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Would an Apple eat its own children or prompt switchers to Go Mac? AppleMatters argues that an ultra-slim MacBook might just be a mistake. Why? Because Apple should focus on iPhone, its real future in both portable music and in the enormous global cell phone market. Apple Matters focuses on three potentially negative aspects of an ultra-mobile Mac: 1. Cost: Flash-based storage (providing sufficient capacity) and small LCDs are in short supply currently and 16 or 32GB of flash storage is still pricey (although Sony offers flash-based notebook PCs, albeit spendy ones). True, more flash-based notebooks would lead to a corresponding fall in the price of flash per-GB. But there's an opportunity cost here: Apple could deploy the flash it purchases more profitably in other mobile devices, like iPod nano, Touch and iPhone. However, the fact that Apple makes significant profits from its notebook line militates against this argument. 2. Widespread adoption: Notebooks have taken over 50% of the PC market, but trend is towards ultra-portable devices – like smart phones – that can carry out a range of functions, including email and internet access. Their progression towards dominance is slow, but advancing by increments. True, but it will be many years before this happens. Even with touch technology, it is unlikely the notebook PC will be replaced by the small mobile device. It's more likely – as is occurring already – smart devices will simply supplement existing notebooks, rather than replacing them. 3. Optimized Mobile Components: It's difficult to apply powerful notebook technologies – such as high-octane processors – to ultra-mobile devices. But cell phones have integrated wireless, like 802.11, BlueTooth and other tech into their feature sets.
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