I feel like someone 6 months into a strict Jenny Craig diet who can’t stop thinking about a $3,000 box of Kispy Kreme Doughnuts. It would make absolutely no sense to eat these doughnuts, let alone buy them. I don’t need them, I have a perfect meal right here, but I can’t stop thinking about them. Personally, I have absolutely no use for a computer such as the Macbook Air with so many physical limitations. It doesn’t have an optical disc drive (I’m installing component drivers all the time). It doesn’t have firewire ports (I’m neurotically backing up data all day long). It only has one USB port. The battery isn’t swappable (so you can’t carry around an extra battery while you travel). Unless you opt for the $3,000+ SSD version of the Air, your hard drive is going to spin at a lousy 4,200 rpm. Which means you better love beach balls. The screen resolution is only 1280-by-800. Let’s face it, these are some lousy specs any way you look at them. But I want, want, want, a Macbook Air. Even though they’ve been shipping for nearly 6 months now, I’m still considering irrationally buying one of these machines.
My current notebook is a Penryn based Macbook Pro, purchased after my Powerbook G4 was stolen by Steve Ballmer. I keep the Macbook Pro in perfect sync with my primary machine at the office, which is also a mac. The Macbook Pro is definitely one serious piece of hardware; The screen real estate is generous, the performance and overall speed is astonishing, it’s reliable, trustworthy and very responsive. But I can’t stop thinking about the Macbook Air, like a forbidden mistress. Daily, I find myself trying to justify purchasing the Macbook Air, but I just can’t go through with it. I scour eBay trying to see how much my exact model Macbook Pro is fetching, and ponder putting it up for auction… “Let’s see, Penryn based 15″ Macbook Pro. 2.6 GHZ with 3 years of Applecare should get me $2,200 if I’m really lucky.” If my numbers are right I’m still at least $800 short of the Macbook Air that I would want, or would even consider buying. One word… insane.
The thing is, the Macbook Air air is just sooo sexy. I find myself (as shallow as it sounds) lusting over this thin beauty. I may sound like the fanboyest of fanboys here, but there’s no denying the sheer design quality of the Air. It’s light-weight, the keyboard is perfect (combining the Macbook’s keyboard and the Macbook Pro’s backlit keys), the screen is full-size, there’s an SSD option, a large multi-touch trackpad and it’s just so damn attractive.
Can I justify buying a Macbook Air? Are any of you reading this post on your Macbook Air? If so, please let me know how you’ve adjusted to life with no optical disc drive and one USB port. My common sense speaks louder to me than my raw desire to max out my credit card and buy a Macbook Air. But it’s very, very tempting. If anything, I’d like to see what Apple offers up in the next Macbook Air refresh, perhaps I’ll splurge then.
2 Comments to “Me and the Macbook Air. Like Jenny Craig and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.”
Really, at this point, if you want one so bad. You should just buy one.
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Okay Greg, if you split the cost with me, I’ll write all about it and tell you how it is
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