[IxDA Discuss] MacBook Air

[Nasir Barday]

Mark said:
>> I have no insight into whether apple has any notion of
>> UCD process at work.

Apple doesn't use UCD; Lots of genius design. It shows in the
products, too; their solutions, while quite elegant, sometimes
surprisingly get things wrong (fodder for a separate thread).

But the Air wasn't designed around the faux goal of "wireless
computing." Air caters to the insight that the average consumer
doesn't need a lot to a) browse the web, b) manage photos, and c)
otherwise have fun. During ideation, Apple must have stripped
everything away and added back only what was essential to the
on-the-go person who wants their computer not to get in their way.
Hence the use of untethered wireless that allows people to be
on-the-go-able at moment's notice.

How often does someone on the go need an optical drive when away from
home? (hardly ever)
What kinds of peripherals do on-the-go people connect to their
laptops? (projectors, Flash Drives, maybe the odd printer)

It would be so great to see a design story from a current or former
Apple-head on a blog or through a talk. Just throwing that out there
if any of you are on this list ...

- Nasir