Technology analyst Tim Bajarin took his MacBook Air to an Apple store the weekend before it actually hit the market and found that the “reactions what I expected: Everyone commented on how light it was and how cool it looked.”
“Now, to be clear, I don’t think Apple ever believed that the MacBook Air would become its most popular notebook. Indeed, the product fits in the ultraportable segment of the notebook market, which represents only about 10 percent of notebooks shipped. However, a significant number of people travel a great deal and want lighter notebooks to lighten their load,” Bajarin writes.
“The MacBook Air is a significant new product in Apple’s line of computers, but its real importance lies in its ability to get people into the Apple store. On this point alone, Apple has another winner on its hands,” Bajarin writes.
Full article here.
For his blog on Technology Pundits, Bajarin explains that the MacBook Air’s “greatest importance lies in the fact that it will cause hundreds of thousands of new customers to go into the Apple stores to see it first hand.”
Bajarin writes, “In fact, this is one of the underlying strategy for all of Apple’s ‘cool’ looking products. First step is creating a sleek, incredibly designed product. Second step is creating TV and print ads that show off its coolness. This of course causes people to not only lust after the new product, but also, since it is so cool looking, they want to see and touch it for themselves. This is where step three kicks in. The main place that they know they can see it is an Apple store and they will come in droves to check it out in person.”
Bajarin writes, “Of course, once you get into the Apple store you are dazzled by all of the other cool looking Mac’s, iPod’s, etc and are then drawn to check out the Mac UI and the neat apps that come with it. And once you see demo’s of things like iMovie, iPhoto, Garageband, etc, the big question of ‘should I switch’ is firmly planted in a customers mind.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Jim” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Note: You have to touch and use the MacBook Air to really appreciate it. Photos and videos just don’t do it justice.
Ooooh, it’s a MBA. It’s light. It’s cool. It will draw people into Apple store to gawk and point fingers. Welcome to the Apple freak show. Come to see the freak and stay to buy something else.
It’s tempting….
It stands to reason that ‘niche’ products become more viable when a company has a larger marketshare. As marketshare grows, even a small percentage of a market equates to a significant number of units.
The emergence of the Air likely represents the convergence of several factors including the necessary technology (CPU, X3100 graphics, 802.11n wireless) and the growth of the Mac (and portable Macs, in particular).
“Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends
We’re so glad you could attend
Come inside! Come inside!”
The Air may not be for the majority of broke MDN readers who don’t travel much, but for me, a guy who went around the globe three times last year, the Air is awesome. It is the first real “portable”.
I’ve got a Mac Pro driving a pair of 24″ monitors back at the office. A feather light MBA is just what I need when I’m out on the road.
How many students will want this extra light marvel. My guess is that almost every one and then some. They also get a 30% discount as students which makes it only a few hundred bucks more than a regular Macbook….A no brainer!!!
@fgsd, Ooooh, it’s an MBA.
30% off for students??? Kid,what are you smokin’? There is no 30% off for students!
best thing ever to come along for a light load
The MacBook Air is a significant new product in Apple’s line of computers, but its real importance lies in its ability to get people into the Apple store.
Uhh … excuse me … isn’t that what I was saying just last week? Is this guy an MDN reader trolling for sharable word bites? Not that I wasn’t stating the obvious, or anything … but REALLY!
Apple educational discounts are 10% -30%
the 45 year old kid gets them for his kids always…
Executives and administrative assistants at large corporate campuses will want a MacBook Air for all of those meetings and brainstorming sessions.
I’m going to use mine to serve warm croissants.
Paris, Britney, and their ilk are waiting for the new, MacBook Airhead. It continuously sends out a signal so the paparazzi can find them. Other than that, it doesn’t really do anything.
Oddjob is getting an upgrade.
Make that “the new MacBook Airhead.” Don’t know who put that comma in there.
“Oddjob is getting an upgrade.”
He’ll have to learn to walk a little more gracefully in order to balance a MacBook Air on his noggin.
“Paris, Britney, and their ilk are waiting for the new, MacBook Airhead.”
I’ll bet that they can suck the shine right off a MacBook Air.
Please. Any “writer” who makes a word plural by adding ‘s has no credibility. None.
The beauty of MacBook Air is that it looks amazingly cool as you walk up to it, because you see it from a side angle. Once you sit down in front of it and look at it straight-on, it feels like a regular MacBook. In other words, you are no longer distracted by how thin and light it is (or by compromises like a small screen and keyboard)… it acts like a regular size notebook. After a few weeks, owners of MacBook Air will probably get used to it and only appreciate its “coolness” when they carry its weight (or lack of) on their shoulder and back.
It reminds me of the effect the first colorful iMacs had on consumers. People had to go see it in person, even though most would hardly consider buying a Mac. But once you sat down in front of it and used it, all the colorful translucent parts were hidden from view (with the exception of the small speaker grills) and they no longer distracted the user. You mainly saw the screen and the white frame around it.
That’s good design and good marketing.
And it will only get better…
It’s just like automobiles.
I go into dealership, and while I drool over the <hot sports car>, I drive off in a <inexpensive car>.
As the Mac product line is accepted more and more by mainstream buyers I think we will see more niche products as a means of testing out new ideas. The new processor and the new trackpad we know will make it into more mainstream MacBook and MacBook pro models. The MBA will help drive more people into the stores.
Everyone comes to the freak show
To laugh at the freaks and the geeks
Everyone comes to the freak show
But nobody laughs when they leave
(With a MacBook Air?)
I can see it now.
Anorexic girls will no longer be called Twiggy.