Wednesday, January 16, 2008

reason #011507 why i love apple

much digital ink has been spilled comparing steve jobs' keynote speeches with That Other Dude's. jobs' presentations -- and supporting slides -- tend to be visual and organic, bullet- and transfat-free.

take this graphic from yesterday's keynote (full pic deck is here). it compares the new MacBook Air's dimensions (in green) with those of the next-thinnest laptop on the market (in white).

with just a quick glance you get a sense of the relative dimensions. a second glance confirms that the thickest part of the Air is thinner than the thinnest part of a Sony TZ. so, for instance, if you're trying to conserve water, you should put the Sony in the reservoir tank of your toilet. for all other uses, go with the Air.

just how thin is the MacBook Air? instead of sleeping last night i did some research. my results summarised below.


Things the MacBook Air is THINNER thanThings it is THICKER than

A Tale of Two Citiesa campaign promise

a PS3
a Twister mat

a cat
the snorgoyles' IQ, combined

a dead cat on the road
a dead cat on the road after a week

the Hubble space telescope
pi

E, after he eats too much pie
hot chocolate

a thermos of hot chocolate
a fart after too much hot chocolate

a taxi cab
the Wilmington subway (trick! no such thing!!)

the asteroid belt
the sound of silence

an aquarium filled with angelfish
love

there.
does that put it in perspective for you?

3 comments:

addon said...

thanks Finn, interested in the different styles of presentation, with Gates I could feel that familiar torpor descending within 2 minutes, your pal is good.

FINN said...

MS seems to have lost sight of the fact that users are people who think in terms of *tasks*, not machines checking off linear line items. the difference in presentation styles reflects that bias.

addon said...

just so, we are always dealing with lovely complexity and how to achieve a goal.