[Macworld]

Post your comments for The Macalope Daily: Triumph here

[lkrupp]

There is a segment of the population that continually lives in denial of the fact that Apple has influenced the direction of tech more than any other company in history. They simply refuse to accept that Apple even exists let alone has influence. Sorry S.O.B.s they are.

[joebot]

On reading the headline, I was sure I'd find a reference to Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. He's in there somewhere, probably pooping on an ultrabook...

[wardoggie]

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...a misfired attempt to copy the popularity of Apple’s MacBook Air

When you think about it, ultrabooks are a pretty good copy of a MacBook Air. What's the difference? Mac OS X Inside™

[vulpine]

While I agree with the horned one on most things, I believe he's wrong about the very last, here. I believe Windows 8 has made a touchscreen viable on laptop computers. It's not perfect, mind you, but I have a few clients who actually like the fact that they can touch an icon on their screen to launch an app or file rather than trying to find their pointer, drag it to the icon of choice and then double-click it.

It's been quite obvious that both Lion and Mountain Lion are guiding OS X towards a touch environment, but I seriously believe Microsoft managed to beat Apple to the punch this time in actually getting a usable version to the customer.

[Sigivald]

Ultrabooks sell very, very well.

When you ignore "Ultrabook™" and define it functionally, and include the MacBook Air in the category.

(Actually, I'm not sure the new Retina MacBook Pros don't qualify as "Ultrabooks" in that usage...)

(Contra vulpine, I don't think "usable" as in "non-touch OS with a few touch capabilities but nobody ships a touch laptop to speak of so who cares" is significant.

Agreeing with vulpine, though, my iPad has sure made me tempted to touch the screen of my MBA to do stuff... *eventually* laptops-that-also-have-touch might be A Thing.

Microsoft has shown no ability [sadly] to do that in a way resembling "right", however.)

[Tlandy]

Almost everyone I know who uses an ultrabook uses a mouse. Given the mostly cumbersome trackpad functionality, I wouldn't be surprised if they would prefer a touchscreen. With the trackpad on a Mac, interaction is natural, and a touchscreen isn't all that necessary.

[NickS9quf]

"Now the Ultrabook spec includes touch-screens which, of course, the Air doesn’t have. So, kudos, Intel! Now if you could only find a reason why Ultrabooks need them."

Well, ultrabooks need them because of Windows 8, but that just begs the question...

[NickS9quf]

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It's been quite obvious that both Lion and Mountain Lion are guiding OS X towards a touch environment, but I seriously believe Microsoft managed to beat Apple to the punch this time in actually getting a usable version to the customer.

I've installed Windows 8, and in my opinion, you've got a pretty whacky definition of "usable" if you're suggesting that it in any applies to Windows 8.

[DocNo]

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Almost everyone I know who uses an ultrabook uses a mouse. Given the mostly cumbersome trackpad functionality, I wouldn't be surprised if they would prefer a touchscreen.

Amen! I can't tell you the last time I have used a trackpad on a PC - they are universally horrible! Whereas on my Mac Pro I feel perfectly comfortable using the magic trackpad. Amazing how the same physical device that on the surface appears to be simplicity itself is really fundamentally pretty complicated and very easy to screw up. I have a new work provided Dell laptop and the touch pad still has "zones" for things like scrolling! Is this 2013 or 1993?!?! I finally turned it off and resorted to the pointstick (or nipple as coworkers have branded it) since the trackpad driver is so horrible my cursor will jump all over the place as I type. Ugh.... I swear, as soon as they let us bring our own stuff in even if I have to load Windows natively on it my work machine will be a Mac just for the better hardware...

[danackerman]

I appreciate the detailed analysis -- but I'm surprised anyone reading past the would take my article as particularly "pro-Intel," as it's mainly about how Intel's heavy-handed attempt to control branding has failed. I would say you perhaps take the word "triumph" in my original headline a bit too literally...

Keep on truckin'
-dan

[wardoggie]

danackerman, on 11 January 2013 - 10:52 AM, said:

I appreciate the detailed analysis -- but I'm surprised anyone reading past the would take my article as particularly "pro-Intel," as it's mainly about how Intel's heavy-handed attempt to control branding has failed. I would say you perhaps take the word "triumph" in my original headline a bit too literally...

Keep on truckin'
-dan

Did you just out yourself as the Macalope?

[KPOM]

Quote

danackerman said
I appreciate the detailed analysis -- but I'm surprised anyone reading past the would take my article as particularly "pro-Intel," as it's mainly about how Intel's heavy-handed attempt to control branding has failed. I would say you perhaps take the word "triumph" in my original headline a bit too literally... Keep on truckin' -dan Did you just out yourself as the Macalope?

No, but kudos to Dan for actually responding (I don't think we'll see Rob Enderle here). I read Dan's original post at CNet before reading this and understood his point. Finally, after about a decade of stagnation in Windows notebook industrial design (look at a notebook from 2001, and one from 2011 and try to tell the difference from the outside), we have seen some real development. I do think Dan should have given Apple more credit. As for touchscreens, it is Microsoft more than Intel who is driving that.

[handleym99]

Quote

It's been quite obvious that both Lion and Mountain Lion are guiding OS X towards a touch environment, but I seriously believe Microsoft managed to beat Apple to the punch this time in actually getting a usable version to the customer.

The goal is not to be first, the goal is to be best...
Apple did not copy the netbook. They analyzed what it was that made a netbook desirable and valuable (and what it was that made them suck) and came up with a product that has as much of the desirable and as little of the suck as possible.

Compare "Apple MUST get into the touch laptop business" with "Apple MUST get into the netbook business" (or, for that matter, "Apple MUST get into the Blu-Ray business".)

At the business level, it's not at all clear that Win8 (on laptops or otherwise) is a massive moneymaker for MS; rather the best they seem to be able to hope for is a holding pattern.
At the customer level, there are few cries of delight at the compromises of Win8, and massive amounts of complaining.

I'd like to think that if Apple ever ship a touchscreen laptop, the response will be rather different --- and that they wouldn't ship one until they KNOW the response will be different.