Mini-Rant about Macbook Air

[stockscalper]

They've beat the lack of backlight to death here already. Learn to type and I promise you won't miss it. I don't.

 

[brentsg]

The first thing I did when I got my MBP 3 years ago was turn off the backlight.

 

[Sheet]

By now I think it has to be the shiny-light-awesome-reason to want backlit.. because almost everyone (who wants to have a backlit keyboard) assures to be able to type blindly in the dark

 

[gdeputy]

They've beat the lack of backlight to death here already. Lean to type and I promise you won't miss it. I don't.

Honestly, this is a weak argument. I know how to type, (I bet better than 95% of the people on this board, ~100WPM) and I still would have loved to see a backlit keyboard. I keep my brightness very low, and when I'm laying in bed with my MBA on my stomach at a weird angle it would be nice to see the keys just to reposition my hands.

I'm not saying I need to look at the keys much AT ALL, but I have certainly had moments where I thought "man, backlit keys would be killer right now".

Is it a deal breaker for me? Nah, not at all, but it would be a nice feature.

 

[OceanView]

Hey, to everyone at MacRumors. This is a sort of minirant about the new 2010 Macbook Air... if you don't wanna hear it, then go to a different thread
Kay, starting.
It seems like everyone who got the Macbook Air is really happy with it.
Faster, lighter, thinner, etc.
Now, first, lemme list the new things:
SSD, higher rez display, and noticeable cosmetic differences, lest costly (mostly referring to 11" model), among a bunch of other differences
And the bad things:
Removal of backlight

When you look at it from this perspective (a lot of new things contrasting to little 'bad things'), it does seem like the jet set of Macbook Airs, doesn't it? HOWEVER: I feel everyone who bought this bought it at the WRONG TIME! Listen, hear me out.
Although there are a bunch of new things, Apple's unprudent demeanor has yes, changed the Macbook Air, but also held out on so many things.
Next gen macbook Air will have:
SANDY BRIDGE
LIGHT PEAK
BACKLIGHT (contrary to our expectations, apple DOES listen to our complaints)
THINNER DESIGN (doesn't that always happen?)
HIGHER REZ DISLAY
Among a bunch of new things. And YES, I know the thinner design and higher rez display are GIVEN, but c'mon, guys. We'll have the EXACT same Macbook Air as this generation, next generation, only with the Sandy Bridge and LightPeak and Backlight. By that, I mean Apple's taking THIS gen's 'pretty good' into next gen's 'excellent'. <- yes, again, this always happens, but this time, it's a _pretty_ good FOR THIS GEN's TECHNOLOGY instead of apple's USUAL 'good'.
Concludes my rant.

Sounds more like a wish list than a rant.
And I do hope we get all these things you've listed on the next MBA.
I would buy that machine ASAP.

 

[Wild-Bill]

I do know how to type, and I still won't replace my Rev C. MBA with a new one until Apple re-introduces the backlit keyboard they omitted.

 

[MacRuler]

i really doubt we will see a thinner macbook air. apple usually keeps the same chassis for computers for around 2 or sometimes even 3 years.

 

[rrl]

Thinner? Put the pipe down. It's already thinner than most phones.

 

[adztaylor]

Don't take them for granted. I've had nothing of the kind over here in the UK, and I don't think too many other people over here will have had them either.

I had them, was in one of our very first IT classes in high school. We had a program which taught us exactly how to type properly and fast.