Next they should trim the keyboard, monitor, battery, touchpad, and everything else except the Apple logo, since that's really all that matters anyway. Then you'll be able to travel really light.
I am all for portability but there comes a point where you start trimming essential functions. I'm not saying every laptop needs to have a SCSI port, but ONE connector?! I thought Apple was bad before with two USB slots and mini-DP. My Thinkpad Yoga, which I bought specifically for portability, manages to have 2 USB connectors, HDMI, built-in SD card reader, and other useful peripherals onboard, and yes, I do actually use these.
I think MacBooks are cool but I always find myself unable to use them for serious work. If I was a casual computer user that just needed to update Facebook once in a while, they'd probably be fine, but every time I've tried something more serious than that with one, I've ended up on a non-Apple product because why torture myself over fashion?
I suppose it depends on how you define "essential", or perhaps "serious work".
Granted, most of what I do with my MBP is modern full-stack stuff, which I gather doesn't qualify as "serious" even if it does make me a good living. But I don't see how the type and number of ports on my laptop would make much difference if I were, say, writing Linux kernel modules for hardware nobody uses, or building a window manager in Haskell, or whatever the current definition of "serious" is among those who put so much weight on the term. I need to plug in a real keyboard; all else is commentary. (And who does embedded away from home, anyway? There's too much you need besides the computer, unless you're targeting an emulator, in which case what need have you of physical ports?)
But, hey, it's always easier to feel superior than it is to see the other guy's point of view.
cookiecaper|11 years ago
I am all for portability but there comes a point where you start trimming essential functions. I'm not saying every laptop needs to have a SCSI port, but ONE connector?! I thought Apple was bad before with two USB slots and mini-DP. My Thinkpad Yoga, which I bought specifically for portability, manages to have 2 USB connectors, HDMI, built-in SD card reader, and other useful peripherals onboard, and yes, I do actually use these.
I think MacBooks are cool but I always find myself unable to use them for serious work. If I was a casual computer user that just needed to update Facebook once in a while, they'd probably be fine, but every time I've tried something more serious than that with one, I've ended up on a non-Apple product because why torture myself over fashion?
titanomachy|11 years ago
Hey, I have one of these... it's called an iPod shuffle.
aaronem|11 years ago
Granted, most of what I do with my MBP is modern full-stack stuff, which I gather doesn't qualify as "serious" even if it does make me a good living. But I don't see how the type and number of ports on my laptop would make much difference if I were, say, writing Linux kernel modules for hardware nobody uses, or building a window manager in Haskell, or whatever the current definition of "serious" is among those who put so much weight on the term. I need to plug in a real keyboard; all else is commentary. (And who does embedded away from home, anyway? There's too much you need besides the computer, unless you're targeting an emulator, in which case what need have you of physical ports?)
But, hey, it's always easier to feel superior than it is to see the other guy's point of view.
bbatchelder|11 years ago
Congratulations, you've identified the target market for the new MacBook.