Following the Top 10 Flaws of the Macbook Air, this is another post critiquing Apple's latest ultraportable laptop.
During the 2008 Keynote presentation, Steve Jobs compared the Macbook Air to Sony's TZ series, stating that "When people think thin and ultraportable, they think of the Sony TZ series". What he failed to mention was Sony's discontinued X series. In particular, the X505 which was released FOUR YEARS AGO shares many characteristics with the new Macbook Air. Nor did Steve Jobs mention Mitsubishi's Pedion released TEN YEARS AGO which is just 0.72 inches throughout.
Let's take a look at the Sony VAIO X505 and compare it with the Macbook Air. We're discussing physical attributes here, not performance or speed because those are completely dependent on time. ( i.e. Sony 4 years ago obviously couldn't have a 1.6 C2D processor).
Thickness The X505 runs from 0.75 inches down to 0.3 inches. The Macbook Air runs from 0.76 inches down to 0.16 inches. Keep in mind that the Macbook is only 0.16 at the thinnest point (which is at the edges where it is tapered). Theoretically, I could design a notebook that has edges tapering down to a razor blade so measuring thinness by the thinnest point is essentially meaningless. Looking at the thickest point, the X505 is in fact 0.01 inches thinner. I would argue that the X505 is the world's thinnest notebook if you measure thickness by the thickest part.
Weight Weight is perhaps more important than thickness in terms of portability. Really, what difference does a fraction of an inch make when it is in your bag, but a pound or two can make a noticeable difference. Coming in at 3 lbs, the Macbook Air is light but not ultra-light. I would perhaps call it the Macbook Carbon-Dioxide (a gas heavier than air). The Sony X505 on the other hand weighs a mere 1.85 lbs.
Keyboard When the spaced-out Macbook keyboard was first introduced, not many people that the X505 already had this style of keyboard. It wasn't innovated or invented by Apple. It was an existing design they used because it saves space.
Conclusion
Keeping in mind that technology was not as advanced ten or even four years ago, Apple's Macbook Air isn't much in the way of new innovation. Apple's claim of being the thinnest notebook ever is technically true but practically false. Thinnovation? More like thinnocopycat.
