Is this where we are heading?

[Rod]

Maybe we've been heading this way for a while;

http://view.s4.exacttarget.com/?j=f...07d7d&jb=ff961776&ju=fe5815737c6d027c7c15&r=0

Ha! Thats how you do it! Is this where Apple is heading too? Bugger all internal storage and 1TB free Cloud storage. My iPhone has that much storage. And the new MBA standard edition has 128 Gb PCIe storage or optional 256 Gb (for an extra $200.00). The new MBA’s are now classified as “work stations” but no one seems to explain this concept to new buyers who take them overseas load up all their holiday pics, movies and music then wonder why they suddenly get insufficient storage space warnings. I have sent so many people off to buy external USB HD’s here, well…….. does the industry really believe everybody now has constant access to internet services. This is certainly untrue here in Bali. And we all know that for a stand alone device 128 Gb is ridiculously inadequate. Not to mention that while almost every other cloud base storage service offers 15 Gb free Apple continues to apply a yearly charge for anything over 5 Gb.
Ok I know they are cheap but the industry seems to be performing a backflip. While we continue to advise people to get the maximum storage they can afford the industry are turning out more and more devices who's only storage options are online. Unless you want to carry around numerous peripheral storage devises and guess what? There are now less connection ports for these devices than ever before.

 

[bobtomay]

While that sure looks like a toy to me, I don't advise folks to get the maximum storage they can afford. I don't even do that when purchasing my own personal machines.

This is just another choice and choice is a good thing. If folks don't want to take the time to look at the choices and consider their own patterns and needs - afaiac, that's their own fault. It's not the fault of the manufacturer.

Related to the MBA, it can be configured all the way up to 512 GB SSD storage. Not bad for a computer that is not now, nor was it ever designed to be anyone's only computer. Although, I do know a great many users for whom it would suffice.

There are a great many users out there that have no need for vast amounts of storage. My wife's current Mac that has all the data on it she has collected since she first began using a computer at home, roughly 12 years ago, is sitting at ~60 GB used space and would wager I could get it down to 30 GB if I went in and asked her what she wanted and didn't want any longer.

9 out of the 10 computers we have at the office have less than 70 GB used space. I have the last 14 years worth of work associated data I've created on my primary computer there which includes somewhere between 16,000 & 17,000 Excel spreadsheets during that time. The boss has several years worth of personal photos on her computer and it's still sitting under 100 GB used space.

Talk about the cost of SSD's when purchasing a new computer - since I'm in the market right now, I'm looking...
Apple's upgrade from 250 to a 500 GB is $300 while Microsoft is charging $400 for the same on the Surface Pro 3. With the upgraded CPU, 8 GB RAM and a 512 GB SSD, the MBA sits at $1,749 while the same configuration SP3 sits at $2,068 if you want a keyboard with it.

The industry is still putting out larger and larger capacity hard drives and SSDs. They're up to 4 TB HDs now. It hasn't been that many years since the first 500 GB drives were introduced. Meanwhile, 1 TB SSDs have been steadily dropping in price. 2 TB SSDs will come along in time.

There are a plethora of devices out there today and not every device is for every individual. If folks thought about how much data they need to carry with them prior to purchasing a carry it everywhere computer, then plan and organize for it... If I can do it, and I'm getting close to 15 TB of storage here at the house while maintaining a 256 GB OS X partition with a minimum 25% free space for the last 4 years, others can do it it they want to. If not, then they need to buy the drive size that fits their needs up front. Their complaint is about their choice, not about the device.

While there is a big move to online storage for some users - only time will tell where we'll be in 10 years. I can't see local storage ever going away. In this day, prices have dropped on hardware to the point where the low end niche markets can be filled where in years past it was primarily the niche of the high end market of gamers and overclockers that were being solicited to. While I admit the choices we have today can become overwhelming, this only behooves the buyer to take more time and consideration in making their purchase decisions.

 

[chscag]

Apple's upgrade from 250 to a 500 GB is $300 while Microsoft is charging $400 for the same on the Surface Pro 3. With the upgraded CPU, 8 GB RAM and a 512 GB SSD, the MBA sits at $1,749 while the same configuration SP3 sits at $2,068 if you want a keyboard with it.

And I don't understand Microsoft's pricing for the SP3. It's not like they're selling those things by the shipload. Yes, they're a nice machine (even if they do run Windows) and I love the keyboard, but for the price they want, I'd rather buy a rMBP 13" machine fully loaded.

 

[bobtomay]

At $2100 (actually $2,000, because they have it on sale for $100 off every other week), it's only another $400 to get the top of the line 15" MBP and get a semi-real CPU/GPU.

 

[Rod]

I guess what I was really talking about is Bundling and WiFi. It's all very well to say we can all organise our files down to 250 Gb (I personally have about 400 Gb on a 500 Gb HD) with a bit of effort but this is my primary computer.
I have always tried to keep my files "in house" rather than trusting a remote data base so 400 Gb isn't bad for more that 20 years of data but of course that is just the important enduring elements of personal data like photos and music. Most data has been either replaced or deleted over time. The rest has been archived or stored on external drives.
It is this assumption that WiFi will be available everywhere you go that annoys me. Try getting an internet connection in rural Australia or New Guinea. God forbid you need to access KeyChain in a third world country from iCloud on your new MBP cause it doesn't even have a ethernet port. I have clients here in Bali who bought a new MBA in the US only to find after a month they have runout of storage and although Bali is classified as part of a developing nation (Indonesia) I count myself as very lucky any day I have power, water, gas and internet.
As for bundling this is what my son had to say on the subject;
"Yeah, bundled services with hardware is the future. I'm suprised it's taking so long for contracts to be worked out. But it won't be long before your new car comes with 5yrs free Spotify, the Internet service you choose comes with a 1TB Dropbox account, your tablet comes with magazine subscriptions and where LG Tv's come with Hulu and or buy a Samsung and get Netflix etc.

Also yes, the GB apple iCloud thing is a ****ing joke. But can you conceive just how much storage they would need to have on their servers to offer everyone in the world who currently owns an iPhone, iPad or Apple computer a Tb with their product?! It boggles the mind. But... Perhaps what I imagine and what I would suggest to Apple is in the future they should begin offering with new products subscriptions to larger amounts. I.e buy a MBP get 3yrs 5TB, buy an iPhone or iPad get 3yrs 1TB or something."