That’s my translations of the words of this Apple Spokesman:
When I’m looking at what’s sold in the Netbook market, I see cramped keyboards, junky hardware, very small screens, bad software. Not a consumer experience that we would put the Mac brand on. As it exists today, we’re not interested in it nor would it be something customers would be interested in the long term. We are looking at the space. For those who want a small computer that does browsing/email, they might want an iPhone or iPod Touch. If we find a way to deliver an innovative product that really makes a contribution, we’ll do that
Basically they are repeating what they said about two years ago when they were asked about UMPC. Apple’s Price formula is very simple: Cost + 200% (Minimum) = Price, now take $500 + 200% = $1500. Would you pay 1500 dollars for a netbook? I won’t.
And sorry, the iPhone and iPod could be very good emergency tools for browsing the web but they do not even support flash so I find the comparison with the real navigation experience that you can get using a netbook… Stupid.
Via: GottaBeMobile.com
You, by your logic, you think a MacBook is worth about $333? Show me where you can buy a 2.0 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo 13.3" laptop with 2GB of RAM, 160 GB hard drive, Webcam, WiFi N, Firewire, USB... etc. for $333. You might be able to get a netbook for that price - with a 1.6 Ghz single core mobile ATOM - but not a Core 2 Duo 2.0. And that netbook wouldn't have Firewire, full sized everything, and a superdrive.
ReplyDeleteAnd show me the $76.33 answer to the iPod Touch - WiFi, 8GB of storage, touchscreen, usable apps, accelerometer, video out, etc.
See, you are taking the retail price of a netbook (which, btw, is much less than your stated $500 - more like $300) and tripling it. Apple might might 200% margins, IDK - but not from retail - from the cost of their parts and labor.
I'd say an official Apple netbook would come in around $600 ~ $750, and it would have unibody construction, multitouch trackpad, bluetooth, wifi-n, iSight camera, mini-DVI out, etc. - and maybe a multi-touch touchscreen, (perhaps in lieu of a trackpad, which would leave more room for a full(er) sized keyboard).
But in any case - there's no way on earth Apple would charge *MORE* for their netbook offering than they would for their stardard MacBook (starting at $999).