The implications of what happened at MacWorld earlier this week.

Though some analyst were let down, they missed the method to the madness. They missed the changes Apple and Intel have signaled.

Here's Cringley's take on what happened there and what it could mean.


http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2008/pulpit_20080118_003967.html


Take that specially packaged Intel CPU, how did that come about? Steve Jobs didn't beat the heck out of Intel CEO Paul Otellini to get a little CPU that would go into fewer than half a million boxes. Steve did what he always does. He beat the heck out of Paul Otellini with the promise that this little CPU -- for which we can expect Apple will hold some exclusive for the next six months -- will end up in millions and millions of Apple products, nearly all of them costing a lot less than a MacBook Air.

Apple is very important to Intel. Though nobody says it out loud, Apple is the last of the major computer companies that uses 100 percent Intel processors. And Apple's ability to do more with less has to be a continual inspiration to its competitors. As Apple slides further and further into the consumer electronics and networking markets, Intel will be right there, too. I still expect we'll see an Apple tablet this year, for example, and it will use this same Intel CPU.

How about that new trackpad with the multi-touch interface? Could that be the first look at that mouse replacement I predicted would be coming from Apple this year? Maybe. You can be sure we'll see a lot more of that baby.

What about the Air's lack of an optical drive? It's hard to find a place for an optical drive in such a thin computer, but isn't Steve Jobs the guy who when he returned to Apple railed against notebooks without removable media, like the PowerBook 100 and 2400 and the various PowerBook Duos? Why did Steve change his mind now? Because Steve wants to replace optical drives of any sort with bits provided over the network, preferably from iTunes. That's also why we didn't see an Apple Blu-ray announcement this week and -- if Jobs has his way -- we'll never see one.

Now that Blu-ray is winning the format war, Apple will have to integrate it into their line somewhere.

It was a no-brainer.

We are at the beginning of the big data DVD era. At the least Blu-ray will be a BTO component.

With terabyte+ hard drives, fiber to the curb, and superfast wireless networking...I can definitely see shunning BR/HD-DVD in favor of online distribution.

I mean, no doubt BR will be BTO in the models that have an optical drive - but it wouldn't surprise me if more and more products don't.

Which is fine with me assuming that the communications infrastructure can keep up.

I'm already getting there, the DVD drive in my laptop crapped out so I just have all my movies archived on my desktop. Copy them over to the laptop if I'm travelling, or just share the movie folder if I'm staying in. Works great with the Mac Mini hooked into the HDTV too..

I use an external HD for data storage, and though I can easily cord up I actually use it wirelessly 90% of the time.

I'm planning on buying a Mac laptop before the spring, i hate being "chained down" to the desktop. And with the frequent power outages during the summer, I'd rather have the option of a laptop to become more mobile. my current iMac has a slot for an Airport Express card, I wa s simply too lazy to ever buy one ;evilgrin:

A Mac with no optical drive...that had me thinking all week long after seeing the MacBook Air. It would make sense as I don't plan on watching dvds on the road--I prefer watching whatever I have in iTunes. Time Capsule would work perfectly, along with the Superdrive add -on...but I'm still tempted by the MacBook Pro...what a hard choice!

It should be a no-brainer in favor of the MBP - faster, more capacity, and potentially cheaper.

Not that the Air isn't one damn sexy piece of kit..

used laptop. If it's a PC, it will be Linux as soon as possible

If I get a decent tax refund and the supposed $800 from *, I'll get the MacBook Pro. Something like the MacBook Air will make more sense down the road, as I don't have an Intel Mac nor wifi in my home yet. The HP laptops would be nice, but I refuse to pay for the "pleasure" of M$ and their shovelware called Vista :argh:

except I use freebsd. 400 MHZ processor and it works just fine. I have a 400 MHZ IBook for the road because my boy likes watching DVDs, otherwise this serves me well. It was a $5000. laptop new. I bought it for 50 bucks with extra battery, bag and airline power adapter. It's crazy to buy new.

Mac I've ever owned.

from the Air (And it's not an optical drive) why is there no option for a cell card or plugin? I have a relatively new iBook that I used to carry everywhere, now I only carry my iPhone because I am used to getting online anytime, anywhere. hour long layover in chicago? done. sitting on the bus? done. at a bar? done. at work? done. and then I open my iBook and kinda think (wow, how come I can't get online with this thing, anywhere, anytime?)

it's the next great killer ap for the AIR, link it to the iPhone data connection, and you sell a million.

you might see such ability for the Air.

I figure within a year, to put satellite cards into laptops, it's the ultimate luxury, and it opens the rural market completely