apple byby, snif ...

[zinneken]

Though I wasn't a member on the forums here, I always checked on macrumors for rumors and stories.

Have been a mac user since 1989, can you imagine the old days? Always been faithful, battled to keep the mac's in the office, etc. I'm hardcore when it comes to protecting my darling.

And now it's byby time.

After 18 years of stubborned fighting to keep using the real thing, I'm now forced to leave the mac behind, at least in the office (no way I'm putting a wintel in my home - though I'm not there often). Until Friday I was on an iBook G4 1.2 12", the smallest form factor that was available back in 2003.

You see, I travel about 220 days a year, crazy life. A 13" macbook is too big & bulky to carry around. When you look at Sony or some of the other freakin' PC's they make much smaller, truly portable computers. Apple's range today are hybrid desktops more then portable laptops. Yes they're skinny, but that doesn't mean their size isn't bulky, and their more weighty too.

For some reason Apple hasn't been making those for a very long time. The iBook has become too slow since over a year now, but I've been dragging it along looking at the hints about a new small form factor of Macbook that would be launched soon. But with the recent upgrades, there is no chance anything of the sort will see daylight before at least another 6 months. And, I can't wait another 6 months without seriously impacting my work and business.

For most of you this will seem ridiculous, but for the freqwent traveller the difference between a 10", 11", 12" and 13" are HUGE. The 13" for example doesn't fit horizontally in the standard outside zippers of the large handluggage trolleys (samsonite and the like). An extra bag just for the macbook is not an option for the low cost airlines in Europe. And I could go on. Believe me, if there was a way, I would take it.

Perhaps Apple has put too much attention to the very lucrative toy market (what else can you call ipods and iphones). No negative comment, they're the reason apple is still around today and that's good, but many pro's are left in the cold for too long.

The day has come, so with pain in the heart, byby apple, byby love, byby happiness. I'm gonne miss you!!!

 

[CalBoy]

I know how you feel. However, do stay around here, as we're all holding our breaths for Apple to release an ultra-portable in January.

Best of luck.

 

[marclapierre13]

Er... so your saying youre going to get a PC?

tsk tsk. Have fun with that. I would take a little bit thicker 13" MB over a thinner crappier PC any day.

 

[CalBoy]

Er... so your saying youre going to get a PC?

tsk tsk. Have fun with that. I would take a little bit thicker 13" MB over a thinner crappier PC any day.

It isn't about thickness. It's about travel size. The macbook really isn't a traveler's computer. A 12" is really what's needed (or even smaller).

Besides, all PCs are not "crappy." Panasonic, Sony, and Lenovo all make some pretty good portables. They're light and small, and Windows isn't as bad as some on this forum would have us believe.

 

[OdduWon]

intermec 6651

something this size? I have one of these intermec 6651's and it was a pretty cool little computer, slow, but it is touch screen and has a web cam. the battery died and i can't find charger for it. though i don't think this would work for your needs, However it does show that things can be accomplished by using thickness as a compliment to compactness. the screen is 7.5"

 

[JNB]

Well, although everyone has to make their own choice perceived on need, I see the MacBook as just fine for travel (and I'm right up there with 'ya on the "seeing home weekends only" thing).

I think that under 13", now you're in toy territory. Considering everything that I have to accomplish, the itsy ones are nothing more than oversized PDA's. I need to do presentations, cross between Mac/Windows, RD into client sites, manage multiple windows--generally side-by-side--and simply cannot abide the loss of real estate, not to mention the undersized keyboards, and quite honestly, the general cheesiness of build of the submicros that I've handled.

I agree that most notebooks are really a desktop machine that is luggable. There's no way I could use a MBP, even at the 15". As far as where I carry it, I don't think I'd trust it to anything other than my dedicated rolling briefs. My main bag outer pockets are a non-starter for the laptop, plus I need the briefcase anyway for files, folders, pens, accessories, etc.

I think it's less an issue of Apple not having "portable" machines--they truly do, considering the number of them I see on the road, not to mention the Windows boxes that are larger and still out there--than it is a matter of you falling into a pretty small niche of users. I don't think I see more than five or ten of the subnotebooks being used by my fellow travelers over the course of a year.

I imagine that if Apple thought they could sell a million subs or more per year, they'd be "back" in that market, but as they've already been there, I have to believe that it was found to be a less than lucrative market.