Someone thought the design decisions of the new MacBook were so silly that a parody youtube was in order: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHZ8ek-6ccc
Don’t get me wrong. It’s funny. However the arguments are all silly to begin with:
- One USB port is not enough. It’s a bad tradeoff.
- The processor is too slow.
- It’s an overpriced netbook
- A 480P front facing video camera is weak sauce. It’s there so they can cut costs and increase profits.
The first argument is the biggest feature of the new MacBook that most people will be turned off by simply because it’s so different than what they’re used too. It also might not be the best choice depending on your use case, but for me it’s perfect.
I’m a designer and web developer. When I go into work, I plugin a Magsafe power adapter, a thunderbolt display adapter, and occasionally a USB for ethernet or my iPhone. That’s three things I plug in every morning. With this new MacBook that number goes down to one assuming I just leave everything plugged in. Granted plugging in three cords isn’t burdensome, but I’ll take one over three any day of the week.
Maybe you use your HDMI and SD slots a bunch, but I don’t. If you do maybe this computer isn’t for you, but it is for me. Change is tough when you don’t want to change, and Apple has other computers you can buy.
The second argument is that the processor is too slow. This is a valid argument if you’re doing a lot of computationally intensive tasks. However, if you’re like me writing client side JavaScript, this is probably a non-issue. For me I have a preference for longer battery life over processing speed – and I think a lot of other people are in this camp with me. You’re probably not one of them.
The third argument is that this is an over priced netbook. Have you ever used a netbook? Seriously the 11” air is closer to a netbook than this — and it’s really not a netbook. Compare the size of the keyboard and trackpad of this new MacBook to any netbook and you might understand what I’m talking about. They’re in completely different leagues. Netbooks feel like toys. Cheap toys.
The last one is a low blow. A 480P camera! Oh the outrage. I don’t know what Apple’s profit margins are, but to assume they’re using this camera just to increase profits is a stretch. Instead I think they’re focused on increasing profits by selling a gold watch and just keeping this new MacBook’s price as low as they can while still maintaining their margins. They realize front-facing cameras are not a feature people shop for when looking for a new notebook. At least I don’t. It’s never once been a factor in any of my computer or phone purchases.
To recap I think all of these arguments are silly and invalid because they’re made from the perspective of a person that this computer isn’t built for: Someone that doesn’t understand the difference between a Macbook and a netbook, loves plugging stuff in, and makes purchasing decisions for mobile computers based on processor speed and front-facing cameras.
If you agree with those arguments, then obviously that computer wasn’t designed for you.
UPDATE: I can honestly say that I have never seen a more impressive piece of computer hardware. This new MacBook feels like the future, even if it’s a bit on the slow side.
What do you think about using this for front end web development? I will be developing/editing Genesis child themes for WordPress, but not doing any graphic/ video design or editing or using programs such as Photoshop (Ill have to deal with the final images that I have created for me, when building the website, but I wont be doing the creation/editing of the actual images). From what I know so far, I’ll Mainly dealing with html, css, php, maybe some javascript.
Do you think the processor will be powerful enough to just run a local dev environment with mamp, run programs like sublime text, filezilla, codekit, etc. Can you think of other programs I might be missing that would be beneficial for what I want to get into?
Sorry if this is a stupid questions, but Im just learning the ropes of web development right now, so i’m not really sure if this will do the trick for me. If
Thanks a lot, hope to hear back soon
Hey Kevin. Yes I think it will be fast enough for your use case, but as far as I know there aren’t any benchmarks on it yet so it’s tough to compare it to a Macbook Air or Pro until it hits the shelves.
It seems like think you’re on the right track as far as programs go. Personally I use Transmit for FTP, though I generally avoid it if I can by using Git or Capistrano for deployment. If you end up doing a bunch of WordPress stuff you might want to check out Varying Vagrants.
Thanks for reading!