'Cube 2.0': Will MacBook Air Flop?


c|net is probably trolling for hits with this provocative piece comparing the new MacBook Air with the Power Mac G4 Cube.

Both, writes the author, are elegant pieces of design. Both are overpriced. Both will fail, he argues.

Why? Because its target market is indeterminate. Sure, it's thin and light, but you can get a two-pound-heavier MacBook for less money, more CPU power, an optical drive and more connectivity.

This leads the author to the conclusion that MBA will only sell to the same people who liked Cubes; elegant computers that nobody bought. The piece concludes with "Let's hope they're not cranking out MacBook Airs by the hundred-thousand, because I just don't think they're going to need them."

Analysis: Well, they'll sell 100,000 at least in the current quarter, if they can make enough of them. Like supermodels, laptops can never be too thin or too light. On the other hand, there's some merit to the argument; I wouldn't buy one personally (screen size being the main thing for me), but I would buy a 15" one, bearing in mind it would be a little heavier. But 13.3" would be just adequate and I'd seriously think about it as a replacement notebook. If you don't use optical often, get the optional $99 SuperDrive. Frankly, it would be a good deal if Apple threw the SuperDrive into the box. But Cupertino isn't like that.