31 January 2005

Apple debuts faster PowerBooks with new technologies

The trackpad that scrolls when you use two fingers instead of one is clever (well, gotta try it, but it looks very clever); the accelerometer that stops the hard drive isn’t their invention, but it’s a good thing they’re among the first to implement it; going to 512MB RAM is finally reasonable; a keyboard lighting up automatically according to ambient light is… uh, very cute, I’m sure.

But, as I was running my mouse over the little Javascripted image that compares all three sizes, I found something appalling (and that’s not new to today’s PowerBooks): the 17-incher has exactly the same keyboard layout that they managed to cram into the 12-incher, and you don’t have any benefit at all from the extra space (except for the relocated “Power” button and, I suppose, the speakers). Isn’t that completely absurd?

And I hesitated to buy a laptop rather than an iMac, so I could be mobile (just in case, you never know, some day) and because I prefer those keyboards’ touch. I think this settles that. I like the touch, not the layout.