive, ultrathin laptop? It doesn’t even have a CD drive! This post gets it exactly right: Why does the MacBook Air make so many so dumb?

… [T]his notebook will be Apple’s next step in a strategy to infiltrate the enterprise.
[. . .] [T]he MacBook Air is aimed at a narrow upscale segment of the market. These customers care about style and what that style says about them. It’s all a part of their personal brand.
. . . When they open this machine at a meeting, it may say more about them than a $300 haircut, or a bespoke suit.
Will these users worry about connecting FireWire for digital video or external storage? They may worry more that a heavy briefcase filled with a heavy notebook could wrinkle their suit before a meeting. Listen, if one of these persons needs an power outlet because the battery is heading towards critical, someone will find them an outlet. And besides, there’s plenty of juice for notebooks and mimosas in the first class cabin.
What’s great about the MacBook Air is that this machine appears to be a new twist in Apple’s stealth campaign into the enterprise. The MacBook Air is all about switchers.
Who will be customers of this classy machine? Captains of enterprise and commerce. Traditionally, these customers have been Windows users. But now they will buy Apple’s new ultralight and join the ranks of switchers.

Yes, that’s me all right.
But I do want one.

Macworld Expo

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I went to Macworld Expo yesterday. Here are my notes.
Boring show, many companies not there. Many booths selling luggage. Lots of empty space. Average attendee age 50+. Ecosystem is dying. The second hall didn’t have paying companies at all, was dedicated to lots of chairs while someone showed how to edit photos…
the iPhone looks great – extremely expensive, is it true only Cingular will have it? Ugh. Isn’t that what they call an attractive nuisance — luring people into something that can harm them?
… later:
The Mac ecosystem did NOT look healthy. Few 3rd-party products at all. Apple itself is clearly refocusing on consumer goods. They even took “computer” out of the name. Must have been ten booths offering iPod skins.
Several companies showing products not related to Mac or iPod – like cameras. Several booths of printers, some also sell cameras.
Apple understands that people are locked into their software, especially if they have paid their thousands and thousands for the Adobe monopoly and the upgrade payment scheme. So instead of boosting market share they stick it to the users who are stuck. I saw an ad in the paper – PC desktops with everything including 19 inch LCD monitors were $700, a Mac desktop was $2500. Etc…
Update – One more thing. The Apple TV device — I still can’t figure out what it does. It does NOT have a TV tuner. It does not do what a Tivo does. It doesn’t do what Windows Media Center does. It has a hard drive and wireless. An Apple marketing guy was explaining it to me and he couldn’t come up with a coherent explanation. He kept talking about how it lets me show things that I have to PAY FOR from iTunes, on my big TV. It appears to be a scheme to get me into one more subscription service that drains my checking account every month. I think.

Clipper Chip Again Again

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We now know that the Bush administration is scanning every conversation and e-mail with computers, looking for interesting information, and doing this without warrants or any other kind of legal authorization. (Note – The Bush people say they are only scanning communications into and out of the country, and say they are only looking for “terrorists.”) So I have been looking back at President Clinton’s controversial “Clipper Chip” proposal. This was a standardized chip that would go into computers and phones and would encrypt (securely code) every message and call made by anyone in the US, so no one could eavesdrop.
Opponents said the Clipper Chip would have led to the government monitoring our communications. I say it would have prevented what is happening now, and that is why the Right mounted a campaign of disinformation to kill it.

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