One thing I can’t believe is one podcast I listen to actually said he hated the screen and the keyboard on all Macs. I have never heard someone say stuff that negative about a Apple product unless they were staunch open source or anti DRM guys. I have always been impressed by the Apple Hardware. It’s built to take a beating plus Apple doesn’t do asinine things like have a “Consumer” line and a “Business” line.

I think the big difference is that Apple doesn’t offer a $500 notebook, for example, so it looks like everything is much more expensive than it really is. The mini is just fine when compared to similarly configured machines, but even the mini isn’t really at the low-end of the device scale – pricewise or configuration-wise.

Personally, I think it would be bad for Apple to try to offer lower-end product – just like it was bad for Mercedes to think it would acquire Chrysler to gain low-end market share. They have a reputation for solid product and they want to protect that. Additionally, their marketshare continues to grow despite not having a truly low-end machine.

In the low end of the market you make less on the equipment and your support costs (and likelihood of requiring support) go up. It can become like the guys who made widgets at a cost of $1 a piece, sold them for 99 cents each but planned to make up the difference in volume. I’m not sure those extra sales are worth it. If I were Apple, I’d just keep moving forward with their current rep as a premium player.

I also think that Apple is correct in resisting a clone market. People think it’s because Apple doesn’t want to open things up, but I think it’s really for the same reasons I mention above. If you allow or even encourage a clone market openly, then you are also owning some of the support issues/costs. I don’t think that is in Apple’s best interest or really anyone’s interest. You will trade stability for price.

There is a counter-argument states that the open-source nature of the underpinnings will allow for better support, but open-source projects only work well when there is strong support for the project (like Firefox or OpenOffice, or some of the bigger Linux offerings). They work less well when the project is only a niche, like a Linux driver for a specific off-brand model of DVD player. In that case, you tend to be reliant on the commercial market for your answers. I’m afraid this is more of a niche market and will suffer from support issues as people try to buy these boxes, leaving a bad taste that people will likely blame Apple for, because most people won’t understand that it’s not Apple’s support issue.

So I really don’t see the clone market as being a positive thing, lower prices or no.

Honestly, I am very pleased with my decision. I get a solid OS that crashes very infrequently, everything just works seemlessly together so I spend less time trying to fix problems, and I also get fantastic hardware that is uber-thin and looks amazing.

Might cost more than a similar Dell, but the Dell would be twice as thick and look like it belongs in a cubical.

The old saying “if it sounds too good…” is repeatedly ringing in my head.

Until I see photos and a review up at a reputable web site – I’m totally reserving any judgement on this at all..

I am also really disappointed that the Air isn’t a ultra cheap machine. Apple needs a cheaper machine. The Mac Mini ain’t as cheap anymore when you compare it to the prices of machines like the gPC. Sure, it’s more machine than a gPC, but it’s probably going to have a similar usage pattern.

I think Apple better come up with something in the ultra low cost realm quick as these machines are getting more capable and cheaper every day.