Recently two new products hit the Irish markets: Firstly the Mac Book Air also known as the world’s thinnest notebook and, secondly the long awaited iPhone. What to make of them? I went into the shops and tried them both out. Here are my thoughts:
1. The Mac Book Air. It’s so thin it will fit in a large envelope. As with all Apple products, design is a big selling point. The screen is beautiful and the keyboard really easy to work with. It shipswith OSX Leopard which is a very attractive OS to use. But I have a problem: The thing contains no optical drive. The idea is that things like software and movies will be downloaded from the internet. If you need to use a disk you need to conduct a laborious procedure of connecting to another PC/Mac. Apple is clearly pointing us toward the future and in years to come the idea of discs may become totally alien for us. But for the time being the internet offers too little choice: Movies can only be downloaded from iTunes, the range of software available as a download is minimal. Conclusion: Small and beautiful but I would rather shell out my cash on the normal MacBook with an optical drive.
2. The iPhone. Why did Apple not release this in Ireland sooner? Many people have now bought it abroad. Again I think that the product is too futuristic. The design and features are very sexy but it’s only available on O2 in one particular price plan. Apple could have made so much more of this. But the handling and the technology itself is sure to beome a standars in the future.
