I dont see how you can even begin to compare these two numbers. Asus has done next to zero advertising for the EEE, where as iPhone and MBA ... well lets just say I can't watch a prime time TV show without being hit with these ads, not to mention a good Mac vs PC ad for good measure. Trust that I am a huge Apple fan, and I am always amazed with what the Apple teams come out with, but in terms of price and usability there is ZERO comparison with the MBA and the EEE. The EEE is not, and never was, intended to be a desktop replacement or even a solid Ultramobile. The original EEE came from the OLPC project, and Asus simply decided to test the waters. This computer is designed for internet based applications and basic writing/spreadsheet/etc use. Essentially a PDA with more functionality and better usability. The entry level EEE is 299.00, 250.00 on sale, 500.00 for a really nice one. Whereas the MBA is 1700 out of the gate. I just can't understand how people can logically attempt to compare them. However, I can say that after using both, I would go with the EEE 100%.
Last week I was called into the local PC place to work on a MBP, they keep me on retainer even though my actual profession is a graphic artist for a toy company. When I arrived I came upon a pristine Macbook Pro 17", a MAXED OUT one at that. When I removed the newspaper covering half the device, to my horror, the thing had been dropped right on the corner. HD was shot, the logic board had fractures in it, and surprisingly the only thing that survived was the LCD. A total waste. The great part is one of the techs told me that the owner normally kept the thing at home, never took it anywhere. First day she did, to surf the net in the library, she dropped it. Now had she been carrying a MBA the devastation would have been just as great, but had she been carrying an EEE for net surfing and messaging she wouldn't have wasted thousands of dollars, nor would she have broken down into tears when we told her that Apple was going to want well over 1200.00 to fix it cause I might have been able to fix some nasty breaks, but Im hardly a miracle worker. Beyond that, the primary "storage" is an SD card in a EEE, which is much less likely to be damaged to a total loss of data like the MBA, or MBP, or even an iPhone. (yes yes "regular backups" but not everyone does that)
Next up is the iPhone, first off .... the iPhone is a "consumer" device. It was not designed for the average business user. Until apple improves the WPM that is capable on a touch panel, to those of a mini QWERTY, the blackberry and the palm centrinos of the world will continue to dominate. On my Blackberry curve I can type roughly 30 WPM, on my friends iPhone he can type maybe 10-20 depending on complexity. Obviously this is not a scientific test, but given we are both more than adequate typers, it doesn't bode well for the iPhone. Now the Curve ball, even for the business user the iPhone is still a better deal, IF Apple brings the introductory price down to match that of the Blackberries, Centrinos, HTCs etc. This is because overall the monthly fees for an Enterprise capable iPhone 2.0 will be significantly less than a Blackberry. As a staunch Blackberry user I am also considering the iPhone jump, just to save 50.00/month.
Hmmm... I've seen more MBAs in the wild than EEE PCs... and TONS more iPhones. The iPhone has sold over 4 million and the EEE has sold around 350K. We don't have sales figures for the MBA but I suspect it's sold at least as well as the EEE.
