I think Lenovo machines in their matte black rubberized cases look gorgeous.
It's all about what you've been pre-conditioned to like. I will not buy a laptop with a glass-covered glossy screen. That screen would be useless to me. Also I will not own a laptop without a layout like this:
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/03/thinkp...
It's called attention to detail and immaculate ergonomics: you have a fully operational mouse without moving your fingers away from the FJ position. I can't imagine working on a laptop without it. Why bother suffering?
I understand that people like sparkly and shiny things. I understand clever marketing, sleek design and the adrenaline of being part of the crowd. Fine, have fun - it's very much like rooting for a football team.
But seeing Mac users trying to "cross swords" in a feature/function battle is simply ridiculous. Try this on your notebook: write a sentence, go and change the 3rd word in it. Time yourself. Divide that by 5 (to get my time) multiply the difference by 1923 (that's how much we do this while coding), add a few minutes on top to compensate for missed "Esc" and "Enter" hits and then throw your arms up, scream in pain and anger, and be enlightened. Free of charge, I do this for charity.
I've read upwards of 10 reviews of the x220 today and every single one of them apologized for the general appearance of the thing.
For the record I don't think the Lenovo is 'ugly as shit'. I used that phrase to drive home the disparity between the Macbook Air and any real world shipping product that people hold up as a price comparable alternative to the MBA.
The bottom line is they always take the bullshit route of comparing a much huskier machine. Why? Because the only machines that really compare in form factor can't compete on price (exactly the point of the linked articles!).
For the record I don't think the Lenovo is 'ugly as shit'. I used that phrase to drive home the disparity between the Macbook Air and any real world shipping product that people hold up as a price comparable alternative to the MBA.
The X220 is not an alternative to the Macbook Air. It's an alternative to the Macbook Pro that weighs the same as a Macbook Air. Compare the specs of a 15" MBP to a 12" X220 and notice how they are the same (except that the X220 can take one of the larger-size Express Cards; the MBPs can only take the small ones).
Apple products are classical status symbols. Interesting to me is the idea that aesthetically, the original iMacs were worlds apart from the current models and it took Apple more than one try to find a classical design that worked.
The current Zeitgeist seems to favor classical designs. This is different to the 80's or the 70's where the intellectual and creative class were much more anti-capitalist. To me it feels like it's pre-68 again.
Current life models are schizophrenic. On the one hand people plaster their agency's rooms with aesthetically pleasing objects, Eames chairs, iMacs, Tizio Lamps to please themselves and their corporate clients. On the other they think they are enlightened rebels, aware of climate change, the 3rd world, and the dangers of nuclear energy.
I think there's no radicalism any more, no ideologies, no visions. In reality, I think this generation is full of conservative tagalongs, appeasers, yuppies in disguise.
Do you have evidence that Apple's products appeal to the majority of the human population? And don't do the TC thing and extrapolate from a SV coffee shop/your office. A sentiment poll would do. I'm sure one exists, but I looked around and couldn't find one. It wont help us determine how humans overall perceive Apple products, but it'll at least cover markets where they operate.
Walk in any public place (tube, business lounge, bus, whatever) and look at what people are using... You'll see a lot of macs, iPods, iPhones and iPads. On the laptop side, it's not quite such a clear win, but about 50% of the people in a typical business lounge are using Macs. On the phone side, I'd say it's about the same. On the tablet side, I've yet to see someone actually using something other than an iPad to do work. On the music player side, it's easy to see that again, more than 50% of people listening to music are using an iPod (if they haven't upgraded to the iPhone).
What you're describing is anecdata. I could drive down the street and say that 100% of churches in Georgia are Baptist and it would make as much sense. And your anecdata doesn't match my own. I see Dells in most businesses and government buildings, and few people carry around laptops or spend much time displaying their smartphone preference.
I don't know, when I don't think Apple products are as successful in the Asian markets for example. That could many things but maybe they don't like the look.
I hear China has a 20% Apple tax, as they are classified as luxury goods. Also, RMB -> US$ is 6.5:1, so assuming that the price is in US$, Apple products cost 6.5 times more from an economic standpoint. I hear that apartments in Beijing are 2000-4000 RMB/month. A MacBook Air at $999 is about 6500 RMB, so that's 1.5 to 3 months' rent (plus the 20% luxury tax). $1000 is probably not anywhere near 3 months' rent for us.
So I don't think it's the looks. If a MacBook Air were priced at 2000 RMB, I bet they'd be really successful in the largest Asian market.
I think Lenovo machines in their matte black rubberized cases look gorgeous.
It's all about what you've been pre-conditioned to like. I will not buy a laptop with a glass-covered glossy screen. That screen would be useless to me. Also I will not own a laptop without a layout like this: http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/03/thinkp...
It's called attention to detail and immaculate ergonomics: you have a fully operational mouse without moving your fingers away from the FJ position. I can't imagine working on a laptop without it. Why bother suffering?
I understand that people like sparkly and shiny things. I understand clever marketing, sleek design and the adrenaline of being part of the crowd. Fine, have fun - it's very much like rooting for a football team.
But seeing Mac users trying to "cross swords" in a feature/function battle is simply ridiculous. Try this on your notebook: write a sentence, go and change the 3rd word in it. Time yourself. Divide that by 5 (to get my time) multiply the difference by 1923 (that's how much we do this while coding), add a few minutes on top to compensate for missed "Esc" and "Enter" hits and then throw your arms up, scream in pain and anger, and be enlightened. Free of charge, I do this for charity.