5 Reasons Not To Buy The Macbook Air

Now, just for the record, I’m not an Apple (or PC) hater. I think Apple is an innovative company that makes some cool products. I’m even writing this up on a Macbook. I do, however, think that Apple can make some pretty dumb products sometimes and the Macbook Air is a good example. The Macbook Air has the same dimensions as a normal Macbook, but is one third of an inch thinner (at its thickest point) and 2 pounds lighter. In order to shave off this space, a lot had to be given up. Too much. Below is a list of the top 5 reasons to avoid the Macbook Air:


5. No Removable Battery

What is it with Apple’s continued insistence that we are never allowed to remove the battery from its devices? It’s one thing on an ipod, but being able to swap out a drained out battery on the fly seems to be a really important feature for a lot of laptop users. Imagine a long flight or bus ride with only a single battery charge. Or the dread felt in 6 months when your battery dies early and the only way to get a new one is to ship off your whole notebook. This just seems like it’s a sly way to force users to pay to have official OEM battery replacement, or even worse, to buy a whole new laptop once the battery finally quits.


4. No Optical Drive

Apple shipped the original iMac without a floppy drive in 1998, and it annoyed the hell out of a lot of people. It’s 10 years later and they’re still making the same mistakes. Apple says its no big deal since you can use their new remote disk software to stream a disk’s contents from your desktop wirelessly to the Macbook Air. Isn’t breaking away from your desktop the point of having a laptop? Apple suggests if that doesn’t work you can always buy their USB superdrive which of course means more money spent, and more to lug around.


3. Weak Specs

The maximum sized hard-drive is 80 gigabytes. The fastest processor available is 1.8ghz. The graphics card is integrated. There is only 1 usb port and no ethernet port! This is not a powerhouse by any means, and it feels like a laptop from one or two years ago and not a brand new prestige model. The argument could be made that the configuration is similar to other "sub-notebooks", but the Macbook Air, is thin but not small. The specs wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for…


2. No Upgradeability

Ok, so laptops aren’t known for their amazing abilities to upgrade components, but almost every laptop allows at least minimal upgrade. Not the Macbook Air. There’s no adding a higher capacity battery, or a larger hard-drive or even adding a few more megabytes of ram (There are initial reports you can replace the hard-drive, but this requires opening the case and will void your warranty). What you buy is what you get… forever.


1. The $1800 price tag

At a price as high as the Macbook Pro, this laptop seems targeted towards business users. Yet, as we’ve seen, the Macbook Air is missing some really critical features that businesses need. Smart consumers with the cash to spend would probably opt for another laptop with much more bang for the buck. Apple might be more successful if put the same configuration in a normal sized case and sold it as a cheap entry level “disposable” laptop. For now, the Macbook Air might be a fun toy to show off, but in the long run it just isn’t functional.

4 Positive Ways The iPhone has Changed The Wireless Industry

The iPhone is ridiculously cool. It has its shortcomings like most phones, but overall it is a huge leap forward in mobile phone design. Any phone that is exciting enough to impress my technophile friends, but easy enough for my technophobe mother to use HAS got to be something special. In the wake of all this attention devoted to the iPhone and its interface, it’s important to take a step back and look at how one phone model is changing the entire wireless industry. Even if you don't have an iPhone yourself, here are 4 positive benefits of the iPhone's introduction


4. Increased Awareness of GSM Phone Locking

The media gave a lot of attention to the 1.12 update and subsequent bricking of unlocked iPhones. Thanks to this, everyday people were made aware their phones weren’t bound to networks due to a difference in technology, but as a result of provider locks. It may not be a coincidence that Verizon recently announced their decision to finally allow other CDMA phones not previously purchased from Verizon on to their network. GSM locks aren’t likely to disappear anytime soon, but at least now more people know they can unlock their phones and jump ship.


3. Sending a Message: Allow 3rd Party Development

Apple tried to hold out and prevent any official 3rd party development of applications for the iPhone. This is in contrast to almost every other modern phone that allows some sort of 3rd party development even if just through J2ME/BREW programs. We were told “web apps” would be just as good as native applications. They aren’t (especially when delivered at dial-up speeds). The resulting backlash has forced Apple to reconsider, and the company now says it will open up the phone. Hopefully Apple and future smartphone manufactures will not make the same mistake and allow at least some form of official support for 3rd party development out of the box.


2. Reduced Data Rates In Canada

It is true that few Canadians use or are even aware of what data on a cell phone is. That doesn’t mean it’s fair to charge those who do use data $0.05/kb. Who would want to download a mp3 that costs $175? On a practical level you sure can forget any kind of bulk html browsing or blackberry emailing. With the imminent arrival of the iPhone to Canada, Rogers is launching a $20 for unlimited data plan. Other carriers will almost definitely follow suit, and we can finally get headlines like “Canada Worse than 3rd World Countries when it comes to Mobile Data” headlines out of the news.


1. Embarrassment for Microsoft and the Windows Mobile Platform

Apple’s first crack at a phone resulted in a revolutionary OS that literally turns heads with both its innovation and simplicity. That has got to be embarrassing for Microsoft who has been touting its clunky, slow and unintuitive smartphones for a long time. Ok, so Microsoft isn’t the only company with an outdated OS (isn’t the Palm Treo just a Palm IIIc with an antenna glued on?), but Microsoft does deserve knocking down for its “If its got windows its got to be good” attitude.