Read the comments in just about any blog posting on the new MacBook Air introduced at MacWorld last week and you’ll find a tech-nation divided. Half the writers love the whole concept of the MBA and have nothing but praise to offer. The other half take the complete opposite position and have no hesitation about showing their utter distain for both the device and those heaping praise on it. It is good fun reading how emotionally charged some are becoming and so here are a few examples among hundreds and even thousands…

There are these comments in response to a recent article in TUAW–

"The only thing the Air has going for it is how thin it is. Other than that it’s an underpowered, feature lacking machine that’s overpriced for what it has. I mean come on, no disk drive?"

"…for me and others it’s an ideal supplemental machine."

"Shut up. The Macbook Air is fantastic. I really hate people like you who can’t understand the revolutionary aspects of its design."

There is this from MacRumors–

"Sealed non user replaceable battery? Soldered on RAM? No Ethernet jack? $1799? No thanks. It’s an expensive, disposable toy.

Then there is an article from Crunch Gear  entitled– "MacBook AirHead: Why Apple’s new laptop is basically useless" Enough said.

And the list goes on and on and on and on…

It got me to thinking… why are there such strong feeling floating in the blogosphere against the MacBook Air? A few thoughts come to mind.

1. Unrealistic expectations

People expected something that was totally revolutionary and what they got was a marvel of engineering that is evolutionary instead. In the run-up to the reveal I heard everything from "Its going to have WiMax!!" "It will have 15 hours of battery life!!" "It will only come with an SSD drive and still be in the $1500 range!!" (A statement that then required the added commentary that Apple had been hoarding flash memory, controlled the market and could therefore release it at a cost of pennies on the dollar compared to others.)  

People got to the point where whether they wanted to admit it or not, they were expecting the power of a MacBook Pro, the price of the higher-end MacBook and technology that aliens gave the Steve Jobs so he could reveal something light years ahead of everyone else. 

Because it was Apple, the expectations were so high that, in retrospect, I do not believe anything could have been released that would not, on some level, disappoint. While if Dell came out with the Air I suspect we would have heard little outcry, at least not until people had to start dealing with Dell’s customer support lines.

2. Form Factor Fatigue

Jump over to OQO’s product page and this is what you will find–

Their "Best" Model 02 comes with a 1.6 VIA cpu, 1 gb ram (but 512 is also available), 120gb hard drive, and 1 usb port. Other ports require an adapter dongle or docking the unit. The 64gb ssd option adds $1000 to the price and it has a rated battery life of "up to 3 hours".

The MacBook Air beats the OQO Model 02 on every count except the available standard hard drive yet the OQO is almost universally beloved in blogger-ville and the MBA has thus-far seen a pretty even split. The reason why is simple– The OQO has a look all its own, thereby avoiding direct comparison with anything other than the first OQO. And by that comparison the Model 02 is messianic! 

If you want something of the OQO’s form factor you need to get… an OQO. (Although the impending release of the MID’s may change all that.) And the only people who really need something of the OQO’s form factor are people who travel a tremendous amount and for whom a smartphone, no matter how far they have come, just doesn’t cut it. The MacBook Air, on the other hand doesn’t appear to be targeted specifically at the business market. No matter how you slice it, though, the OQO still tops out at a 1.6ghz VIA processor, which is… a 1.6ghz VIA processor. And that is an entirely different animal than a 1.6ghz Core2duo. Thanks, but no thanks.

The MacBook Air, on the other hand, looks like a traditional notebook and was therefore immediately compared to every other notebook on the market. People want/expected the power of a desktop replacement like the Toshiba Qosimio, the weight of the OQO, the price of the Asus EeePC and the operating system of a Mac. When compared to that mythical Frankenstein of a device, the MacBook Air is too expensive, too big, and too underpowered. But here’s the thing– the "MacQosim-OQO EeePC" doesn’t exist and the MacBook Air does.

Yes, there are compromises. But I have yet to find a device that does not come with some compromises here or there. Yes, I can get a less expensive device. But if I love most things about my MacBook except the weight and the heat, the MBA, at least on paper, does a pretty good job of being a better device for me. And if I want to stay with OSX it is the only ultra-light game in town. Yes, I wish it were a bit less pricey, had integrated 3g and the ssd drives were now where they will be in a year or two price and size-wise but for what it is it looks to be amazing.

No, it sure doesn’t change the notebook field the way the iPhone has already changed the mobile phone market… but by this time next year, who knows… 

For now, I’m looking forward to early February when they begin shipping. 

Related posts:

1. MacBook Air Gets Naked- Conclusion: Sexier Fully Dressed
2. The MacBook Air– The iPod Touch Of Notebook Computers
3. MacBook Air Wretched??? Say It Ain’t So!
4. Okay— First One To Use the Words “MacBook Air” and “Ritual Circumcision” In the Same Review Wins….
5. MacBook Paper, Thinner than the Air!