Apple has been known for creating high-quality computers that are simply put – gorgeous – in their industrial design and aesthetics. Starting from the original iBook to the current-generation MacBook Pro and to the newly-announced (and now shipping) MacBook Air – the design team at Apple has been constantly bringing out beautiful designs. Some even call Apple’s products “fashion statements”. However, a power user like myself finds that Apple has been favoring form over function as of late, and this can be seen in such omissions as the lack of ExpressCard slots in Mac notebooks.
If we look at the current notebook lineup, we see 3 separate lines of notebooks: MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro. All follow the same design principles and aesthetics – thin profiles, clean lines, and full-sized keyboards. Out of the three lines, however, only one line has an ExpressCard slot: the MacBook Pro. To me, this is ironic, since the Pro is the one that would benefit the least from such a port. Before the “why?”, let’s see what the ExpressCard slot can and is used for.
This slot can be used for many different purposes, but in general it used for expansion. The user can plug in an ExpressCard that will add USB, FireWire, and eSATA ports to the notebook. Having a direct connection to the motherboard, the ExpressCard has a very fast throughput speed, as opposed to a single USB port, which only has so much bandwidth inside the computer’s data transfer busses. More importantly, the slot can be used for wireless broadband modems/cards and even external video cards. So when I say that the MacBook Pro line benefits the least from such a slot, I say it because it has the most ports out of the entire line-up of Mac notebooks. The glaring omission of the ExpressCard slot in the MacBook Air is unacceptable. The Air’s ports are practically non-existent and an ExpressCard slot would give the user the ability to put that powerful Core 2 processor through its paces by using an ExpressCard external graphics card to play some Halo (on Windows, of course). Or it could be used to add a FireWire port and import moves from a camera, or even connect to an external hard disk. Or how about adding a Gigabit Ethernet jack like this one from Belkin all though the ExpressCard port? The same questions can be asked of Apple about the omission of the ExpressCard in the regular MacBook.
Would it be so difficult to fit this port into the MacBook (Air or regular?). I don’t think so, since the slot itself is so thin and small. It sure is possible to squeeze it into the regular MacBook if not the Air. Would it be cost-prohibitive for Apple? Well, considering every single PC manufacturer (yes, every single one of them) has an ExpressCard slot in their notebooks (even their ultra-portables), it surely is not for Apple – being the high-margin, over-priced hardware manufacturer the company is. So does Apple have something against ExpressCard? Some “beef” with them? Some dirty laundry? Does anyone know what’s the deal here?
While on the subject of expandability, what is it with Apple only including two (count-em!) USB ports on the MacBook Pro 15″? The 17″ has three! The Dell XPS1530 – a direct and less expensive competitor to the 15″ Pro has three. The Dell M1730 has four. And Apple’s notebooks made for the “Pros” has one less, while being priced a few hundred bucks more. All of these “hardware deficiencies” and higher prices have me seriously considering purchasing a Windows machine from a PC vendor – something I thought I wouldn’t do after the day I switched to the Mac. And Dell, as of this writing, seems to be the only vendor with a clear computer strategy. But that’s a different story coming later in the week. For now, go ahead and build your own PCs and Macs online and compare them in price and hardware/software. See what you get and let me know what you think!
P.S: while on my soapbox, how about built-in media card readers, Apple? Why should I have to carry around a USB adapter with me to import pictures from my camera when Dell and HP have these really cool built-in slots for the cards? (Okay, maybe they’re not really “cool”, but they’re functional). Eh?
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During his introduction of the MacBook Air at MacWorld 2008, Steve Jobs emphasized how Apple and Intel worked together on the smaller version of the Core 2 Duo (C2D) processor. They were able to reduce the size of the chip and thus shove this really powerful processor into an ultra-portable form-factor – something that other manufacturers have not done. Other ultra-portable notebook makers compensated for the available space inside their ultra-portables by using smaller, less-powerful processors – commonly referred to as Ultra-Low Voltage chips. The fact that Apple and Intel were able to shrink the C2D chip by so much is great news, but Apple’s message is mixed when it comes to the MacBook Air (MBA) and the shrunken CPU. Here’s why.The point of equipping the MBA with a powerful processor is obvious: to make an ultra-portable notebook powerful. Great. But by whom and for what will this power be used for?
Video? Nope!
The MBA has only one USB port and no FireWire port, eliminating it from the shopping lists of video professionals. If not the pros, how about the consumers? They do video too, right? Well, the 80GB hard disk is the limiting factor in this usage scenario. How much video for editing can be imported and stored on the drive? Not much (or enough)! The regular MacBook is better for this – and comes in about $600 less. And you can’t import to an external drive with the MBA either, since the camera will be attached to the MBA through its only USB port (by the way, not the most ideal way to transfer video), thus not leaving any open ports for an external drive to be plugged into. So video-editing is out of the question – it’s not really convenient and simple to do on the MBA. (However, it can be done, for example, by storing the video files on a networked-attached storage (NAS) volume, but that’s not really convenient, as the MacBook – regular version – is a better choice here. Besides, how many consumers have an NAS? Time Capsule!).
Audio? Nope, again.
Perhaps the point of the powerfully-small C2D chip in the MBA was to serve the audio-editing, creations, and engineering market. But with no FireWire port, it’s not an attractive solution either. The less expensive and more upgradable MacBook is a better choice here as well.
The weakling Word, Excel, PowerPoint/Keynote, Email user? Yes!
So the general conclusion about the MacBook Air’s target user is that it’s an ideal machine for the regular, perhaps even corporate user. Someone dependent on Word, Excel, some kind of presentation software, and email. Let’s take this to be the case. But such applications don’t require the great processing power to warrant a re-engineered, shrunken-yet-powerful processor. These applications are very much usable with an Ultra-Low Voltage (ULV) chip. By using an ULV, Apple could have increased battery life of the MBA.
To add insult to injury for this type of user, Apple decided not to give the MacBook Air a dedicated ethernet port. Okay, an adapter is available, but its speed is only 10/100! Doesn’t Apple know that most corporate networks – you know, the ones that have servers performing auto-backups – use gigabit, 10/100/1000? And it makes a huge difference! Was it really that difficult to add that gigabit ethernet port? But the insult escalates to Britney Spears’ level when Engadget discovered that the wireless Sprint modem doesn’t fit into that super-thin MBA. This makes me wonder if Apple really put any thought into the common usage scenario of this product. They must have tested out the ports somehow and realized that while the flip-down compartment of the notebook is very aesthetically pleasing, it’s not very functional. This kind of “form over function” approach is what keeps the Mac off the shopping lists of many, even though market share has been climbing steadily.
A Different Device!Let me first get this off my chest: I’m glad that Apple made the MacBook Air. I want one, but not as my primary machine. That said, Mr. Jobs made quite a statement when he announced the shrinkage of the C2D chip pioneered by Apple and Intel. This brings me to the conclusion that this processor is for a new breed of device and that the MacBook Air is just a test bed for this processor.
What can this new breed of device possibly be? I think it’s the long-rumored Apple tablet. You know – the multi-touch, 4-6 inch screen, no keyboard, slate-style device. It is the UMPC – done right. Currently, however, the market for such devices is limited because their usage is crippled by not enough back-end infrastructure. However, with increased functionality, these devices will become more and more useful. What can this “increased functionality” be? Check back here after 17:00 EST and find out!
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Or at least – I am. Now you can expect daily posts with constant status updates! I will be slowly rolling this blog into a more social setting – integrating Facebook, Twitter/Pownce, and Flickr more tightly with the blogging software. This way, you can contact me much more efficiently. Now, where have I been?
After deciding to move this blog over to alexluft.com, I reversed my decision and TechNest will stay exactly where it presently is! My adventures are as follows:
- I decided to carry my TechNest WordPress-powered blog over to alexluft.com. WordPress said that the easiest way to switch domains within a server (since I have alexluft.com on the same hosting account as luftberg.com) is to follow these instructions. I did. Result? All images became broken after the move. I followed these instructions to fix them in my SQL database. No luck. The results from the SQL queries stated that no tables or rows were affected by the instruction set provided.
- After posting about my problem above in WordPress.com forums and getting no replies, I decided to play around with it myself. To make long story short, I messed everything up, including the TechNest database, and then fixed it – manually. This took about two weeks. (I needed to build up the courage to edit my SQL database -;).
- At this point, I was going to manually carry over my TechNest posts, images, links, plugins, themes and everything else to alexluft.com. Oh, I forgot categories. This will take me a day, probably, since I really didn’t have a huge amount of posts there like some other full-time bloggers (which I am currently not).
- Thanks, WordPress – for not working as by your directions, for not helping me in the forums… But hey! It’s a free product, right? Maybe I should start this blog over with MovableType?
- Currently, I need to fix my plugins and all the categories for all my posts.
So the moral of the story is: give good directions, WordPress, and provide software that works! For me: build up courage sooner? I don’t really know – I feel like a stranded elephant in the middle of the African jungle – not even hoping for support, not knowing what to do, but I know the road ahead is tough (for the elephant – myself, that is – since I will be laboring manually applying categories to the posts.
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