What we at Netbook Era are wondering is whether the Apple MacBook Air 11” is a netbook or a conventional laptop. After all, it has features that are specific to notebooks such as weight and size but also has features that are typical of everyday laptops such as power and premium pricing (in everyday life though, Apple laptops are always more expensive and the flash drives inside the MacBook Airs push up the prices).

We really think that Apple ventured into the netbook era, a domain that it has vowed never to get into but decided to play their card differently. If you go check out the various benchmarks available all over the Internet, you will notice that the MacBook Air 11” is pretty powerful and leaves most netbooks in the dust but heck, it’s as light and small as the best of them even if normal netbooks are 10” or 8”.

So what’s the verdict?

Well, we really think that the 11” Apple MacBook Air is no netbook. It’s a really tiny notebook computer and those pundits whose favorite song is to say that netbooks are dying will use this Apple laptop as the ultimate example of how conventional laptops can be as light, portable and cheap as netbooks while having power for everyday computing.

That’s our take on the situation and now it’s your turn. Are we onto something or did we completely miss the boat? Express yourself in the comment box below!

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/clanlife/5119808939/

However!

It’s interesting to note that all aluminum Apple laptops are now dubbed MacBook Pro computers. The old white plastic notebook is the only MacBook left. Industry observers are betting that yes, Apple netbooks are on the way and that the line will be called MacBook.

I don’t like to speculate or attempt to predict the future but the above MacBook netbook theory seems to make a great deal of sense to me. I am no expert in Apple’s business activities but one thing I know is that the Apple netbook waiting game is very, very far from over!

I have to hand it to Mike Arrington for ending our year with the juiciest netbook rumor ever. Apparently, in Autumn 2009, Apple will release a larger iPod Touch that will be the MacBook Mini netbook that we all have written about countless times saying that it would be announced in January at MacWorld.

Short of swearing on his mother’s head, Mr Arrington not only tells us that his sources are reliable and that one actually touched the device but he also teases us by saying that he will have more details soon.

I was probably one of the first Techcrunch readers. As time has gone by, I have come to trust this web 2.0 turned tech blog because all crazy rumors that it throws out into the blogosphere usually turn out to be solid stuff. So I guess that Apple figured out how to make a netbook the smart way by sticking to its trademark touchscreen no keyboards approach that made the iPod Touch and the iPhone hits. 

Yes, people will cry over the lack of a keyboard but will get over it just like they did with the iPhones and iPod Touches.

I am betting that this iPod Touch will sell for about $550 or $600 and that like the iPhone, it will be more than a super hit: it will completely take over the market. That’s if this global recession gives us all a break.

Wow, this iPod Touch “Magnum” is really going to change the netbook game. I can’t wait!

See: Large Form iPod Touch To Launch in Fall ‘09

Rumours of the Apple netbook just got crazier to the extent where everyone is expecting a MacBook Mini netbook in January at MacWorld but wondering why Steve Jobs will not be attending.

Acer may have eaten Asus’ lunch but Asus still had a top gong to its credit as Forbes Asia named the Asus Eee PC netbook, the product of the year. Acer had another trick up its sleeves though: it was announced that the Acer Aspire One would be selling at Walmart. If you’re aware of Walmart’s mammoth distribution channel, you know how big of a coup this is.

Some pundits bet that Linux would take over the whole world but the marketplace decided that after all, it was more comfortable with Windows powered netbooks. See also: Will Netbooks Destroy Microsoft in 2009?

And so, those were the highlights of the past week (14th-21st December 2008). Thanks for reading us, your number one netbook blog!

Happy holidays!

The craze over Apple having to launch a Mac netbook has reached new heights because of sales figures showing that in November Apple has lost market share.

All the analysts and pundits are screaming and shouting for a netbook and that’s why in January Apple will give them one.

In a recession, everyone’s sales suffer. Even Walmart is having hard times although logically it should do well given that in hard times more shoppers are likely to pay it a visit for its low prices.

It seems that Apple desktop sales have decreased. You can’t exactly blame the recession for this one. For the last years, laptops have been eclipsing desktops in sales and that’s a trend that’s likely to continue even if the economy recovers by tomorrow afternoon and every single shopper becomes a millionaire.

Apple notebook sales are down too. That’s because no one is immune to a recession. No one. You either lose or you win but nothing stays the same in a recession. The whole computer industry is in a crisis. Every single company has seen sales decrease or stay flat. Apple is not immune.

Apple decided to play the computer game like Sony. Stay in the super premium league. But Steve Jobs did not get where he is now by not having an extraordinary PR acumen. He surely knows that he can stand pat and eventually things will go back to normal once the global crisis ends (because it will eventually. The question is when?). But, he also knows that the media is yearning for a Mac netbook.

In January, he will announce a Mac netbook not because it will boost the sales of Mac products but to appease the media and analysts. You know that the day after the keynote, the stock will go down if there’s no Apple ultraportable notebook. To prevent that from happening, Mr. Jobs will appease the crowd and do what’s smart from a PR perspective.

I personally think that a Mac netbook is not a bad idea. It will not re-ignite sales but it will do the job that the Mac Mini was supposed to do. The Mac Mini did not become a hit because for once Apple made a strategic mistake. It launched an affordable product in a dying category.

Like I mentioned earlier, desktops are slowly but surely on their way out. I am betting that in the near future, desktops will be used only by businesses. Even schools are going all laptops and soon netbooks. Do you still remember who called 2003 the year of the laptop?  Launching the Mac Mini was a smart and a dumb move at the same time. 

Smart because it was aimed at letting people experience the Mac touch for a low price and dumb because it was with desktops.

A MacBook Mini netbook will be a good product not to boost sales but to get all these iPhone and iPod users who are no Mac users to try out the Mac experience. The number one objection for non Mac users is: “It’s cool but it’s expensive!”.

The MacBook Mini netbook solves that problem. In marketing speak, it’s called a loss leader.

I have written before that with netbooks going all cloud, operating systems are going to become the least consideration when buying ultraportables.  Apple will do things right and create an OS that’s actually made for netbooks instead of taking Mac OSX and trying to make it work with netbooks. Imagine MobileMe coupled with other innovative things that are Apple’s trademark.

Apple netbooks will become a hit with the consumer. They will be the ultimate halo effect creator that everyone said that iPhones and iPods would be. That’s because netbooks are actual computers and these new users are more likely to try out Mac computers when they feel the need for more powerful machines. 

The MacBook Mini that will be announced in January will not save Apple in the short-term except for the stock price. In the long-term however, it will the tool that will convert Windows users to Mac en masse. 

And what about that famous quote: “We don’t know how to make a $500 computer that’s not a piece of junk”?

Well, he then spoke of “interesting ideas” and another thing. At $500.o1, it’s no longer a piece of junk, right?