I think the reason the MacBook Neo has been able to surpass the entire lower-priced PC laptop industry, and caught those companies flat-footed, is that no one but Apple has been trying to make a good product in that space.

I really mean it, very literally: Yes, those other companies are trying to make MONEY selling inexpensive laptops, but they’re not trying to make GOOD inexpensive laptops.

Making a quality product is an endeavor! And those other companies can’t just instantly start.

@ryanmiglavs best Apple product since perhaps retina MacBook Pro, and PC manufacturers have been stuck with terrible crap laptop designs for the last 20 years with 0 actual innovation

@thomasfuchs Yeah, totally agree.

I’m really impressed with Apple’s choice to hold to their quality (it’s a real Mac, and a good one), but also just the point of actually focusing on making a good Mac at a minimal price. They just nailed it.

Plus the color and marketing caught the awesome vibe and ran with it.

I make products. Most product companies do NOT focus first on making good products.
@thomasfuchs (I know you also make products, more than I have! I’m an admirer of your work! I’m pretty sure you and I agree on this.)

@ryanmiglavs yes! It needs to be able to hold its own yet also fit within their other products.

They had a lot of meh products, like the goggles; it’s so nice to see them do something that doesn’t strive to be the best of the best ultra-high-tech yet still totally beating anything else at a budget price.

Reminds me of the 1999 iBook.

@thomasfuchs Hell yeah! I loved that iBook.

And I totally agree. I miss when Jony Ive talked about what a privilege it was to be able to bring great design and quality to millions of people at an accessible price. That is… no longer his vibe.

I recently had the joy of working on such a product, a premium product meant for everyone, and it was awesome.

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@thomasfuchs Oh! Hahaha, how funny! Somehow I hadn’t heard about that site.

Somewhat related, I think extreme wealth and fame/power kind of do damage even to good people.

@ryanmiglavs yes, nobody should have more than say $10 million or whatever, and that’s generous already