March 4, 1999
by Stephen Hildreth
Editor-in-Chief

Our editorial "Dear Apple, Where's My Ultraslim PowerBook?" received more feedback than any editorial we've ever written. The response was amazing. Some people wrote in to defend their PowerBook G3, but the overwhelming respose was favorable. Indeed, it seems that Apple could cash in by offering an ultraslim alongside the G3. Here are just a few of the responses:

From Robert Sandkam:
"I truly believe that most, if not all of Mr. Hildreth's requests will be answered with Apple's consumer portable (P1). But, Apple has been WAY too long in bringing this thing to market. Mr. Hildreth is absolutely right that Apple has been losing customers. I'm sure that the new laptop is going to have all the bells and whistles and new technology ports and probably a few things we can not even fathom, and all of this takes time to design and test and implement. But, in the interim, Apple should have simply kept shipping the 2400. It would not have been the amazing show stopper that the P1 is going to be, but it is/was a top notch computer and sold like hot cakes. By continuing to ship it, with simple speed bumps here and there, it would have kept the 'consumer' portable quadrant of Apple's product line filled, and a whole lot of customers happy and sticking with Apple. Waiting the way they have waited is the same as if they had simply stopped shipping desktop units until the blue/white G3s were ready for market. As it stands now, Apple not only has to hit a product home run (which they will), but they have to win back a lot of lost customers. Customers who probably weren't happy about it, but had to buy a Wintel solution simply to get by. Of course, at this stage of the game, this is simply a lost opportunity. Apple is not going to gear up 2400 production, when the P1 is (hopefully) six months down the road. This is one of the only bad decisions Jobs has made in bringing Apple back from the brink. But, make no mistake, it was a bad one."

From Paul Wright:
"I had to add my two cents to the Stephen Hildreth article on ultraslim Powerbooks.

I AGREE WHOLEHEARTEDLY!!!

First, Apple needs an ultraslim model to do exactly what Stephen is saying - something that is useful and portable enough to make a Nino or PalmPilot outdated. Just big enough to get the travel work done, and yet pop into a docking station when you get back to the office for a quick synchronization with the mothership. Obviously it has to be cheap enough to sell for this purpose. Let's assume that people don't want to buy TWO entire computers, they want one "big" one and one way to work away from the desk.

Second, Let's get more businesslike options out to the people who are showing these things off! I LOVE the idea of a titanium-like casing. I would buy my mom an iMac, but I wouldn't be caught dead on an airplane trying to do important pre-presentation work on an avacado-green Powerbook with a glow-in-the-dark Apple logo. Give me a break! More businesslike options for those of us wanting to impress people with style, not jewelry.

Third, I love my Powerbook G3 series, but mainly because I spend a lot of time traveling and I've replace my desktop computer completely. Sure there are some hardware devices (scanner, CDR, Jaz2, etc...) that I use with my Bookendz docking station, but when it comes time to go somewhere I pack my very expensive Powerbook into its custom-designed case (from Danielle's Case Company) and go off. This case is big - about three time the width of my briefcase - but its hard-sided for protection, and has room for storing all the necessary options for remote use (mouse, modem card,cables,audio/video cables,ethernet, RoadRocket card, kitchen sink, etc...), everything I might possibly need while away from home. BUT I wouldn't do this if I were in a different business - or if I had had the option to buy a desktop AND MiniSlimBook together for a similar price!"

From C. Bourne:
"I definitely think there is a huge market for such a creature. I know several people who have purchased a Sony VAIO (ultraslim laptop) just because of its small weight. They really wanted to buy a Macintosh Powerbook, but didn't like the weight. So...."

From Hayden Harrison:
"Man oh man, would I buy one! I criscross the country weekly and absolutely love my 1400. Small, USABLE, I can use it on flights, upgradable. BUT, it has ram limitations I hate (only 64 MB) and has a dual scan screen. Personally, I like the size of my PB, but I am forced to sell it as an alternative to upgrading it. Right now, my only viable alternative is the giant G3s. I don't need (or want) to carry around a pseudo-desktop with me on trips. I am hoping Apple comes up with something very functional with their consumer-series units this year."

From Louise Woo:
"Hooray, hooray, hooray for Stephen Hildreth for voicing all our concerns! I too have been searching for an ultraslim laptop. So desperate was I, that I scoured the Internet for a refurbished PB 2400c, only to find that they are nearly nonexistent. I almost bought one through an online retailer -- I came THIS close -- but then my husband and I (both longtime Mac fans) had a long discussion about the USB port problem, and at the last moment I decided I couldn't plunk down $1,500 for a wonderful, lightweight machine that won't accept any of the newest peripherals!

Of course, I drooled over the new G3 laptops at my local Apple
authorized reseller. But then I picked one up.

Weighing in at close to 8 lbs, I almost dropped it on the glass countertop. I am a 5-foot tall woman with small hands, and for me that Powerbook is equivalent to carrying around a small bowling ball. Forget it! All I need to do is drop it once, and the Apple service folks will be laughing all the way to the bank.

I have looked and looked at all the various ultraslim PCs, and while they are perfect for my needs, I can't bring myself to leave the Mac world. Please tell those folks at Apple that we're ready to sign the check for an ultraslim Powerbook. Hurry! Hurry! I can't wait another year, and I may have to reluctantly and resentfully have to buy one of those 3 lb. PCs before the Millennium comes."

From Steve Justus:
"I agree with just about everything you wrote regarding the need for an ultraslim Powerbook. If there was something reasonable for $2000 or less available, I'd buy it now. In fact, if I wasn't adamantly opposed to buying a Windows machine, I'd get a Sony VAIO. I can't believe that Apple can't build a machine like that - or at least contract out the design to someone who could.

I've even thought of buying a 2400, but they are rather hard to come by - probably because a lot of people are looking for a lightweight Apple portable, and not a behemoth like the G3 Powerbook. I might add that I'm 6'2", 240 and a weightlifter, so it's not as if I'm incapable of carrying a PB around. It's just that I don't see any real reason to have a portable that big.

I also agree that the titanium look is the right one. Spare me another E-Mate - I don't think that's an attractive looking machine. I want something sleek and high-tech, not the computing equivalent of a teddy bear. Titanium itself is very difficult to work with and is probably not practical for actual use, but magnesium could nicely. It's lightweight and attractive. The newest series of ultraslim notebooks from Toshiba
uses magnesium casings - they're an inch thick and only weigh four pounds.

The irony is that Apple not only has a big advantage in mobile computing with the G3 processor, but they once produced some pretty nice (for their time) subnotebooks like the Duo Dock. For reasons completely incomprehensible to me, Apple has done little in this market for years with the exception of the 2400 - and that was really targeted at Japan.

I can only hope the P1 is really worth the wait."

From Rich Fletcher:
"Dear Apple,

Please bring out a slim Powerbook with a business-like exterior. I've been forced to use my wife's IBM and Winbook for the past two years in hopes that you'd bing out the "right" Powerbook. Presently, at 5 to 8 lbs, I might as well carry my 9600 around. This is a practicality issue, not a style issue. Please get a slim PB out soon so that I can stop looking longingly at my wife's PC-Mall magazines for a suitable compromise to my work ethic. I've felt the need to buy one recently. And for heaven's sake make it as affordable as the wintel stuff. Again, THINK PRACTICAL. You've got to understand that most of the work that gets done on planes and cross-country commuting is not Photoshop or After Effects type of work. I don't need 500 mghz to do my work and don't want to pay an extra $2,000. for games I don't play. Make the wiz bang stuff OPTIONAL. When can I order?"

From Bob Rogers:
"My wife and I have toured nearly 20,000 miles on a tandem bicycle, carrying a Duo 210. It finally died (the screen) and I will have to go without on a 3,000 mile tour of Canada this summer. My 5300cs is just to heavy and thick for bicycling, particularly on a tandem, where pannier space is at a premium. A tent and food are more important.

I would like something the size of a duo, but lighter (3 pounds with modem, and charger), a faster modum and enough memory to hold AOL and a word processor. No floppy, no CD. Just the basics. I'd like 12 hours of battery, and/or a built in solar charger! Major speed is not that important, nor is a color screen, I loved the Duo's gray scale screen. I want it tough, resistant to heat, cold, humidity and major shocks. Carbon fiber would be good for the case. This is beginning to sound like military specs! A greatly reduced operating system might speed things up a bit and save power; I don't really need to run graphics of movies, or do much in the way of file management etc., I can download to my other Mac for all that stuff.

Oh, and I'd like it to come in under $1,000.

Anybody else out there want a similar machine. Reminds me of the old VW Thing. Here in Tucson there are a ton of them, still thrashing through the desert, doing what most SUV's can only dream of doing, in a very simple and inexpensive package."

From Daniel K. Janisch:
"Let's not forget an integrated power supply (no power brick please)!"