I thought that I might as well contribute my thoughts on the
MacBook Air now that the
reality distortion field has dissipated. Steve Jobs has rolled the rice
again and bet the farm on wireless connectivity.
Do you remember all the disappointment when the first iMacs came out? No
floppy drives! Shock! Horror! Jobs had looked into his crystal ball and
decided that the floppy drive was a technological dead end. And you
know, he was right.
With the MacBook Air, Steverino has pulled a Great Karnack and
believes that wireless is the way to go. Need to install software? As
long as you have a wireless network around, no problemo. Talk to other
computers - it's all through the air.
As far as I know, John Connors is still alive, and SkyNet is not
operational. So what if there is no air?
This is very similar to the exclusive deal for the iPhone that Apple
signed with AT&T. If AT&T has phone service coverage, you can
use the iPhone; if not, tough. Now I think that Jobs is betting on the
future having accessible WiFi for all. Without the ability to connect
to wireless networks, the ordinary activities that we take for granted
are compromised.
MacBook Air vs. Pismo
Let's just compare the MacBook Air to, oh, what about an 8-year-old
Pismo (PowerBook G3
2000 [FireWire]). The MacBook is the latest in computer tech. The Pismo
is the Pismo.
Back panel of Pismo PowerBook
Let's just take a gander at the back of the ol' Pismo. One of the
first things you're going to see is a phone jack. The Pismo has a
internal modem. So what's the big deal? If you're not in a wireless
environment. (Like when you're visiting my 82-year-old father. who
didn't buy a color TV when they came out because "you don't need color,
you can imagine it". You need to be creative. I had a serious case of
Internet jones until I parked outside the local Panera Bread restaurant
and used their WiFi.)
If I had signed up for NetZero's free dialup service, I could have
relaxed with the knowledge that the Internet was a phone call away.
(Baby steps, baby steps.) Now the NetZero free account limits you to 10
hours, but in an emergency, it would be 10 hours you wouldn't normally
have.
The phone jack also allows you use the fax software in Tiger to send
and receive faxes. If you are in a motel room with just a phone line,
you can still connect and interact with the world.
Next, you have you standard monitor jack, followed by an S-video
out. This is really a bit a toss up here in that the MacBook Air has a
video out which lets you connect to nearly anything. I don't know what
you lose by having a Pismo, since you can buy (for big bucks) a
DVI and VGA graphics card on a PC Card.
The Pismo has two FireWire ports versus none for the MBA. If you
have a wireless network and the right software, you don't need
FireWire, do you? Yeah, but if you're in the middle of nowhere, it's
nice to be able to backup to a FireWire drive or use FireWire to import
data or software from a friend's computer.
I know that the MacBook Air has a USB 2.0 port, and you can boot
with USB in Leopard, but what about attaching a FireWire digital camera
or video camera? It's all about versatility. I really feel that a
portable computer should be able to cope with the occasional "it's the
middle of nowhere and all you have is a . . ." situation.
The lack of a FireWire port seems to assume that the MacBook Air
will always live in a perfect WiFi world.
Next, the Pismo has an ethernet port. There are still some parts of
the computer world living in darkness with wired networks. Not only
that, but sometimes the only connection you have in common with another
computer is the ethernet port. A crossover cable can save your life
(figuratively) in such situations. You ought to be able to MacGyver
your way out of a desperate situation, but the lack of connections on
the MacBook means you have to operate in a supported environment all
the time.
The Pismo has two USB ports. Yes, they are USB 1.1, but since the
Pismo has a PC Card slot, you can put in USB 2.0 or FireWire 800. On
top of that, the Pismo has two ports. The MacBook has a sad
single port.
Both laptops have a stereo mini jack, but the Pismo has a mini jack
for an external microphone. The Pismo is uncommonly versatile, but the
MacBook Air is a limited laptop that will function only in a wireless
environment.
The Pismo is an 8-year-old computer and has the limitations of an
8-year-old computer. But am I the only one who thinks that the MacBook
Air is a "putting all your eggs in one basket" sort of product? If you
want to strip out the features that we have come to expect in a laptop
in the interest of size, why not build another PowerBook Duo?
I have always had a fondness for the Duo concept, but that's another
story.
Share your perspective on the Mac by emailing with "My Turn" as your subject.
