LAURA JOHNSON
Assistant Life Editor
Mac is better. At least that is what the people who work at the Appple store or own one of the computers want you to think. Being unveiled to the world two weeks from now, the MacBook Air will be added to the line-up of the companies notebook laptops. As it is the lightest notebook ever, weighing in at only three pounds, it seems that in the field of most portable computer, Mac just may be better.
The debate of whether Mac or PC hardware is better has been raging since the 80s. As freshman Emily Singletary noted, there is only one clear choice if one wants to be a business major,” Singletary said.
“When I got here at the beginning of the year, the Business Division specifically said that you couldn’t have a Mac.”
However, if one is going into a more multimedia-faceted major, a Mac has an excellent artistic side that a PC can merely pine over.
The great significance in the release of the new MacBook Air is that, for now, Dell and other PC companies have no answer to it. This new computer, which claims to be as thin as the size of a index finger, boasts not only a 13.3-inch screen but also a full-sized keyboard and even a camera to hold conferences or just have fun taking pictures of oneself.
Gone are the days of just clicking, as the new curser has the ability to do things such as “pinch,” “swipe” and “rotate,” allowing users to move around their desktop faster then ever before. The one thing the notebook lacks is a disk drive, and for some people this is a good enough reason not to purchase one.
“I’m very interested in the Macbook Air,” junior John Ceglia said. “It’s great for college kids, and it’s even worth the extra price (starting at $1799) just so you don’t have to have a heavy computer. It is a bummer there is no CD drive though. I don’t think I’m ready to let my Powerbook go yet.”
Freshman Jocelyne Kelly said she wishes it didn’t require so much extra equipment.
“(The computer) is great if you want portability,” Kelly said. “But if you already own a certain movie it isn’t fair that you either have to download it from online or hook it up to more equipment to download. It seems great if you want it for work though.”
According to Eric P., a Mac specialist working at the Pasadena store, the MacBook Air has been getting a lot of hype.
“This computer is not for everyone,” Eric said. “It doesn’t have the same capabilities as the MacBook Pro but it is great for people who travel a lot and want something really lightweight.”
Because the hard-drive has so much less storage space than the regular MacBook, instead users are able to save files online. The whole point of the computer is to allow people to take full advantage of the wireless world around them. As things become less and less “plugged in,” Mac has successfully created something efficiently modern.
Sophomore Grant Young, a senior technician at the Pepperdine Technical Center, said the Air may not be the best answer to the lightness that the PC already boasts.
“I own a MacBook and a Sony Vaio, which is only four pounds and still has a disk drive,” Young said. “Potentially, the Air shaves a pound off of your backpack. The Air is less stable and it will probably have problems with breakage.
The Mac has been non-competitive with the thinness and lightness of the PC for sometime now, and although they made the Air the lightest on the market, you’re probably better off with a regular Mac.”
As with all new things, the good comes with the bad. For the computer to be so light, a few sacrifices had to be made and this new computer’s wireless system, is not the only thing still left up in the air.
01-24-2008
