There’s been a lot of whining about the MacBook Air. Some of it may be justified—I don’t know, I still pre-ordered one—but there’s one point of contention in particular that confuses me.
It’s the same size as the MacBook! Only thinner! And lighter! This isn’t a real subnotebook!
Okay. Imagine if it were 9 inches across instead of 12. What would this do for you?
Would it be easier to transport? It’s still not going to fit in your pocket, unless you’re a scary kind of guy who wears ginormous trenchcoats. You’re still going to need to put it in a bag to move it around. It’s basically the size of a notebook or normal paper, so it’s hardly going to be the limiting factor in bag size.
Would it be easier to use? Yes, if a smaller keyboard makes it easier to use. I don’t know about you guys, but I have full-sized fingers, and they like a full-sized keyboard. And the screen resolution on 12″ PowerBooks makes me cry.
Would it be more powerful somehow? Come on. The motherboard is already the size of two playing cards.
Honestly, I don’t understand the little-tiny-laptop thing. Devices are either pocket-sized or bag-sized. Anything in between is really just bag-sized pretending to be… I’m not even sure what. Levitation-sized? That would be pretty awesome, but unlikely until the MacBook Lighter-than-Air.
