The Apple design aesthetic of simple one to three tone colors, chiclet keys, brushed aluminum, etc is seen in most of these. As much as I love the ultrabook idea, the design could use innovation; the flaws of the MBA (one to two USB plugs, big, terrible, one-click touchpads) are still there. Hell, some of them are just worse, what with their piano-poop gloss finish and terrible screens. The only one that looks like it's approaching an evolutionary step in the MBA aesthetic is the Asus and that is mostly due in part to its keyboard.
You see the problem there is.... Electrical items with brushed aluminium/metal, flush buttons like those pictured above and the 2 tone metal/shiny black is a well established "premium" design aesthetic that you'll find on many electrical items like home stereos.
That's been a "premium" electrical product look or quite some time, it's not an Apple thing. A lot of companies have been doing it for years.
I'm just curious about what you (and Apple fans) expect a device like this to look like? Should it have wheels, teeth, and be made out of cheese? I suppose that the makers of small/portable TVs in the 80s were ripping off Apple's G3s?
The point here is that Apple did it first with the MacBook Air. Apple proved that with a bit of effort, these exciting new ultra-portable designs were possible. Without Apple, I doubt that we would bee seeing these types of PC's today. Same with the iPhone, same with iPad - everyone is chasing Apple. That makes me chuckle too.
Exciting? You really must live a sheltered life if you think that a ever so slightly thinner laptop is exciting :o)
As with almost every single one of these "Apple did it first" claims, I would not be surprised if someone points out that another company really did it first.
Your post does highlight what Apple were the first to do though, and that is realising the importance of making people think that they did things first, that their products are exciting [and magical] and that they world has changed for the better because of them.
Kudos to Apple and their marketing team, I'll never begrudge them a sale, and in some areas I might even have to agree with you somewhat as they have blazed a trail, but not in this case, I'm afraid.
What has travelling a lot with a laptop (which I do a fair bit of, as it happens) got to do with an ever so slightly thinner laptop being "exciting"?
FYI (and any other Apple fan who hasn;t realised this yet) electronics have been getting smaller, lighter, thinner and more compact forever, and companies have made shiny/pretty versions of almost every electronic product that's every existed too.
Just saying (not intending to sound patronising at all, honest. *rolls eyes*)
You really can't see these are 100% direct responses to the MacBook Air line or are you being deliberately obtuse?
It is an objective fact that these came out after the MBA and look nearly identical. Whether they would have eventually come up with this design on their own is subject to debate, but clearly they were heavily influenced by Apple's designs.
They might be competing with them, but that doesn't mean that they are directly copying them.
Are/were/would Apple products that look similar or were made out of the same/similar materials as other companies products that existed already be directly ripping them off and copying? Of course not.
The only people who are begin deliberately obtuse seem to be Apple fans who think that Apple were the first people to come up with the idea of making an existing electronic device smaller/more compact and/or then making them out of brushed metal so that they look fancy.
They weren't, it's been going on for years, nay decades.
To me, they look like an evolution of a laptop (they all have a display that can be "closed", they all have a keyboard, they all have some peripheral slots, and they all have a touchpad, just like every other laptop) into a thinner (and hopefully lighter) form factor. Was Apple first to make them that thin? As far as I know, though some Sony designs were awfully thin, too. But as someone earlier posted, "thin" is not a patentable design.
One of Apple's innovations may have been is that, as pointed out above, that it was 'possible' to come out with such a device. Their other innovation was that they showed others that there was a market for that device. Once you can demonstrate a market for the device, you start seeing other manufacturers starting to poke around in the "ultra thin" segment.
Toshiba Portage series were almost that thin in 1999. I remember a model with low voltage p3 733 coppermine and polymer battery, thickness around 12mm 1.2 kilograms.
Who the hell cares that it "looks like the MBA"???? I'm sure think notebooks were modeled in the past years before the MBA...only it wasn't a feasible manufacturable as a profitable product due to pricing and/or internal hardware limitations. I give Apple credit for being the first to implement a monoblock aluminum chassis, but I honestly do not like their designs. As an amateur artist, I appreciate the subtle design differences between all similar utilitarian goods and I don't think ANY notebook out there looks like a MBA aside from thinness.
Hell, Jaguar recently announced the C-X16 Concept, and I shit you not, I have drawn sketches of cars that look 90% similar to it two years ago. There really are only SO MANY ways to design utilitarian goods (designers sketch hundreds of designs before production of a single product that consumers see) and these subtle differences count. If there ever was a notebook that got it right in terms of design, my vote goes out to Voodoo's Envy 133, and don't EVER say it copied the MBA.
What are the next to steps? Are we going to see some day a Super AMOLED display in a ultrabook? Will it be capable of multisync refresh rate to watch moves at 23.976p 24p 25p 29,97p 59.94i .... 119.88p ... 240p? Can we have a decent sound? Or am I just dreaming?
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MagickMan - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - link
They look great, and will probably sell well, but it's such a ripoff of the MBA that I couldn't help but laugh.inighthawki - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - link
Some of them yes, but many others I see no resemblance to the MBA other than "being thin" which I don't think counts as a design style.wogzi - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - link
The Apple design aesthetic of simple one to three tone colors, chiclet keys, brushed aluminum, etc is seen in most of these. As much as I love the ultrabook idea, the design could use innovation; the flaws of the MBA (one to two USB plugs, big, terrible, one-click touchpads) are still there. Hell, some of them are just worse, what with their piano-poop gloss finish and terrible screens. The only one that looks like it's approaching an evolutionary step in the MBA aesthetic is the Asus and that is mostly due in part to its keyboard.Aloonatic - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - link
You see the problem there is.... Electrical items with brushed aluminium/metal, flush buttons like those pictured above and the 2 tone metal/shiny black is a well established "premium" design aesthetic that you'll find on many electrical items like home stereos.That's been a "premium" electrical product look or quite some time, it's not an Apple thing. A lot of companies have been doing it for years.
Aloonatic - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - link
"flush buttons", lol.Only seen those on Japanese toilets, to be fair :o) You know what I mean though?!
steven75 - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - link
"big, terrible, one-click touchpads"Did you really just insinuate that Apple's touchpads are worse than the teeny tiny, recessed PC-equivalent?
Aloonatic - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - link
I'm just curious about what you (and Apple fans) expect a device like this to look like? Should it have wheels, teeth, and be made out of cheese? I suppose that the makers of small/portable TVs in the 80s were ripping off Apple's G3s?TEAMSWITCHER - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - link
The point here is that Apple did it first with the MacBook Air. Apple proved that with a bit of effort, these exciting new ultra-portable designs were possible. Without Apple, I doubt that we would bee seeing these types of PC's today. Same with the iPhone, same with iPad - everyone is chasing Apple. That makes me chuckle too.Aloonatic - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - link
Exciting? You really must live a sheltered life if you think that a ever so slightly thinner laptop is exciting :o)As with almost every single one of these "Apple did it first" claims, I would not be surprised if someone points out that another company really did it first.
Your post does highlight what Apple were the first to do though, and that is realising the importance of making people think that they did things first, that their products are exciting [and magical] and that they world has changed for the better because of them.
Kudos to Apple and their marketing team, I'll never begrudge them a sale, and in some areas I might even have to agree with you somewhat as they have blazed a trail, but not in this case, I'm afraid.
jeremyshaw - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - link
you must not travel a lot, with a laptop. Just saying.Aloonatic - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - link
What has travelling a lot with a laptop (which I do a fair bit of, as it happens) got to do with an ever so slightly thinner laptop being "exciting"?FYI (and any other Apple fan who hasn;t realised this yet) electronics have been getting smaller, lighter, thinner and more compact forever, and companies have made shiny/pretty versions of almost every electronic product that's every existed too.
Just saying (not intending to sound patronising at all, honest. *rolls eyes*)
steven75 - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - link
You really can't see these are 100% direct responses to the MacBook Air line or are you being deliberately obtuse?It is an objective fact that these came out after the MBA and look nearly identical. Whether they would have eventually come up with this design on their own is subject to debate, but clearly they were heavily influenced by Apple's designs.
Aloonatic - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - link
They might be competing with them, but that doesn't mean that they are directly copying them.Are/were/would Apple products that look similar or were made out of the same/similar materials as other companies products that existed already be directly ripping them off and copying? Of course not.
The only people who are begin deliberately obtuse seem to be Apple fans who think that Apple were the first people to come up with the idea of making an existing electronic device smaller/more compact and/or then making them out of brushed metal so that they look fancy.
They weren't, it's been going on for years, nay decades.
erple2 - Thursday, September 15, 2011 - link
To me, they look like an evolution of a laptop (they all have a display that can be "closed", they all have a keyboard, they all have some peripheral slots, and they all have a touchpad, just like every other laptop) into a thinner (and hopefully lighter) form factor. Was Apple first to make them that thin? As far as I know, though some Sony designs were awfully thin, too. But as someone earlier posted, "thin" is not a patentable design.One of Apple's innovations may have been is that, as pointed out above, that it was 'possible' to come out with such a device. Their other innovation was that they showed others that there was a market for that device. Once you can demonstrate a market for the device, you start seeing other manufacturers starting to poke around in the "ultra thin" segment.
damianrobertjones - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - link
Exactly but you'll ALWAYS get someone pulling the apple card.bupkus - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - link
Right, but it is no annoying listening to an individuals insecurity.steven75 - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - link
Then why didn't they make these exact laptops before the MBA came out?Alien959 - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - link
Toshiba Portage series were almost that thin in 1999. I remember a model with low voltage p3 733 coppermine and polymer battery, thickness around 12mm 1.2 kilograms.etamin - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - link
Who the hell cares that it "looks like the MBA"???? I'm sure think notebooks were modeled in the past years before the MBA...only it wasn't a feasible manufacturable as a profitable product due to pricing and/or internal hardware limitations. I give Apple credit for being the first to implement a monoblock aluminum chassis, but I honestly do not like their designs. As an amateur artist, I appreciate the subtle design differences between all similar utilitarian goods and I don't think ANY notebook out there looks like a MBA aside from thinness.Hell, Jaguar recently announced the C-X16 Concept, and I shit you not, I have drawn sketches of cars that look 90% similar to it two years ago. There really are only SO MANY ways to design utilitarian goods (designers sketch hundreds of designs before production of a single product that consumers see) and these subtle differences count. If there ever was a notebook that got it right in terms of design, my vote goes out to Voodoo's Envy 133, and don't EVER say it copied the MBA.
vlado08 - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - link
What are the next to steps?Are we going to see some day a Super AMOLED display in a ultrabook? Will it be capable of multisync refresh rate to watch moves at 23.976p 24p 25p 29,97p 59.94i .... 119.88p ... 240p? Can we have a decent sound? Or am I just dreaming?
vlado08 - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - link
Sorry I meant: What are the next two steps?MartinT - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - link
Finally, some companys with enough sense to have matte screen options!One can only hope that one of the matte screens also uses a decent panel!