You’re All Wrong: It’s The iPod Air!
I just don’t give a damn how many people repeat this stupid rumor about a “MacBook Touch.”
You. Are. All. W.r.o.n.g.!
What planet are you people living on that you think Apple is suddenly going to develop a touchscreened notebook at a price point that’s going to impact their future earnings?! Has Apple suddenly become a charity?
Asus had problems delivering a $199 subnotebook! The price creep on the Asus EeePC is such that it now bumps up against the price of low-end full-size notebooks. That nearly puts portability back where it was to begin with: at a premium price! And, hello McFly! The EeePC has no touchscreen.
You all really think that Apple’s code genii have been busy overhauling a desktop OS to be finger-friendly?
They already have a finger-friendly OS: the iPhone OS!
I’ve seen the SpyMac image. It’s a crock.
The OS is not optimized in any way for fingertip selection either in menus or the file selector. It looks like what Microsoft would envision a MacBook Touch to be.
People with intact memories will recall a more convincing fake image that circulated before the MacBook Air was finally introduced:
And what did Apple actually release? Something with absolutely no resemblance to that.
There have been plausible image leaks in the past. The iPod Nano got leaked.
But if any of you are expecting the iPod Air to be leaked, don’t hold your breath. Apple just extended the NDA on the iPhone OS SDK. That means any developer who leaks about upcoming device resolution independence features — the key point that would reveal an iPod Air — will be toast.
And when the iPod Air is finally released, remember that all of you read about it here first.
And, baby, I own iPodAir over here at WordPress. So stand by for action.
Previously here:
The Reasons Why eBooks Are Next For Apple
It’s NOT Lower Prices, You Eejits! It’s iPod Air!
And So The iPod Air Is Coming After All!
iPod Air: See You In September?
No iPod Air Next Week
The iPod Air Will Be Better …
What’s This? iPod Air Next Month?
Future iPods: Piper Jaffray’s Blind Spot
For The Record: Apple and eBooks
Is Apple’s Tablet The iPod Air?
Mike Cane 2008 
July 26, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Naaah. It’s the Macbook Air revision. No major changes to format, but an increase in drive sizes with an emphasis on making the SSD version usable and both versions much more affordable. Given the number of first editions that Apple has sold, a big cut in the Macbook Air price will cut into the profit margin hence the warning. It also fits with the “We have introduced new tech, now we want to cut the price to close out the competition” mantra. Apple are well placed to do this because of their purchasing power.
July 26, 2008 at 2:00 pm
You’re losing your grip, Mike.
July 26, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Me thinks you’re right on the money! China’s masses want a cheap internet client for better surfing and networking than is available with the iPhone. Sure, the iPhone will sell well with the tens of millions of middle class Yuppies; but it’s the bigger market that needs an affordable appliance that’s also portable.
While Apple has spent a lot on interface research with numerous “touch” patents, it’s not likely to supplant the current OS for standard desktop use. Track pads can add touch features as been seen. What might be developed regarding the mouse is a guessing game. It’s likely that Apple has enough on their plate to attempt to revolutionize the desktop interface with all the risks associated with such a move.
July 26, 2008 at 2:18 pm
@ eric: No.
@ zato: You’ll eat those words when it appears.
@ Robert B: I wasn’t thinking of China at all, but you have the gist: the bigger market. The market that Intel has foolishly thinking it can create with the Linux-based Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) which already have FAIL written all over them.
July 26, 2008 at 8:00 pm
The “iPhone OS” is the same OS X as the Mac uses, with a different “Finder.app” (aka “Graphical Command Interpreter and File Manager”) that exchanges the keyboard/mouse paradigm for a “naked finger” paradigm, but underneath it’s still Core Animation, Core Audio, Quicktime, OpenGL, etc.
The “Cocoa Touch” API (Application Programming Interface) allows different user interactions to express machine commands – but the commands are good old OS X.
I believe the iPhone and iPod Touch are the “prototypes” for this new gesture language.
I also believe that an Apple Tablet will cost as much or more than a Macbook Air, and it too will ship without an optical drive.
July 27, 2008 at 7:38 am
Mike,
I agree. The iPod has to change from a music player to something else, like it already has with the Touch. But the Touch is already here: email, Internet, apps, music…what else other than price needs to change? It is already a perfect device and it trounces the Zune it left behind.
So what is so different about the “iPod Air” compared to the iPod Touch?
July 27, 2008 at 8:39 am
>>>I also believe that an Apple Tablet will cost as much or more than a Macbook Air, and it too will ship without an optical drive.
That price point would not be attractive and would not cause lines to form for it. Nor would it impact future earnings negatively.
>>>So what is so different about the “iPod Air” compared to the iPod Touch?
Larger screen, Bluetooth keyboard, possibly better-than-iPhone camera (probably dual cams!), bundled built-in iWorks suite, Apple eBook software. All at a price that will cannibalize low-end MacBook sales. The first true Cloud Computing device that *everyone* will want. Even Asus will be startled by the sales volume. Hence the negative earnings impact.
July 27, 2008 at 9:17 am
With the OS 2.0, my iTouch is pretty much an “iPod Air”. Yes, it can be improved and expanded on, but even lowering the price on this single product would not effect Apple’s margins in the way indicated. I think “product transition” in the framework that was presented can only mean offering reasonably priced flash drives in ALL laptop computers and killing the hard drive. Remember the floppy drive?
IMHO
July 27, 2008 at 9:44 am
Hard to convince people to give up 250MB hard drives for lower-capacity Flash. Doing that, however, would negatively impact earnings, so I grant you a half point here. Might also qualify as a product transition, but I don’t think so, so just the half point.
July 27, 2008 at 9:53 am
Apple has the purchasing leverage to make the price attractive. Why do we need 250 GB storage? Boated software. Music Libraries. Video downloads. That’s where Mobile Me comes in. Selective syncing (like iTunes to your iPod) would reduce the need for as much mass storage on your laptop. 80 GB should be fine for most people’s day to day activities. Is for mine. Leave your LP archive and son’s football vids on Mobile Me for another day. It’s inevitable that laptops WILL migrate to flash only, just a matter of when. I think Apple says now.
July 27, 2008 at 11:48 am
I think you are right and wrong. That Apple is working towards a device between the iPhone and the Air is pretty much a given. Good call. However, the transition will likely be from HDs to solid state drives. The competition will not be able to follow because Steve has pretty much tied up most of the supply at a very good price. The recent price drop on the SSD in the Air increased adoption sufficiently to justify the resulting decreased margins. Think: the death of the floppy.
I’m looking forward to the iPod Air (hate the name BTW.) If the SSds appear only in laptops it won’t affect me as I hate laptops because of the touchpads. Side note: What would be the purpose of a MacBook Touch as you already have a yucky touchpad on the bloody thing? Fingerprints on you screen? Seems like a silly purpose to add all that cost.
July 27, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Yeah, I’m not keen on the iPod Air name myself, but I can’t see Apple wasting the Air trademark. Personally, I favor iPod Sky or iPod Cloud. (Oops, there goes the WordPress domains for those! Just grabbed them.)
July 27, 2008 at 1:56 pm
I don’t think any of what’s discussed here qualifies as a product “transition”. Just a little bit different form factor. OSX for PeeCee’s would be a transition.
July 27, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Lower prices for the iPod touch. Larger GB flash memory. Transitioning entire iPod family to touch except shuffle.
July 27, 2008 at 3:35 pm
@zato:
@Partners:
Has to be more than that.
July 27, 2008 at 7:08 pm
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