A few weeks back I had a chance to review a MacBook Air for Computerworld, smugly noting how much I love my behemoth 17-in. Mac Book Pro -- even as I allowed as how the Air would be a great second computer for road warriors.
I am not a road warrior.
I generally don't need a second computer, though I'd be unlikely to turn one down if someone offered one to me.
I still love my 17-in. MacBook Pro, and the high-resolution screen I opted for when I bought it last year.
So can someone kindly explain to me how it is I wandered into the Apple store near Central Park in New York City last week and walked out with -- you guessed! -- a MacBook Air? I hadn't even gotten my tax refund yet, and already I was spending it.
Sure, I pre-promised it to my partner, who will soon get rid of the old Sony Vaio he's been lugging around for a while. (Yes, that old Sony Vaio.) So at least I have an out somewhere down the road.
The troubling thing isn't that I succumbed briefly to the energy and buzz of the Apple store. (Computerworld had just won three Neal awards and I felt like celebrating.) The scary part is I don't want to even think of turning it over to someone else anytime soon -- even if he does live under the same roof.
Unlike my 17-incher, this thing has been by my side almost since I got it, largely because it's so small and lightweight, sort of like a cute chihuahua you carry in your coat pocket. (Initially bemused co-workers are getting really tired of me pulling my Air out of an office envelope.)
I wander around the house with it. I took it to friends' for dinner the other night -- good thing, too, as I had to post a late-breaking news story between courses. I bring it to work daily, even though I don't really need it here; I just want it by my side.
Last night, I forced myself to put it aside and grabbed my other computer, which suddenly seemed to have grown to gargantuan proportions. It weighed a ton, and I felt like I was looking at an IMAX- (iMax?) sized screen. I surfed a bit and installed some updates, but before long my MacBook Pro was back in its new place on a desk, serving up iTunes radio in the background while I cheerfully surfed away on the Air.
So, what gives? What is it about the Air that makes it so, I dunno, companionable? I'm already talking up the beauties of the Vaio to the partner, though he's not buying it. No doubt, one day he's going to ask for what he rightfully assumes is "his" MacBook Air. Maybe by then the sheen will have worn off. Maybe I'll come across some pressing need for a Firewire port. But I doubt it.
In the meantime, friends are coming by tomorrow night for a movie. I'm sure they're going to want to see the new laptop, having marveled over the one I reviewed.
I've already got the office envelope ready.