Market Reaction to new Notebooks

jah · Oct 15, 2008

i really want an eee-pc 901 but apple... well yawn... no, too heavy
time to drift away from apple just nothing new in the apple store i want.
just me tho

dtravis7 · Oct 15, 2008

Ghostshadow said:
firewire 400 will work with the firewire 800 port.

Remember, there is NO FIREWIRE port at all on the new Macbook. I love it except for that omission as it will affect me in a very large way and many others also. The MBP is fine with it's FW800 port.

Ghostshadow · Oct 15, 2008

I was referring to the MBP. I assumed he was talking about the MBP since he has one already. They did take the Firewire 400 from the MBP as well and just left the FW800.

I agree, I don't understand why they took it completely out of the MB.

The only thing I can figure is they don't see joe schmo using it to it's potential. Most "joe schmoes" have no clue what Firewire is, allot of them think it's a funky shaped USB. Most of their periferials have USB, that's all they know. They don't buy products with Firewire, if the product has Firewire it'll most likely have USB as well, they just use the USB because that's what they know. I think it goes back to the iPod, Apple took the Firewire out of the iPod to appeal more to joe schmo consumer. At the time, firewire wasn't as common in PCs, but now you do see Firewire on most computers. They went in the USB direction because that's all that Mr. Schmo knew, so it appealed to a wider audience. Now it doesn't make much sense though. The only other thing I can think is they feel the new souped up MacBooks could steal thunder from the Pro models, so they took something out that would be a big selling point, this way it would detour everyone to the pro model.

Who knows, they might put Firewire back into it in the next revision, everyone has definitely been in a tissy about it Apple might realize it was silly to take it out. I could see where this could be at Apples benefit though, because now everyone will buy the MBP. Haha, unless they all buy the White MacBook.

dtravis7 · Oct 15, 2008

Agreed GS. They have to realize that some of us more demanding types are not rich and can not afford a Pro. I would if I could but the Macbook is all I could afford and need the FW port.

goobimama · Oct 15, 2008

cwa107 said:
Correction... they don't look like Apple's current notebooks. But why should they? They use the same design language as the iPhone, iMac and the MacBook Air. They look completely at home in the context of the full line-up.

I think people just need to sleep on it. They're used to looking at designs that date back to the G4 iBook and Powerbook G4. They're different, they're supposed to be. Mark my words, the entire industry will be copying them in just a few months. Apple is always the trendsetter and these designs are no different.

Exactly! If they keep the design the same, it's an ageing design. If they change it, they don't look like Apples. I think the new ones look stunning in every way.

tkim · Oct 15, 2008

fleurya said:
Looks like the general public, or at least general investors, are not too happy with the new notebooks. Typically the stock goes up significantly the same day as a big announcement like this, but today is went down significantly.

Maybe people were hoping for a more affordable computer in a time of economic strain, but Apple didn't do anything to react to the economy, which will likely be this way for a while and cause sales of higher end systems like theirs to fall sharply. I'm sure Dell and others will be appy to get some of that market share Apple stole back when people go for bargain systems to save money.

That would probably be due to short shelling:

Short (finance) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'm really glad they didn't offer a cheap netbook/notebook. I think that's what seperates Apple from all the other companies. They don't NEED to cater to the middle class. If they offered a sub $800 notebook, it would be like the iphone all over again. I am so sick of seeing them, EVERYONE has one. Not to say it isn't cool or whatever, but doesn't it take some of the luster away when 90% of the people in the same room have the same exact phone? It may just be me though.

Apple has been successful thus far with the market they are trying to serve. I would imagine having more market share would increase cost and stress. Means less time for Apple to focus on the in's and out's of the hardware/software and more time spent fixing problems. I'd rather have them spend time creating new cool hardware and software, again that's just me.

Apple's have never been cheap and I think by offering a cheap laptop it would have gone against everything they stand for. I think that they know that regardless of what the economy looks like now, people will always buy Mac's. I think Job's stayed true to the Apple way.

mac57 · Oct 15, 2008

Personally, I am unhappy that they have dropped the silver metallic keys on the MBP. I think that they made the MBP look truly classy, a real standout appearance. I am glad that I have an earlier MBP. I don't like the black keys on the new one.

Dysfunction · Oct 15, 2008

mac57 said:
Personally, I am unhappy that they have dropped the silver metallic keys on the MBP. I think that they made the MBP look truly classy, a real standout appearance. I am glad that I have an earlier MBP. I don't like the black keys on the new one.

I am envious of the right side slot though

milessthomas · Oct 15, 2008

Ghostshadow said:
firewire 400 will work with the firewire 800 port.

Yes true, but I have a fw800 device and a fw400 device, I use both at the same time.

cwa107 · Oct 15, 2008

milessthomas said:
Yes true, but I have a fw800 device and a fw400 device, I use both at the same time.

Another idea might be to use an ExpressCard adapter to add an additional FW port. I know it sucks to have to add functionality that was at one time already there, but at least it's an option.

cwa107 · Oct 15, 2008

mac57 said:
Personally, I am unhappy that they have dropped the silver metallic keys on the MBP. I think that they made the MBP look truly classy, a real standout appearance. I am glad that I have an earlier MBP. I don't like the black keys on the new one.

The downside, IMO is that the keys tend to look worn and dirty easier. At least with black keys, you're not going to notice that sort of thing as easily.

lifeafter2am · Oct 15, 2008

cwa107 said:
The downside, IMO is that the keys tend to look worn and dirty easier. At least with black keys, you're not going to notice that sort of thing as easily.

Thats exactly what I was thinking. It is a PITA to clean the keys on my MBP, and it would be nice for them not to look so narly!

Dimitri · Oct 15, 2008

cwa107 said:
The downside, IMO is that the keys tend to look worn and dirty easier. At least with black keys, you're not going to notice that sort of thing as easily.

I can vouch for that. My white keyboards need cleaning much more often if I don't want them to look nasty.

milessthomas · Nov 3, 2008

cwa107 said:
Another idea might be to use an ExpressCard adapter to add an additional FW port. I know it sucks to have to add functionality that was at one time already there, but at least it's an option.

Yea I just wish the functionality wouldn't have been taken away in the first place

dtravis7 · Nov 3, 2008

milessthomas said:
Yea I just wish the functionality wouldn't have been taken away in the first place

Agreed and especially on the Macbook. I would save for a new Macbook if it was not for the totally missing Firewire and no way to add it either.

XJ-linux · Nov 3, 2008

Well, the lady at the local market said liked my wife's new MBP. Good enough for me.