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I can see how the iPad is a direct competitor to the netbook market, but the MacBook Air? I thought the comparisons were ridiculous at the time, and still do.

by angus77 15y ago

I can see how the iPad is a direct competitor to the netbook market, but the MacBook Air? I thought the comparisons were ridiculous at the time, and still do. I have enormous trouble imagining someone actually trying to decide between the two---price, size and specs were in completely different worlds.

bonaldi 15y ago
Imagine harder. If you were a Mac user -- say you have a big Mac Pro or an iMac -- and you wanted something small and portable as a secondary machine for coffee shop and travel antics then you may well have found yourself considering these netbook things. Then the 11" Air came out, and turned that "should I get a netbook" into "should I get a netbook which is very cheap but doesn't run my Mac apps or should I pay a bit more and get the smallest Mac ever?" Voila: someone trying to decide between the two.
- revorad 15y ago
  If you are primarily a Mac user, why would you ever consider buying a netbook at all unless you are considering switching to PCs in general?
  - allenp 15y ago
    Why does it have to be all or nothing? I don't think for most consumers there is that much economy of scale that their secondary devices would need to be the same.
  - glhaynes 15y ago
    Because they're so cheap and so many of the netbook use cases fit in just fine with a primarily-Mac environment: no need to switch from your main Mac if you're just adding in a little box that can go on a trip with you, access internet services, and sync some photos from a camera.
- angus77 15y ago
  Except that the first MacBook Airs were not 11", they were 17", and those were the ones being compared to netbooks (because they were light). A while later came the 13" models, and not until quite some time later did the 11" models come out (at which point it would be safe to say it was a netbook, not competing with netbooks). EDIT: Wow, I need to have my memory checked. I must have been confused by the $1700 price tag into thinking there was a 17" MacBook Air. I do distinctly remember being baffled by reviewers comparing the first Airs to the EeePC, though, as it seemed to me they weren't even aiming at the same markets.
  - goatforce5 15y ago
    Says here that the first Airs were 13.3": http://www.macrumors.com/2008/01/15/apple-announces-macbook-air/ http://www.macrumors.com/2008/01/15/apple-announces-macbook-...
  - Soliah 15y ago
    There was never a 17" Macbook Air. The first model was 13".
  - angus77 15y ago
    People are continuing to downvote this even after I corrected my mistake. Let me clarify: When the first-gen 13.3" MacBook Air first came out, I had just bought an 8.9" EeePC 901. The difference between an 8.9" screen and a 13.3" screen felt enormous---especially given that 7" EeePCs were still being manufactured at the time, and the 10" models were still in the future. The whole appeal of the EeePC to me (and others I know) was its extreme portability. The guy who sat next to me at work had a 15" Vaio. It was so big it needed a special bag. Because of it, sometimes he just wouldn't bother to bring it to work. Inevitably, sometime during the day he would find something he wanted to do on the computer. With the EeePC, it was so small that I could just slip it into its slipcase, throw it in my bag and take it anywhere, "just in case", even when it was extremely unlikely that I'd end up using it. I was rarely without it. 13.3" is so close to 15" that it hardly makes a difference. It seems unlikely that you would/could just throw it in your bag and take it anywhere. Even if it was light, it was also big. I took it as a lightweight laptop, not a netbook competitor, and in fact that's how Apple seemed to me to have marketed it---it was the reviewers who were comparing it to netbooks. Maybe it was the reviewers who convinced Apple to try to take on the netbook market with the 11", but it seems to me that wasn't Apple's original plan at all.
- MatthewPhillips 15y ago
  The "Mac user who wants a netbook" is a small enough market that it probably has no real impact on the decline of netbook sales. More likely it is a combination of other factors discussed.
  - rayiner 15y ago
    I'm a mac user with a netbook... Up until the MBA (with the exception of the 12" Powerbook) there was no Mac ultraportable. Ie: something you can throw in a briefcase and whip out at Starbucks to use on those tiny tables. Netbooks filled that niche, and because of the cheap price a Mac user might not even care that it can't run all their apps.
    - MatthewPhillips 15y ago
      Right, but again, Mac users are a minority. 15% currently. The number that wants a netbook is probably a small percentage of that 15%. I was arguing against the "Mac users not buying PC netbooks" as being statistically insignificant. Other factors mentioned (smartphones, ipads, cheaper laptops) have to be a much more important factor than a niche audience having an alternative product.
dsmithn 15y ago
I used a netbook for about a year, got a macbook air and haven't used the netbook since. I agree they aren't directly comparable due to the cost and specs difference, but I wouldn't go back to a traditional netbook again so it definately "killed the netbook" for me.
dmbass 15y ago
The MBA proved that your netbook form-factor computer didn't have to suck. You didn't have to compromise (acceptable) performance for form-factor.

by angus77 15y ago

bonaldi 15y ago

Imagine harder. If you were a Mac user -- say you have a big Mac Pro or an iMac -- and you wanted something small and portable as a secondary machine for coffee shop and travel antics then you may well have found yourself considering these netbook things. Then the 11" Air came out, and turned that "should I get a netbook" into "should I get a netbook which is very cheap but doesn't run my Mac apps or should I pay a bit more and get the smallest Mac ever?" Voila: someone trying to decide between the two.

revorad 15y ago
If you are primarily a Mac user, why would you ever consider buying a netbook at all unless you are considering switching to PCs in general?
- allenp 15y ago
  Why does it have to be all or nothing? I don't think for most consumers there is that much economy of scale that their secondary devices would need to be the same.
- glhaynes 15y ago
  Because they're so cheap and so many of the netbook use cases fit in just fine with a primarily-Mac environment: no need to switch from your main Mac if you're just adding in a little box that can go on a trip with you, access internet services, and sync some photos from a camera.
angus77 15y ago
Except that the first MacBook Airs were not 11", they were 17", and those were the ones being compared to netbooks (because they were light). A while later came the 13" models, and not until quite some time later did the 11" models come out (at which point it would be safe to say it was a netbook, not competing with netbooks). EDIT: Wow, I need to have my memory checked. I must have been confused by the $1700 price tag into thinking there was a 17" MacBook Air. I do distinctly remember being baffled by reviewers comparing the first Airs to the EeePC, though, as it seemed to me they weren't even aiming at the same markets.
- goatforce5 15y ago
  Says here that the first Airs were 13.3": http://www.macrumors.com/2008/01/15/apple-announces-macbook-air/ http://www.macrumors.com/2008/01/15/apple-announces-macbook-...
- Soliah 15y ago
  There was never a 17" Macbook Air. The first model was 13".
- angus77 15y ago
  People are continuing to downvote this even after I corrected my mistake. Let me clarify: When the first-gen 13.3" MacBook Air first came out, I had just bought an 8.9" EeePC 901. The difference between an 8.9" screen and a 13.3" screen felt enormous---especially given that 7" EeePCs were still being manufactured at the time, and the 10" models were still in the future. The whole appeal of the EeePC to me (and others I know) was its extreme portability. The guy who sat next to me at work had a 15" Vaio. It was so big it needed a special bag. Because of it, sometimes he just wouldn't bother to bring it to work. Inevitably, sometime during the day he would find something he wanted to do on the computer. With the EeePC, it was so small that I could just slip it into its slipcase, throw it in my bag and take it anywhere, "just in case", even when it was extremely unlikely that I'd end up using it. I was rarely without it. 13.3" is so close to 15" that it hardly makes a difference. It seems unlikely that you would/could just throw it in your bag and take it anywhere. Even if it was light, it was also big. I took it as a lightweight laptop, not a netbook competitor, and in fact that's how Apple seemed to me to have marketed it---it was the reviewers who were comparing it to netbooks. Maybe it was the reviewers who convinced Apple to try to take on the netbook market with the 11", but it seems to me that wasn't Apple's original plan at all.
MatthewPhillips 15y ago
The "Mac user who wants a netbook" is a small enough market that it probably has no real impact on the decline of netbook sales. More likely it is a combination of other factors discussed.
- rayiner 15y ago
  I'm a mac user with a netbook... Up until the MBA (with the exception of the 12" Powerbook) there was no Mac ultraportable. Ie: something you can throw in a briefcase and whip out at Starbucks to use on those tiny tables. Netbooks filled that niche, and because of the cheap price a Mac user might not even care that it can't run all their apps.
  - MatthewPhillips 15y ago
    Right, but again, Mac users are a minority. 15% currently. The number that wants a netbook is probably a small percentage of that 15%. I was arguing against the "Mac users not buying PC netbooks" as being statistically insignificant. Other factors mentioned (smartphones, ipads, cheaper laptops) have to be a much more important factor than a niche audience having an alternative product.

dsmithn 15y ago

I used a netbook for about a year, got a macbook air and haven't used the netbook since. I agree they aren't directly comparable due to the cost and specs difference, but I wouldn't go back to a traditional netbook again so it definately "killed the netbook" for me.

dmbass 15y ago

The MBA proved that your netbook form-factor computer didn't have to suck. You didn't have to compromise (acceptable) performance for form-factor.