There's nothing quite like hearing a group of network talk-show hosts heaping praise on a piece of technology they barely understand to jumpstart your day. We think you'll agree that listening to Matt Lauer loudly declare "It's awesome!" and watching Meredith "
You're blowing the whole schtick" Viera vigorously mime licking the new MacBook Air is pretty wretch-inducing stuff -- though Al Roker informing us that if you want the SSD, you'll only have to pay "a little bit more," was definitely one toke over the line. Thanks for ruining our breakfast guys. Every breakfast.
Watch the video after the break. We've included the crew's earlier encounter with the iPhone just in case you needed your memory jogged.
posted January 26th 2008 4:05AM
To Negroponte:
You can take a look at the specs for the MacBook Air before you buy it just as easily as you can for your microwave (if not easier, there's fewer models to investigate). The question is...how much is your time worth? If it takes you an hour to figure out the MacBook Air is-or is not-for you, that's an hour you might spend working, and making money, far more money than the cost of the MacBook Air.
Also, the Today Show is not a technology blog. They went over the basics during a very brief segment which was more a segway to commercial. Their viewership is the general public. Engadget obviously appeals to a far more technologically sophisticated audience. Please don't compare apples (no pun intended) and oranges.
don't be too harsh guys, they got it pretty accurate for non-tech people. remember the audience they are appealing to on their show, not geeks, just average consumers. so for that they got it close enough...no internal dvd, needs external, no ethernet, wireless, only 1 usb, needs a hub, the ssd bumps the price a bit (but also said over 3000 later on), it's 3 lbs, has a full size keyboard and large screen compared to other sub-notebooks...close enough, hell, it's more info than my mom would use to buy a computer.
I agree with you for the most part, but the only problem I have with their Cliff Notes version of the MBA's is he said it cannot play DVDs. I know this might sound stupid, but he should've said it cannot play CDs or DVDs, which is more accurate. Many people can forgo a DVD player on a laptop--I can. It just made it sound like it doesn't have a DVD player, a mostly novelty feature, versus it's not being able to play any type of disc (without the attachment) which is certainly not novelty; I use CDs to install stuff on my computers all the time.
Also, the justification for not including an optical drive was because most of the things on CDs can be downloaded on the Internet, which is true. It seems like they forgot, however, that an optical drive can also write files to a disc--and I don't want to hear people have flash drives for that because the Engadget post shows how "easy" flash drive use is on this thing. Given the MBA's limited memory, how much downloading do they think this machine can do?
But, then again, if you drop $1,800/3,000 on this thing, I hope you know what you're getting yourself into.
Caveat emptor.
Yes they certainly did; http://www.flickr.com/photos/83512992@N00/663014504
Drool, lick and gush says it all about the MBA. Let me know when Apple makes a computing device that fits in a normal first class letter envelope.
You mean, like, an iPhone? That runs OS X? And fits inside of a first class envelope?
My goodness! You just outlined the commercial for the new 3G iPhone. You're a marketing genius. Report to Cupertino headquarters tomorrow and use the back entrance marked Custodial Services. We'll be running Apple in no time at all.
it's called an iPhone
Can anyone say, Olivia Munn?
NBC hit upon a great idea. I think that lickability or tasting of computer devices would be a great benchmark to help push computer sales. Clock speed has become passe. How about flavors? Imagine computers that come in, daresay, multiple flavors so when you lick them you get a quick burst of flavorful goodness.
Homer Simpson would definitely buy a few donut-flavored computers. Yeh, I'm sure a lot of you would go for a chocalate-flavored MacBook Air. Yup. Blessed with marketing ideas yet for some reason I'm stuck in this janitorial position.
haha these guys are suckers for apple. the fact that the macbook air has a hard drive from an ipod is pretty bad and slow. 4200 rpm?! are you fucking joking?! nobody can get away with putting that kind of tech on sale in a laptop. unless they dress it up in a shiney case... oh wait, the have.
I wouldn't cry if all of them died in a house fire.
...I'm really taken back by this writers hostile position on this...I've watched this segment 3 times now and I'm actually impressed by their knowledge.
As these people have to be 'on the spot' every day, and know something about everything in the world, I'm impressed.
I would love to see this silly writer have to be a national TV host....instead of sitting behind a keyboard throwing out jabs...
You're an idiot.
Of course you can upgrade the drive later, its not like apple glued it in there with kitten testicles. But of course you guys aren't upset that they said something was a con, you're only upset about the things they said that were pro-MBA.
Wait, I'm confused, are you saying kitten testicles are a good adhesive?
Wow, I just read over that after I posted it, that's got to be the oddest post I've ever made.
Aww, that's so cute! So she thinks it's food? That's okay, a lot African kids still think the XO is a hat!
definitively that are technological products that are to our reach, but the majority has excessively high prices, and all we cannot acquire them!
What is your native language?
Did you use Google Translator to make that post?
At least the Today show knew for the most part what they were talking about. Did anybody see when the introduced the MacBook Air on Good Morning America!? It was horrible! They knew absolutely nothing and just kind of giggled that it's small and light and then started talking about some new hair dryer product.
MacBook Air = iToad
So let me get this straight, you guys are upset that a show like Today Show or Good Morning America did a bad tech review? Oh noes, Al Roker didn't know that it had integrated graphics. Bwahaha
I don't want to disagree with anyone here, but I am somewhat into Meredith. In a way older lady kind of way.
Is this The Today Show or one of those product advertising channels?
man, she didn't like it. nothing to see here.
Oh yeah? We'll I have a 19" Laptop, weights 19lbs and has a removeable battery! ah ha! How come we don't prise the company that makes a laptop too?
I don't have a laptop, I'm just wondering why everyone thinks Apple keeps setting bars. They are not.
Hey the only women I want to see licking gadgets are Olivia Munn or some other hot person.
And I don't want them to be licking the MBA. Maybe the iPhone, though. Everyone knows it's not the length, it's the thickness.
They've got their facts all wrong. 1st, its a 64GB SSD not 60GB & its a mercury-free LED display, not LCD.
Embarrassing. You have just been out geeked by Matt Lauer . It is an LCD display. LED is simply what provides the backlighting. So it is an TFT LCD display with LED backlighting.
Reason 5,612 I no longer watch the today show.
Don't be such drama queens, she didn't really even lick it.
@Joshua: Don't post before you had coffee.
The segment wasn't bad, and definitely not wretch-inducing, at least not if you are _already_ watching the _today show_.
its a shame that it comes with less Styrofoam that means ill have less napalm to set these idiots on fire, and no moving parts? THE FAN IS A MOVING PART IDIOT.
Oh...the horror~
Many here take such pleasure in slamming this device on its feature set but is it really so irrational for people to value something compact? Many out there see computers as a burden that has been imposed on them - they want the benefits but they'd rather not have this bulky thing to carry around. Just think that Ann Curry does not have a laptop, she probably needs one but as she said does not want to carry it around. This might be a great device for someone like that.
The thing that is amazing about the Air is that when open its totally usable, comfortable, when closed its barely there. So, yes, there are probably a lot of people out there who don't depend on having a super drive, they don't burn backup dvds on the road but want to check their email, look at the web etc. The air would be great for them - I don't think that makes them stupid or this bad technology.
Indeed perhaps they are smarter. They are paying for an aspect of a device which they actually value and which benefits them. They wanted less to carry and they got it. I on the other hand paid for a portable with a Firewire 800 port I have never used. My laptop has a PC card slot that is absolutely virginal. A mic input, never touched. Yet you all approve of carrying around all that junk - its techy - someone else out there needs it so its "worth it". Its kind of silly. Maybe its better to buy something stripped down to just what you need and see how it goes? Maybe we all don't need as much as we think we do? We don't have to be so much about showing off some really pointless feature. Something extremely thin and light that still allows us to work comfortably might not be that bad?
The other thing is that we may find over the next few years we don't need all the junk in other laptops as much as we think we do. Even today, I don't use usb that much, one port is fine. I sync my iPhone, thats most of it. And in time that iPhone will use wireless for syncing. I don't burn or play disks that much either. I can download movies and shows, delete them, no disk was harmed in the process. In terms of 3G - could be our next gen iPhone has wireless modem functionality - so no need in the laptop. One bill to pay, etc. That would be better.
...take your pills.
She can "lick my mackbook" and "blow my schtick" any day.
Dude: "wretch"; "retch": two different words.
oh woohoohooo