Miss #10: MacBook Air

Coolness Factor – 10

Usefulness – 3

While the Macbook Air might not have an optical drive and only one USB port, I wouldn’t call it a miss. For people who travel all the time and would like to carry a lighter computer, this baby is a gem.

It’s useful for lugging between classes, where I typically don’t need an optical drive and a massive MacBook.

Sorry, but I came across this blog on CNN. At first, it seemed pretty cool… but now I realize that there’s nothing more than monkeys making this stuff up.

Whoa! Just when I thought this is not going to get worse, they call it MBA a miss? I guess whoever wrote this article, could not afford it. Is it envy that speaks through you or is it $15k that M$ hands over to some writers?

If Apple made a netbook this thin they’d have (another) license to print money, esp since netbooks are by definition underpowered.

To include the MacBook Air as a “miss” indicates a lack of understanding as to the market segment that the MacBook Air caters to. The business executive or the frequent business traveler this small laptop wonder is godsend. For this market segment, having no optical drive or only one USB port is perfect for the task at hand.

Wow…The Fanboy Force is strong in this slideshow.

Wow, looks like to some people who commented, Apple has never made a bad product

I own 7 Apple products, but I’m not blind to their misses. The Air wasn’t a miss until netbooks became popular. Now you can get a netbook with comparable capabilities for 25% the cost of the Air. I use my Macbook for home/leisure, but my netbook goes to school with me. On the other hand, netbooks are PC’s and therefore less reliable than Mac. If an occasional freeze doesn’t bother you, save your money and go with a netbook.

Whoever made up this list of misses was trying REALLY hard. The MacBook Air is not a miss. It’s just a very niche product. It’s not designed to be one’s primary computer (although it certainly could be). It’s meant for people who value size, weight, and portability over all else. Nothing compares. Sure, you can get a cheap netbook. And then you have…a cheap netbook, not a Mac! Need an optical drive? You can buy a USB add-on for $99, or use any other Mac’s optical drive via Remote Disc sharing. One USB port? Big deal. Plug in a hub. Solved. I wonder if the person who made up this list even understands technology? New to this site and it’s pretty lame.

OMG how can they say this is a Miss.. i mean Apple can DO NO WRONG… next thing you know they’ll say the Apple Iturd was a miss even though it was way ahead of its time with its peanut/corn interface and your choice of color (brown, greenish brown, and WTF red).

How can the macbook air be used for business. There isn’t any software for it. I couldn’t use it for one business function.

snowskiman, it’s called Boot Camp. Any Intel Mac can run virtually all of the PC software out there. Plus the thousands of applications for the Mac. You really need to get out of the 90s. P.S. you can right click with a Mac mouse as well. That’s the next biggest myth out there.

And, more on topic. I love the Air. Beautifully designed and easy to carry around.

Some of these products are certainly misses, especially in terms of usefulness. The Mac TV, the hockey puck mouse, the Apple TV. However, I think that the MacBook Air is a great computer, the only really reliable and fashionable computer that is under that weight threshold. At least it’s far more cost-efficient than Dell’s Adamo. When it first arrived, the Air was nothing if not impractical, but I think it qualifies as a decent computer now.

total miss. skinny, fashionable, but not functional, over priced netbook for prima donnas and label whores.

and before you fanboys get your panties in a knot, i use both apple and pc products. i just know garbage when i see it.

Meh, it’s a design concept. You can tell they used what they learned about making thin computers into the iPad.

So a miss market-wise, but an innovation nonetheless.

hahah, I am loving some of the responses to your entries, Peter. Apparently you are a monkey who makes stuff up on a crappy site. You probably throw your own feces, too.

relax people, its a blog and commentary, not journalism.

I don’t think the MacBook Air is a miss but more of a miss understood product. I think it’s main use is for more for leisure and just to have fun and not for business use or for much productivity. I think they could have made it a lot better preferably more USB ports but to impress your piers and just to have fun I think it is a great innovation.

Depends upon how you define miss. This product generated a lot interest in Apple. It is expensive but it sure looks cool, to this day. The Air got me looking at apple laptops and ended up with a MacBook Pro and got me off Windows. While I will not so far as saying the Air sold me on Apple or the MacBook it did provide a positive image of innovation. The people I know that have an Air really like them.

actually my office has a few of these and everyone loves them.

Sure why would spend less to get a smaller Mac with an optical drive when you can get this model for more?

Boy, these Techland guys sure are dumb!

Well, my MacBook has an optical drive, so what? Wish I could remember last time I needed it. I’d gladly use this thin and light “miss”. One USB port is also enough in most situations if you use trackpad or a wireless mouse. But, yeah, the price is a bit overwhelming.

The macbook air is a concept, it is not a miss – yes expensive and over priced (compared to say the dell equivalent) but a miss no.

But I do agree – one USB come on what the heck where they thinking!!!!