Dear Steve,
Help me buy a Mac. I’d like to, but you don’t make the one that I want.
I’m already a believer. I began my roundabout career in software on Macs. I learned to run Freehand and Pagemaker like a pro, figured out the Extensions folder, and parlayed that into my first adult freelance consulting gigs. This led to full-time work as a developer, then manager, then architect — all on Windows (and unix).
Until a couple of years ago, I had never bought a computer of my own — my employers had always furnished them. I agonized for a few months, and eventually bought a Dell desktop as a home office computer. It does the job, but I don’t love it. I should have gotten a G5. I forget the exact reason that I didn’t but that’s not the point — now you and I have another chance.
The Thinkpad 600X that I inherited from Lycos is nearing the end of its life. It’s been a good soldier, but it will need to be replaced sometime in the coming months. Since I have a “desktop” PC at home, I only use my laptop heavily when I travel, so I’m looking for a full-featured but very lightweight, slim notebook. A couple of weeks ago I stopped by the Sony store and looked at the lovely little TR5 again: 3lbs, wifi, Bluetooth, DVD-RW, webcam. Very slick. Or one of the newer 2-3lb slim 12 inch machines with no optical drive - I don’t need one when I travel.
Rich convinced me to stop by the Apple store afterwards. I love good design, and the fact that Mac OS is now based on unix makes me want to use it even more. Looking at the 12 inch Powerbook though, I just couldn’t get past a couple of shortcomings. The biggest fault is that the machine weighs 4.5 pounds. Given the raft of 2-3 pound travel machines on the market, 4.5 feels really heavy. If I’m going to spend $2K+ to replace my Thinkpad, I want something really light. I asked the sales guy why you don’t make an ultraslim machine without an optical drive. He said, well, our users want to be able to do video, audio, production, etc on the road. I gently suggested that I was standing there, ready to lay out my money, if only Apple would make a machine for which there is clearly a significant market. I told him about the Sony. He said there are features the Powerbook has that the Sony doesn’t. He’s wrong. He suggested that I write a note to you, Steve.
So, Steve, help me buy a Mac, please! I really want to, but unless you make a slimmed-down notebook (12″, Bluetooth, WiFi, and leave out the optical drive please), I just can’t bring myself to do it. Don’t make the same mistake that Nokia did — their insistence on a no-clamshell philosophy can set them back 2 years.
