At some point if Apple is serious about keeping an increasing market share they WILL have to expand their # of computer SKU's to cover market segments. They've stood steady, give or take a configuration, with their number of computer models for years now.
A super-light compact (which one article described as having a MacBook-sized screen due to drastic reduction in bezel size) is an inviting a niche as any in the market at this point.
Use of optical drives is clearly decreasing. One poster said this means it will be business only. Not so. Every piece of software I've added in the last 18 months has been a download. Ditto every piece of video (including non-downloads like YouTube). Number of times I've put a CD or DVD in my iBook while away from home: ZERO. I only use it at home for major software installs or to rip CD's and those things are best done at home if possible anyway.
Only businessmen/pros take printers or scanners with them when they lug their laptops. A cheap external CD/DVD/?HD will become just another non-travel essential peripheral left with those boat anchors at home, and would meet the needs of a rapidly growing percentage of computer users. A more pricey portable drive about the weight of two MacPro power bricks would handle most of the rest.
And the rest can buy heavier notebooks with aging tech if they need it. I think this would be a hot seller, especially it has that Apple Industrial Design touch and maybe does one or two new flashy tricks.
It's actually the most likely new Mac I would personally buy, since I have trouble lugging around the number of pounds of gear I have now, and 2 pounds less and having to plug in a drive now and then sounds like a GREAT trade-off to me.
Plus Apple's playing to a thin and light marketing scheme in many of their latest offerings. People wouldn't line up for a week as for the iPhone, but as a status geegaw, plenty of early adopters would like to the be the first at their Starbucks to show off this new lithe metal-clad techno fetish object. And would be the first computer from Apple in years to generate independent press buzz.
And as other posters have pointed out, even if it didn't appeal to the "whole spectrum," (though I think it would to 90% or more), your tendency to purchase media content through iTunes would be increased since you have to plug in your drive to rip, and some would forego having a drive to plug-in, and that would cover the difference.
So not the way of the Dodos for optical for awhile, but more like your cat. You spend time with it, but you don't take it to the coffeeshop or on the plane with you.
Bring this machine on, Apple -- but if it's a toy testbed with 32 GB of flash storage (or a slower processor than a mini), count me out -- that's still two powers of two too small, and thus about two-three years out as NAND capacity/price ratios keep increasing. Call it a nanobook if you want to (or bring one out with a 8-9 inch screen, 32 GB of flash and some touch features), but keep the steak (robust storage) WITH the sizzle in this machine if you make it.
ubiquitous replacement?
At some point if Apple is serious about keeping an increasing market share they WILL have to expand their # of computer SKU's to cover market segments. They've stood steady, give or take a configuration, with their number of computer models for years now.
A super-light compact (which one article described as having a MacBook-sized screen due to drastic reduction in bezel size) is an inviting a niche as any in the market at this point.
Use of optical drives is clearly decreasing. One poster said this means it will be business only. Not so. Every piece of software I've added in the last 18 months has been a download. Ditto every piece of video (including non-downloads like YouTube). Number of times I've put a CD or DVD in my iBook while away from home: ZERO. I only use it at home for major software installs or to rip CD's and those things are best done at home if possible anyway.
Only businessmen/pros take printers or scanners with them when they lug their laptops. A cheap external CD/DVD/?HD will become just another non-travel essential peripheral left with those boat anchors at home, and would meet the needs of a rapidly growing percentage of computer users. A more pricey portable drive about the weight of two MacPro power bricks would handle most of the rest.
And the rest can buy heavier notebooks with aging tech if they need it. I think this would be a hot seller, especially it has that Apple Industrial Design touch and maybe does one or two new flashy tricks.
It's actually the most likely new Mac I would personally buy, since I have trouble lugging around the number of pounds of gear I have now, and 2 pounds less and having to plug in a drive now and then sounds like a GREAT trade-off to me.
Plus Apple's playing to a thin and light marketing scheme in many of their latest offerings. People wouldn't line up for a week as for the iPhone, but as a status geegaw, plenty of early adopters would like to the be the first at their Starbucks to show off this new lithe metal-clad techno fetish object. And would be the first computer from Apple in years to generate independent press buzz.
And as other posters have pointed out, even if it didn't appeal to the "whole spectrum," (though I think it would to 90% or more), your tendency to purchase media content through iTunes would be increased since you have to plug in your drive to rip, and some would forego having a drive to plug-in, and that would cover the difference.
So not the way of the Dodos for optical for awhile, but more like your cat. You spend time with it, but you don't take it to the coffeeshop or on the plane with you.
Bring this machine on, Apple -- but if it's a toy testbed with 32 GB of flash storage (or a slower processor than a mini), count me out -- that's still two powers of two too small, and thus about two-three years out as NAND capacity/price ratios keep increasing. Call it a nanobook if you want to (or bring one out with a 8-9 inch screen, 32 GB of flash and some touch features), but keep the steak (robust storage) WITH the sizzle in this machine if you make it.