MacBook Air: The Shape of Things to Come?

I like Macs. I think Apple products are nice and, as I have said before, I think Jonathan Ive is a hugely talented designer. But I don’t like the MacBook Air.

I have previously mentioned that I occasionally sit down with an eclectic group of designers, writers and artists from Japan and overseas and we talk about whatever takes our fancy. Also, my job brings me into contact with people with an interest in design, technology and lots of other things. A mutual acquaintance recently asked both me and a friend which computer he should buy; a MacBoook or a MacBook Air. I suggested the MacBook, whereas my friend heaped ebullient praise on the MacBook Air and could not recommend it enough. At this point, I should point out that asking for my advice about which computer to choose based on its specifications and capabilities is a bit like asking a goldfish to recommend a good place to buy a barbecue set. My friend, on the other hand, is a great person to ask. He could bewilder you with the absolute necessity of having a spectrogigafooglethruster in your hard drive, or something like that. My personal reasons for choosing a Mac were purely aesthetic. I wanted a laptop as I was moving about a lot and wanted to write and use design packages on the move. I looked at lots of Windows laptops, but I was struck by how staggeringly dull they were to look at. People I know who were working in design, especially graphic design, were using Macs and suggested I get one (let me point out categorically that there was no suggestion of getting software for, erm, free…). I looked at them, liked them, and bought one. I have since found Macs a lot easier and nicer to use than Windows PCs, but that came much later. At the time, I just wanted to use Word, Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop and the MacBook allowed me to do so and looked very nice, thank you, to boot. [article continues]

So why don’t I like the Air? A number of reasons. Personally, I don’t think it looks very nice. I’m not a great fan of the tapered shape and the black keyboard is ugly (I'm sorry, but...yuck). It looks like the old NEC laptop I use in my office (and that’s not a compliment). Yes, it’s the thinnest computer in the world and that is, well, what? Sure, it’s a feat of engineering, but so is the iPod Nano, which also looks very nice. OK, I’ll come clean; I’m a bit of a traditionalist at heart, although not quite the Luddite my friend seems to think I am. Where is the CD/DVD drive on the Air? What happens if I want to simply transfer my CDs onto my iPod or watch a DVD? What happens if I want to burn a CD of some music I have recorded, or make a press pack on CD/DVD with images and text? Or want to back up files or software onto CD? I have to buy an external optical drive, that’s what. Well I don’t bloody want to! The Air is expensive enough as it is, and I don’t want to pay more just so that I can get back-lit keys, a fancy track pad and the ability to stick it in an envelope.

This is where my friend jumped in, almost with a pat on the head to say ‘you poor, ignorant child’. The Air is designed for life online because, like it or not, the age of the optical drive is on its way out. The future is virtual files existing only on some remote server. No need to flick through your record collection or bookshelves because everything is at your fingertips. Making a backup is as easy as saving a file. Music is available online already, as are feature films, shows and vast amounts of software. The Air is what all PCs will be like in the future. There is no need to have an internal optical drive, because nobody will use ‘spinning optical media’ in the future. They are already on their way out. How many people still listen to tapes? Does anybody still use MDs? Advertisements for the iPod used to include the slogan ‘Goodbye MD’, but now there is no need to. In a similar way, the MacBook Air will spell the end of optical media. It’s groundbreaking, revolutionary and the shape of things to come.

He left it there as he could see that I had broken out into a cold sweat and wanted to avoid seeing me go into convulsions. But I’m worried. I’m a tactile person; I like the feel of a book in my hands, or a CD jacket, not to mention that part of my income comes from designing the covers of such things. I like browsing through bookshops and leafing through books and going into record shops and finding some new musician by chance. I like talking to real people, not virtual friends. I prefer giving money for a tangible object to a person in a shop rather than sitting by myself, punching numbers into a keyboard and getting a bit of data. I like the fact that my computer has an optical drive. I am scared that all these things are going to disappear and that I will be left a gibbering wreck, clutching a book and asking whatever happened to family values and eight-track tapes. I hope that communicating online, for all its convenience, does not replace face-to-face communication. I hope that bookshops and record shops will not close. I hope that Jonathan Ive reconsiders that black keyboard.

Our friend, by the way, bought a MacBook. The reason? ‘It was cheaper.’ +

- RK

Comments

[MOAT]

I totally agree. The idea that you can backup your files via the internet and that computers have already begun to pass the disc drive phase seems like too fast a transition. I also enjoy perusing aisles at local record/music shops and looking for my favorite artist. Good luck.

[Paulius]

I think not having CD/DVD is not big deal, that is why it is world thinnest laptop, but having ugly black keyboard is really big big minus. I have no idea who came up with this idea to integrate this black color in all the new products but I would tell him that its very very ugly.

For example new iMac also has this ugly black border around the screen. Well that's why its ugly and that is why I will never update to it from my older shiny white older generation iMac. I just can't take this extra distraction that they think is useful for some one. Its kind of intresting that how such element will stop me from upgrading but that's how I feel.

I think Apple should stick with some old design details which mostly people like. Innovation in size is big step forward but why do they think that black and aluminum is cool I have no idea.

Apple keep it simple please!!!