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Why Macbooks? Is Apple friendly towards people who replicate their connector interfaces? Or are Macs the only popular device out there where people wish "I wi

by gopalv 13y ago

Why Macbooks? Is Apple friendly towards people who replicate their connector interfaces? Or are Macs the only popular device out there where people wish "I wish I could carry an extra battery!"?

maxmcd 13y ago
If you wanted to cover as much current and future market share as possible (at least in the market they're targeting) I can't think of a better current combination than magsafe2 + usb. Other than, maybe, a portable power outlet.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
  - thinkmassive 13y ago
    And MagSafe 2 was introduced in 2012.
- ctz 13y ago
  You surely mean magsafe 2, here.
w1ntermute 13y ago
The founders probably haven't seen many people using a non-MacBook laptop in a long time, given how prevalent they are in tech these days.
runamok 13y ago
I am guessing they have licensed magsafe from Apple. Pretty sure they would get a call from Apple lawyers otherwise. There are universal chargers and batteries with all sorts of connectors which are not patent encumbered. Kind of makes me wonder if Apple would cooperate at this stage and then consider buying the company later.
- kwiens 13y ago
  Apple doesn't license MagSafe to anyone.
  - runamok 13y ago
    Fair enough. Obviously pg isn't naive enough to invest in a company that will get sued out of existence by Apple tomorrow. So most likely this product is a proof of concept of the technology and is circumventing the issue by perhaps incorporating Apple's MagSafe2 into their offering. http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD504ZM/A/magsafe-to-magsafe-2-converter http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD504ZM/A/magsafe-to-magsa...
mjolk 13y ago
It's niche and there's not generally great support for portable batteries for macbooks. I'm pre-ordering one because the alternative is making my own.
Rotten194 13y ago
They can't put an actual wall socket on it, and they already have USB. If they're going to put one laptop port on it, a Mac port is the obvious choice because it's the largest market.
Snail_Commando 13y ago
High end laptops are a good place to start when you are selling a ~$140 accessory. I would be shocked if they didn't have plans to expand to other products/devices. My guess is that they are betting that Macbook owners are most likely to pay right now. I'm not certain, but I'm willing to bet that Macbooks have a majority chunk of the high end laptop market. So if I were in their shoes, I'd probably start with macbooks in order to gain a foothold.
masklinn 13y ago
> Is Apple friendly towards people who replicate their connector interfaces? The exact opposite: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/10/hypermac/ http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/10/hypermac/
programminggeek 13y ago
For the same reason Tesla built a roadster to start their company. Low volume and high margin is MUCH easier to achieve when you are small than high volume and low margin. Watch Shark Tank for a while and you'll realize that even if you have a product people want, it's not trivial to scale a physical product business unless you have significant capital. Even if you reinvest the money you make, you are constrained by how quickly you can turn the money over.

by gopalv 13y ago

Why Macbooks? Is Apple friendly towards people who replicate their connector interfaces? Or are Macs the only popular device out there where people wish "I wish I could carry an extra battery!"?

maxmcd 13y ago

If you wanted to cover as much current and future market share as possible (at least in the market they're targeting) I can't think of a better current combination than magsafe2 + usb. Other than, maybe, a portable power outlet.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
- thinkmassive 13y ago
  And MagSafe 2 was introduced in 2012.
ctz 13y ago
You surely mean magsafe 2, here.

w1ntermute 13y ago

The founders probably haven't seen many people using a non-MacBook laptop in a long time, given how prevalent they are in tech these days.

runamok 13y ago

I am guessing they have licensed magsafe from Apple. Pretty sure they would get a call from Apple lawyers otherwise. There are universal chargers and batteries with all sorts of connectors which are not patent encumbered. Kind of makes me wonder if Apple would cooperate at this stage and then consider buying the company later.

kwiens 13y ago
Apple doesn't license MagSafe to anyone.
- runamok 13y ago
  Fair enough. Obviously pg isn't naive enough to invest in a company that will get sued out of existence by Apple tomorrow. So most likely this product is a proof of concept of the technology and is circumventing the issue by perhaps incorporating Apple's MagSafe2 into their offering. http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD504ZM/A/magsafe-to-magsafe-2-converter http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD504ZM/A/magsafe-to-magsa...

mjolk 13y ago

It's niche and there's not generally great support for portable batteries for macbooks. I'm pre-ordering one because the alternative is making my own.

Rotten194 13y ago

They can't put an actual wall socket on it, and they already have USB. If they're going to put one laptop port on it, a Mac port is the obvious choice because it's the largest market.

Snail_Commando 13y ago

High end laptops are a good place to start when you are selling a ~$140 accessory. I would be shocked if they didn't have plans to expand to other products/devices. My guess is that they are betting that Macbook owners are most likely to pay right now. I'm not certain, but I'm willing to bet that Macbooks have a majority chunk of the high end laptop market. So if I were in their shoes, I'd probably start with macbooks in order to gain a foothold.

masklinn 13y ago

> Is Apple friendly towards people who replicate their connector interfaces? The exact opposite: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/10/hypermac/ http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/10/hypermac/

programminggeek 13y ago

For the same reason Tesla built a roadster to start their company. Low volume and high margin is MUCH easier to achieve when you are small than high volume and low margin. Watch Shark Tank for a while and you'll realize that even if you have a product people want, it's not trivial to scale a physical product business unless you have significant capital. Even if you reinvest the money you make, you are constrained by how quickly you can turn the money over.