MacBook Air… A machine lost in Jobs’ reality-distortion field?

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!