The tech press is missing the boat with the MacBook Air.
All the grumbling about the price, the absence of an optical drive, the irreplaceable battery, shows that the technical minded misunderstand the machine.
Of course it’s not practical, it’s a fashion computer.
But it seems the target audience — fashionistas — are taking note. A quick Google shows that fashion blogs are raving about the Air.
Coquette, a blog about ‘digital fashion and style by natalie zee drieu, raves about the Air’s potential as an accessory: “This little thing is ready to tote around in your Balenciaga or Gucci bag,” it says. “I’m so getting one!!!!!”
Judging from the comments on those blogs, lots of their readers are bonkers for it too.
Compared to a $1,800 Prada handbag, the MacBook Air is a steal.
Expect long lines at the NYC Soho and Meatpacking stores.
Via Carl Howe at Blackfriars: The MacBook Air is an ideal product — in the right market
Leander Kahney is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac.
Leander is a longtime technology reporter and the author of six acclaimed books about Apple, including two New York Times bestsellers: Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products and Inside Steve’s Brain, a biography of Steve Jobs.
He’s also written a top-selling biography of Apple CEO Tim Cook and authored Cult of Mac and Cult of iPod, which both won prestigious design awards. Most recently, he was co-author of Cult of Mac, 2nd Edition.
Leander has been reporting about Apple and technology for nearly 30 years.
Before founding Cult of Mac as an independent publication, Leander was news editor at Wired.com, where he was responsible for the day-to-day running of the Wired.com website. He headed up a team of six section editors, a dozen reporters and a large pool of freelancers. Together the team produced a daily digest of stories about the impact of science and technology, and won several awards, including several Webby Awards, 2X Knight-Batten Awards for Innovation in Journalism and the 2010 MIN (Magazine Industry Newsletter) award for best blog, among others.
Before being promoted to news editor, Leander was Wired.com’s senior reporter, primarily covering Apple. During that time, Leander published a ton of scoops, including the first in-depth report about the development of the iPod. Leander attended almost every keynote speech and special product launch presented by Steve Jobs, including the historic launches of the iPhone and iPad. He also reported from almost every Macworld Expo in the late ’90s and early ‘2000s, including, sadly, the last shows in Boston, San Francisco and Tokyo. His reporting for Wired.com formed the basis of the first Cult of Mac book, and subsequently this website.
Before joining Wired, Leander was a senior reporter at the legendary MacWeek, the storied and long-running weekly that documented Apple and its community in the 1980s and ’90s.
Leander has written for Wired magazine (including the Issue 16.04 cover story about Steve Jobs’ leadership at Apple, entitled Evil/Genius), Scientific American, The Guardian, The Observer, The San Francisco Chronicle and many other publications.
Leander is an expert on:
Apple and Apple history
Steve Jobs, Jony Ive, Tim Cook and Apple leadership
Apple community
iPhone and iOS
iPad and iPadOS
Mac and macOS
Apple Watch and watchOS
Apple TV and tvOS
AirPods
Leander has a postgrad diploma in artificial intelligence from the University of Aberdeen, and a BSc (Hons) in experimental psychology from the University of Sussex.
He has a diploma in journalism from the UK’s National Council for the Training of Journalists.
Leander lives in San Francisco, California, and is married with four children. He’s an avid biker and has ridden in many long-distance bike events, including California’s legendary Death Ride.
You can find out more about Leander on LinkedIn and Facebook. You can follow him on X at @lkahney or Instagram.
16 responses to “MacBook Air: The Laptop As Fashion Accessory”
“Of course it’s not practical, it’s a fashion computer.”
Doesn’t that pretty much just sum up Apple as a whole?
In all honesty, it seems like Apple fans have begged for this product for so long and now that they finally have it, they don’t see the usefulness of it. My current laptop feels like it weighs about 8-10 pounds — seriously. I never tote it around with me due to its size. The Air is a step forward for portable computers, not merely a passing fashion trend.
It will be one of those products that years from now, when they do a time line of the company history, will scream 2008. In the future, we’ll all be carrying super thin laptops not just the rich and famous.
Having said that, you really can’t get excited by this laptop till you hold one in your hands. All the specs in the world can’t beat the feeling of holding this unit deftly with one hand. I didn’t get to hold one till the thris day of macworld, due to the crowds, but when I did, it was impressive
“Doesn’t that pretty much just sum up Apple as a whole?”
Do you even know how many mac pros are used – Ya know what? I’m not even gunna waist my time on that asinine comment.
Anyway,
so you guys are finally coming around on the Air are you? I really don’t realize why this was so hard to figure out. Perhaps all the whiners I’ve heard aren’t Apple stock holders and don’t realize that Apple’s goal is to profit, not dedicate every research dollar to please computer geeks.
The ONLY legitimate gripe I have heard this whole time has been that Apple didn’t release a sub-MBP. Obviously if there is demand for it they should maybe make one. But that argument is shaky at best considering the MBP is, by definition, a PRO machine designed for PRO customers who want all the juicy PRO hardware and are willing to pay a premium for it. And what do you think all that pro hardware is for? complex computer models? No, its for visual based applications, video and photo editing and so forth. Now why the hell would someone want to do that on a tiny screen? A handful of cheap geeks who just want a less expensive pro machine is hardly proof of a real demand for such a product. Profit-wise it doesn’t make sense. If someone’s gunna put up for pro hardware, they’re going to want pro hardware. A large screen is pro hardware. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills here.
The MBA is not for geeks.
Surprise!
There are other people in the world who aren’t command-line junkies for whom form exceeds function and, realistically, they don’t NEED all that function; even though you do. And guess what else? Those people have money and want a computer too.
I know, the humanity.
Rant over.
Like a lot of Apple products, it is the beginning of technology that will lead the industry. It is the wave of the future. Apple truly innovates.
The only complaint I have with the MacBook Air is the screen size. I believe they could have brought it out to the edges of the case. Other than that I think it’s a great computer and plan on buying one. I currently own a MBP and an iMac, I’m a graphic artist, and I rarely use the MBP for real work. I also can’t remember the last time I burned a CD or DVD, I always transfer files via thumb drive or over a wireless network. Also since I’m planning on going back to school this will be a great laptop to do it with.
No matter what a new product might be, there will always be those who whine that it’s not exactly what they wanted. Well boo-hoo-hoo. The MacBook Air is a niche product. Get used to the idea.
A “fashion” computer?
This is a ridiculously short-sighted, naive assessment. Do you really believe Apple would invest so much in the development of this new product in order to create an accessory for fashionistas?
Apple’s industrial design prowess – of which their ability to make “lustworthy” products is a subset – should not be so completely confused for an end rather than means.
The Macbook Air signals a conceptual shift in computing – one which will see the continued dematerialization of our hardware interfaces with what’s really important, the network. That is, the tremendous amount of data and computing power we can access via – but decentralized from – the hardware interface.