I want to cut on Air in the water

Woo Hoo! Design sex during a recession!

I think it'll float in my pool. I'll get one of those floating chairs and cut in my pool. Yeah. Sip mint juleps.

Overpriced by $350.00, IMHO. But lovely... very lovely.

- Loren
Today's FCP keytip:
Instantly find Next/Previous timeline Gaps with Shift/Option -G !

Final Cut Studio 2 KeyGuide? Power Pack.
Now available at KeyGuide Central.
www.neotrondesign.com

Yeah... I'm kind of bummed they didn't update the Mac Book Pros... Now they seem so large and crazy.

Any rumors of what the big announcement tomorrow will be?

Yikes...13.3 inches to cut on? Trendy piece of fluff at best. School kids will go ape-sh*t 4 this, though. Pro circuit...I don't see many of these in Post Production...just with the trendy folks that have to have all the new technology as soon as it comes out.

Hey Benny...have you ordered yours yet

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

I want 13.3" MacBookPro to INGEST on. I need that Express slot for 10x transfer from my Sony PMW-EX1 in the field. This would also allow an assistant to show clips to a client while I'm I continue shooting on the next card. I wouldn't use 13.3" to cut an HD project on but it might be OK for a quick rough cut in the field so a client can see we've got the coverage needed.

Alas, Air is more style than practical unless one needs to travel really light.

$1800.00 for a laptop with no optical drive, a small hard drive, no FireWire, No Express Card slot and one USB port? Oh brother. I love Apple, love all of my Apple products but this is not a good foreteller of what is to come from Apple.

I like minimalist, but this is just dumb. If it were $999.00, sure great, a cool e-mail and web browsing computer but starting at $1,800.00??

Not a good sign.

Dan

Smaller doesn't necessarily mean cheaper.

People claimed the iPhone was overpriced too, and look what happened. I bet they sell a gazillion of these.

_______________________________________
SCQT! Self-contained QuickTime ? pass it on!

Yep they will sell heaps (I've already had 10 calls this morning) but I don't think it will be to any of us.

I'm dissapointed - Im sure its sexy, but its still ain't a replacement for the 12inch PB...

This wont work for us but when you see it and hold it you understand the price. You are paying for art more than anything. It is sexy. I really like it.

No firewire? RAM soldered to the motherboard? What is this thing for? Apart from looking beautiful, of course. I guess a nice travel version .. like a large PDA?

exactly, this is Apple trying to get in the business set, just like the iPhone. I'm sure they will do gloriously....

I'm hoping for something substantial for us at NAB...

=S=

Jude Cotter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> No firewire? RAM soldered to the motherboard? What
> is this thing for?

Its for my wife! She is going to love it ... if she can prise it from my cold dead fingers.

12 orders so far, and of course, no one here in Australia has actually seen one!

If they keep selling at this rate, I'm gonna have to get one to show off....

John K Wrote:
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> Smaller doesn't necessarily mean cheaper.
>
> People claimed the iPhone was overpriced too, and
> look what happened.

Ya, they lowered the price and gave rebates to those who overpaid in the first place.

Micheal, I own an art gallery, I'd be happy to sell you that "piece of" art for $2800, framed and sandwiched between two pieces of Plexiglas so your friends can admire how thin it is.

Are there anything announcements of note regarding the professional aps. Maybe something useful like they're going to support Blu-Ray or finally releasing FCP Server?

Quote
Ya, they lowered the price and gave rebates to those who overpaid in the first place.

I was going to say "they sold a lot of them anyway."

They've sold 4 million since it was launched.

Certainly better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick but not a knock it out of the park home run.

Also after the marginal introduction of Apple TV they lowered the price, about the only thing the Macbook Air appears to be good for is iTunes and try t get us to purchase a Time Capsule [since there's no FW]

I hope there was more announced at the user group than this...

4 million units in 200 days? I'd like a piece of that 'not a home run' action. That's 20,000 a day, every day, of a unit that most people claim is too expensive (despite it being comparable to any of the other phone/pdas in its class). I don't like phones, but I admire the heck out of the iPhone design.

And of course we're still waiting for the 'one more thing' at this point.

Quote

$1800.00 for a laptop with no optical drive, a small hard drive, no FireWire, No Express Card slot and one USB port?

I like minimalist, but this is just dumb. If it were $999.00, sure great, a cool e-mail and web browsing computer but starting at $1,800.00??

Boy, I am with you, Dan. This is just a giant iPod. Apple's gonna sell a lot of them for sure, but for our needs it definitely fits in the "dumb" catagory (sexy, but useless). Hopefully this release means Apple is making a statement to separate Pro Machines from Consumer machines (which is what this one is) and will concentrate targeting better products for Pros.

...or not.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

That's it; I want to cut on this giant Day The Earth Stood Still iPod.

In MOMA's Design Collection. You know, prop it on its pedestal, if they let me through the velvet ropes...

Seriously, looks like a wonderful email/web/music/video machine, little more. I just don;t think the discretionary income is there this year. I may be wrong.

- Loren
Today's FCP keytip:
Instantly find Next/Previous timeline Gaps with Shift/Option -G !

Final Cut Studio 2 KeyGuide? Power Pack.
Now available at KeyGuide Central.
www.neotrondesign.com

Good call Loren:

Read the headlines. I don't know about all of you, but it looks chillingly like the economy is headed way downhill. Probably not the best time to buy toys right now. I am holding off on an 8" field monitor, $2,000.00 is a lot of disposable income right now.

I guess if people want to buy this. more power to Apple but personally, the value equation is really poor on the Air Book.

Dan

The SuperMeet is not an event for announcements. Its just a big party. So dont expect any announcements

"The SuperMeet is not an event for announcements. Its just a big party. So dont expect any announcements"

Bummer, I was hoping there would be something substantial regarding the pro-aps. Well then have a good time at the party.

Jude, sure I'd like to own a piece of that too, but would you care to guess how many Razors and Chocolate phones have sold during the same period?

I guess success is measured on the size of the park your trying to hit a home run in. Maybe Apples next phone will be called the "juice" or "the performance enhancing phone."

[Apologies to the Aussies for bad baseball humor.]

The tone of a lot of these posts surprises me for some reason. It seems that if it's not remotely useful in a pro application it's somehow dumb? I don't get that.
I think if it's of no use to me, it's, well, of no use to me.
It's only a matter of time before a producer sits behind me and asks if they can use the DVD as a remote disk. I know writers will snap these up and I like the fact that purchasing one would be tantamount to saying I don't want to run any pro apps on my laptop. I still get calls from people trying to run FCP or Logic on basic MacBooks and while it's possible and even feasible it takes some explaining to get them to realize it's not going to be a do-it-all solution.

ak
Sleeplings, AWAKE!

...well said, AK.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Quote
ak
The tone of a lot of these posts surprises me for some reason. It seems that if it's not remotely useful in a pro application it's somehow dumb? I don't get that.
I think if it's of no use to me, it's, well, of no use to me.
It's only a matter of time before a producer sits behind me and asks if they can use the DVD as a remote disk. I know writers will snap these up and I like the fact that purchasing one would be tantamount to saying I don't want to run any pro apps on my laptop. I still get calls from people trying to run FCP or Logic on basic MacBooks and while it's possible and even feasible it takes some explaining to get them to realize it's not going to be a do-it-all solution.

Indeed - well said. I don't think any of us are genuinely trying to be snobby here, but I can see that its coming across this way. I think the majority of us are dissapointed at the lack of a small form factor pro machine like the old 12 inch PBs, and were hoping this was going to be it. Ce la vie....

And FWIW, my well configured MacBook runs FCP and ProTools very well indeed. Its all about expectation - in a strange way, 5 years ago I probably expected my 867 12 inch PB to do more than I expect my Dual 2.16ghz BlackBook to do!

Yep, writers, the cafe set, etc etc are the big winners here - but anything is possible...

> Yep, writers, the cafe set, etc etc are the big winners here - but anything is possible...

Really? Because not only does the thing seem overpriced, a thin laptop would also likely be more fragile. Andrew's point is well taken -- pro-application users are only a small part of the market -- but no DVD drive, yet there's an iSight camera? That makes no sense to me.

I don't know why there's so much obsession with thinner and smaller these days. I had to replace my cell phone around Christmas and made the mistake of buying one of those flip things, a Samsung. Worse cell phone I've ever used.


www.derekmok.com

Thinner/smaller to me is about travel. I'll take thinner/smaller over my 15inch anyday as long as it does what my 15inch macbook pro does now.

I think the thing that's freaking people out is the perception that basic functionality is being lost - like the optical drive, being able to modify the ram, transferring things via firewire and so on. For me it's similar to the time they dropped floppy drives. What? How the hell are we supposed to backup anything without floppies??

I'm calling transitional fear. It's like shenanigans, but with more likelihood of geek fights.

Hi Andrew:

I made the "dumb" remark and I still stand by it. I should clarify that I meant dumb from a value standpoint, not a Pro Apps standpoint. I don't think FCS 2 should work on anything other than MacBook Pros and Mac Pros, hence the "Pro". Pro apps on professional machines and if you can run them on iMacs, MacBooks, etc. great. If not, they weren't designed as professional machines.

My complaint is strictly one based off of the lack of perceived value, I find that the machine is too minimalist and omits items that many of us take for granted in a laptop. I could care less if I could use FCP on it but I do care if I can watch a movie while flying, use existing bus powered FW drives that I own, replace defective RAM, etc.

It really will be interesting to see how this computer sells for Apple. Will it will be a runaway hit and the object of gear lust by Mac fetishists everywhere or if it will only be another undistinguished footnote in Mac history. To me, it's style of substance, which I have never thought Macs were.

Dan

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Jude Cotter
It's like shenanigans, but with more likelihood of geek fights.

I have no idea what that means but it sounds like fun. I envision a geek fight to involve a lot of slapping and scratching.
Sagittarius Fire Horses Unite and put that tape on your glasses, straighten your pocket protector, and sudo periodic daily weekly monthly until the blowhards bloviate themselves hoarse.

ak
Sleeplings, AWAKE!

I couldn't care less about the Macbook Air or the iPhone, what concerns me is Apple's continued shift towards consumer electronics.

If they could do a long overdue re-write of FCP [that would provide the level of integration and scalability that Adobe's CS3 suite provides] so that I can create a more unique look that I can charge more for, release FCP Server so that I can work more efficiently and support Blu-Ray I'd be a happy camper.

It seems that Mr. Jobs is worried more about managing shareholder value than he is about continued development of their pro applications.

I'm not a snob nor am I a blow hard, my comments have more to do with my continued success and how Apple's pro apps might effect that and little if anything to do with how thin a laptop is.

It doesn't help that Apple won't disclose what they're doing in advance so we might be able to plan ahead for equipment purchases and software migration.

But hey, thanks for the "sudo periodic daily weekly monthly" comment. For the lie of me I couldn't remember what that command was...