Elegant Technology

For the past few weeks all I could think about is getting a MacBook Air.
I wanted to collect one from my local Apple Store and it took a while for stock to be available.

Last Saturday I collected an 80Gb model. The 24Hr period that followed turned out to be one of absolute highs to absolute lows.

Observations
My first observation was how heavy the box is that the Air comes in. The machine itself is very light but the packaging is made out of heavy cardboard. It’s like a larger iPod Touch box in design. The box comes inside a cute carrying bag. I think the weight of the box is a clever ploy to make us fully appreciate the lightness of the machine.
Not wanting to advertise my purchase I asked for another bag. I then struggled to carry it around for a few hours before heading home.

The Lows
As soon as I got home I unpacked the Air (whlist taking photos; sad I know), plugged in the power, and booted up. That’s when the ‘lows’ began. I worked through the, normally simple, setup process but after the final configuration, the screen settled to a blank shade of blue. Nothing else happened. I tried rebooting only to reach the blue screen again.

OK, I thought, a glitch. I would install the OS from the supplied disks. I had a MacBook and a wireless network. I installed the special software to share the ComboDrive and started the install. The ‘lows’ continued when the installation reported a greater than 5 hour install time. Not wanting to be up all night I looked for another approach.

Having bought a MacBook with a ComboDrive I found I needed a DVD writer for creating iDVD projects. So I connected it to the MacBook Air’s USB port and rebooted whilst holing down the ‘C’ key. I felt a high when the Air recognised the DVD writer and the install disk booted. I started the install again which now took about 2.5 hours.

I rebooted…

Another low. Back to the blank blue screen. “This isn’t right”, I thought, “this is Apple kit”. I tried the usual things; Hardware test – OK, Clear PRAM – No difference, Reset permissions – No difference, Checked the disk – No difference.

I had no alternative, I packaged up the Air ready for return to the Apple Store and went for a bath.

As usual my mind wandered and I thought of a couple other things;

• Reboot with a hard disk attached (In case of a Time Machine bug).
• Reinstall everything from scratch but this time wipe the disk clean before starting.

The hard disk option didn’t affect anything.

The Highs Begin
The clean install DID work and I was elated. At about 2am the following morning having installed the OS, Apps, iWork, and Bento, I left the Air backing up to Time Machine (again to an external Lacie device). I scheduled the Air to sleep at 4am and went to bed.
In the morning everything was fine. I finished my other application installations and got to appreciate the machine a little.

Positives

• The Air is light and thin.
• The screen is very bright and comes on instantly when opening the lid.
• The backlit keys are great in low light.
• The Air recognised my Lacie DVD writer and External HD. It allowed me to boot from the backup DVD.
• Compared to my MacBook (1.83Ghz Core Duo 1Mb RAM : 2006 model), the Air feels more responsive.

Negatives

• The install ‘out-of-the-box’ failed.
• The install via wi-fi is painfully slow.

For me the MacBook Air is a revolutionary device bringing the concept of an iPod to the world of computers. It’s lean but not mean. It’s the most beautifully designed computer ever (even better than the Apple G4 Cube).

As I work with the MacBook Air I have decided to use the opportunity to exercise restraint. I am only loading essential Apps. I will only store beautiful pictures and beautiful music.

Above all I will use it to develop plans to refine and lighten my life.

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