Note to Apple – Thanks for Nothing

Although most of the buzz coming out of Apple’s WWDC 2009 conference is regarding the new iPhone 3G S, they also made some announcements regarding a revamped line of Macbook Pro’s. Unfortunately, the news is really no news at all for 15 and 17-inch users. As I write this, I’m connected to my blog via an AT&T 3G WWAN card running in the ExpressCard slot of my 15" Unibody MBP. Apple, in their infinite wisdom, has decided that I don’t need any such thing and are replacing the ExpressCard slot with…are you ready for it?…an SD card slot. Ooooh, thanks so much, Steve. That’ll really help me stay connected.

To add insult to injury, new buyers will now be lucky enough not to be able to replace their battery on the fly. Wow, that’s a great deal for people who travel a lot (like myself). Not lucky enough to score a window seat with a power port on a long flight? Too bad for you. We all know those claims of 7 hour battery life are complete B.S. so I’m guessing it’ll be five hours on a charge and then you’re done (I get more than that with my current replaceable battery – and I can swap in a fresh one when I need it). Not exactly serving the customer’s best interests, now is it?

Finally, it’s almost laughable that Apple is crowing about making Snow Leopard a true 64-bit OS. Um, yeah, you mean like Windows XP was seven years ago? C’mon, guys – that’s the best you can do? And *still* no matte screen option on anything but the 17" model? In the immortal words of Bill & Ted: BOGUS!

Don’t get me wrong – my beefed up 15" Unibody is still the best computer I’ve ever owned but Apple needs to do some serious rethinking of their marketing strategy. It’s almost as if – despite their goofy commercials and upcoming Exchange support in their lightweight Mail app – the geniuses in Cupertino have decided to completely ignore the needs of the average corporate user. I’d love to bump up to the 3.06GHz model but this may very well be the last Macbook Pro I ever own. The 13" unit is an attractive option for the average user but beyond that they’re not making any moves to capture market share from Microsoft in the enterprise space. What with Windows 7 getting a lot of positive attention and the low-cost netbook craze just getting into full swing, I’m starting to believe that all those C-level idiots who drove our financial institutions into the ground have all gone over to work at Apple…

UPDATE: Seems like Engadget mostly agrees with me. I didn’t even mention AT&T but, yeah, they’re pretty evil S.O.B.’s.

UPDATE II: Jiminy Christmas, Apple can’t even get an SD card reader right. Take a look at what iFixit discovered – the bloody SD card sticks out half an inch when it’s fully seated (and I can confirm this having just purchased the 13" unit). Has everyone in Cupertino completely lost their marbles? Seriously, WTF???

UPDATE III: And the hits just keep on coming. Really, Apple, how in the heck does this make any sort of sense at all??? (Looks like this has finally been fixed. ’bout time, Steve-O)