"When it comes to Japanese PC manufacturers, their manufacturing plants will complain or add their own technical efforts to lower cost, if a proposed structural design was insufficient."

Is that mean Taiwanese or other manufacturers suck? I think other outsourced companies are catching up with Japan's manufacturers.

This is totally unsurprising. Most Apple products go through multiple revisions during their lifecycle and get increasingly efficient. Even ostensibly the same product will have Rev A, Rev B, Rev C, etc. Assuming the MacBook Air starts selling in sufficient volume, I would expect a teardown in 3-6 months to already show greater manufacturing efficiency.

thats funny. probably the reason apple products dont fall apart.

"wasted space inside its otherwise efficiently designed chassis"

Where does it mention wasted space? Wow, wasted space in the Air.

h*** Hiro, look, we could a put a whole 'nother drive in this thing! Look at all this empty space in here!

Wow, they used screws. How quaint Hiro. We could have used those plastic snappy things and saved a bundle! We could have made it cheaper and still charged an arm and a leg for this thing!

Yeah, they learned it from Edward Deming, after the big 3 US automakers told him to get lost.

Anyway, Apple must put all those screws in there in order to prevent home users from tinkering. I had to pull like 20 screws of 4 different sizes to upgrade my Core 1 Duo's airport card to 802.11n .. Sorta like HP used to be with Laserjets..

As far as molding vs. cutting goes though, would a molded shape be stronger or lighter than a cut shape? When it comes to metal I def. prefer CNC-cut billet components to stamped..

Maybe Apple knows Japanese copying techniques very well and designed a laptop that will be very functional as well as hard to copy. Sure the Japanese make some really good products BUT they also make alot of really HORRIBLE copies of things too. I think that TechOn reverse engineers products so that Japanese copy mill can get to work syphoning off Apple profits and are pissed that the MBA wont be that easy to copy and make a lousy Windows PC clone out of. The MBA is a fabulous design inside and out and well worth the price. Keep up the good work Apple and keep pushing the design envelope.

"The MacBook Air gives me an impression that its manufacturing plant packaged the computer exactly as ordered by Apple."

I'm shocked that the manufacturers didn't change the design on their own so they could build it cheaper. Shocked!

Us Apple fanatics like lots of screws ... the more the merrier, thats why are ding-dongs are bigger than bonsia trees!

We know you jguys can build Karaoke machines with only one s**** .. but you still can't sing.

I'll take a well built and "inefficient" Apple portable over any Sony, Dell, HP, etc. any day.

Okay, where to begin? Process improvement is an easy argument. All companies (should) improve their products over time. Heck, there are some things I don't like about the Air. But here's the thing in this case:

1. It's far easier to come up with product improvement ideas for an existing device than to build the original one.

2. All ultra-portable designs I've seen from Asian countries more or less suck, so Nikkei can't speak about what they would have done better, since they haven't done anything this good in the first place.

3. Maybe all the screws in the keyboard improve its rigidity. I for one would like that.

4. Machined aluminum alloy parts are going to be stronger than molded/stamped pot-metal c*** I see coming out of the East all the time.

5. They might not ever approve a design like the Air, but maybe that's why they've never produced a product as nice as the Air.

6. I would hope the mfg. plant would build the product exactly as specified. At the same time, I would think Apple (or any company) would appreciate feedback from manufacturing that could improve a product.

7. The internal battery is a compromise for form factor & size. The good thing is it can easily be replaced by the owner (regardless of how Apple wants you to do it). As for swapping batteries while on travel... I can do that with my existing laptop... I've never done it. It would require me to carry the extra bulk. The internal battery is a big non-issue for me.

There's plenty more to say, but this is more than long enough for a post.

Or...the engineer is simply correct. Why some much hate over some simple expert criticism. It is pretty much standard policy that one can look at a product after the fact and find ways to improve upon it. Wow folks, take a chill pill.

I have worked in high volume electronics manufacture before and designs end up as they are for many reasons: --Last minute change in design left space. --Outside designed before inside and space left "in case" needed. --Space left for improvements and additions. --Space not needed due to current components but outside design calls for smooth curves. --Oppps. So there are many reasons and I am sure that we will NEVER know why Apple did this. But so far my iBook is still running great, so I cannot complain. :-)

en

I guess we can be snooty about the fact they didn't build it, we love Apple, rah rah rah. But regardless of their attitude or whatever that's coming across, it is nice to know that there are groups that tear these down (literally and figuratively) to make suggestions, look at ways to improve, and give us an inside look at what otherwise would just be a mysterious little laptop. Pretty neat.

"If I proposed such a design, our company would never approve it," said one of the engineers.

Is it critique or envy from this engineer.

Didn't SJ's compare the MacBook Air to a Sony Vaio during MacWorld, and is not Sony a "Japanese" company?

Maybe it is the Japanese engineer who sould take a chill pill as opposed to some Samurai Code of Honor defending Japan.

From looking at and owning many a portable mac, it must be obvious to anyone that Apple loves screws.

In fact, it wouldn't surprise me to find out Steve Jobs secretly owns stock in a s**** manufacturer and forces his designs to have as many as possible to increase sales in his other company. (And being small, they're easier to lose, thus providing more sales!).

But, much more importantly, why is there no speculation about that ungodly amount of empty space in the Air???? There's some weird pin placements on the mobo of a mini and people are speculating all over about a built-in ipod dock!

Maybe this space is for future enhancements to the product. Maybe a mini-compact DVD-RW drive with Blu-Ray capabilities!

Let's say it took Apple 3 months to get a DVT unit (a prototype), another 3 to get a DBT (Develop, Build, Test), and another month to get as many MBA's made as required: that's a long time, industry wise. Of course it could be "better" -- everything could be "better" and in time will be.

Taking apart my IIci yesterday I noticed that if the cache card was 1/4 inch closer to the CPU it would be 2.5% faster -- why didn't Apple think of this?

But if people chilled out and read the article dispassionately, we wouldn't have such enlightened comments about Japanese culture, karaoke machines and the samurai code.

I mean if you chilled out and read the article, you could see that the engineers aren't saying the MBA sucks, just that in their opinion, it could be manufactured more efficiently.

And where's the fun in that?

i guess that's why japanese notebooks looks so sleak... LOL...

"When it comes to Japanese PC manufacturers, their manufacturing plants will complain or add their own technical efforts to lower cost, if a proposed structural design was insufficient. The MacBook Air gives me an impression that its manufacturing plant packaged the computer exactly as ordered by Apple."

In other words, send us your design and we will cut corners. I don't normally jump on critics, but these comments were outrageous.

"Just leave out some of the screws, they'll never notice"!

Actually, they do have a point. I had to take apart a Powerbook once and put it back together. Holy frijoles, but that had a ton of screws. I never want to do that again.

"In other words, send us your design and we will cut corners. I don't normally jump on critics, but these comments were outrageous."

Actually they won't cut corners, they'll mold them. :-)

All those screws are necessary in case a MBA owner decides to mail the unit back to Apple for a new battery in the envelope shown in the commercial. :)

Hey Automorrow, your a racist b******. And if you got to brag about it you ain't packing it! And, no, I'm not Japanese.

I just don't like racist b*******!

What about this ad:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=93KrnZ0UJQk

;)

That was funny--though I seem to remember it as a movie spoof.

Anyone would think some of the posters here had had a hand in designing the Macbook Air.

There are some excellent points made. One that it is easier to copy than create and also that nothing is perfect and can't be improved.

The screws issue is 100% on target. Having had to service many a Mac the placement, accessibility and random sizing of screws amazes me. No, they are often not necessary the way they were done, just the result of mental and organisational laziness with the knowledge that they can be foisted off onto an worshipful customer base.

It may be short term expediency that dictates the way Apple does things, but they often totally contradict themselves.

I remember how they rightly praised the single s**** to open the IIci to service. The 7200's swing open design (unfortunately with the cheap plastic prop that always broke). The G4's swing down door. The glowing on light and magnetic remote on the iMacs etc

One thing's certain if Apple says something is a great design innovation, they'll take it out in the next model and we'll be back to something remarkably like the PC S***.

That said, having held a Macbook Air, it is beautiful.

A shame the specs leave me cold.

> Some cultures value the independence and free thinking that leads to innovation - Japan is not such a culture.

You must not work in American manufacturing, where "we've always done it that way" is far more powerful than "can we do it better?"

It takes real innovation to constantly improve. Ask GM how easy it is.

...which is why it hasn't even done the most obvious innovation, which is go metric.

I remember when President Ford attempted the unthinkable, the USA paper industry immediately founded a committee to come up a metric paper standard. Totally ignoring the well established and practical ISO standards.

these japanese tecchies screaming this c*** - if they can do it why don;t they?

But really how much of a savings is it going to be to mount the keyboard with 10 screws instead of 30?

Are we saving $500-$1000? No!

Then who the h*** cares_

You think the savings would actually be passed on to the consumer? Now that's funny!

The engineer says Apple wasted "space" but it would appear he meant wasted money. I read the article thinking, "Holy Cow, we could have had an ExpressCard slot, or (god forbid) an optical drive."

But, it appears it's just a few screws that take more time and manufacturing dollars that has him stymied.

I remember when I heard that companies found out they could make tin cans with a few less welds on the seam, and save thousands of dollars over millions of cans, which didn't leak. Cool.

Then I remembered how Ford didn't waste the 29 cents required to cut off the end of the long bolt on the Pinto that sheared into the fuel tank on rear impact, barbecuing the occupants.

Not every cost-reduction process is a good idea. Besides, any PC guy will tell us Apple has been giving us a good s******* for years! ;-)

I do not know why some users here are irate that Japanese engineers say they can do better with the MacBook Air. Just because Apple makes a product does not mean it is "perfect". Just because someone else comes along to criticise a product does not mean they're expressing "sour grapes".

Look, it is much easier to critique and change an existing design (often) than it is to create a whole new design from scratch. Apple went ahead and did the ground work for this model. Now, someone else comes along to say they can improve on the design and that is a very conceivable thing! That person (they, the Japanese) though may not be able to come up with the initial design but it is conceivable they can change an existing design to make it better.

These two activities--creating a design from scratch versus modifying an existing design--are two different things, though not exclusively so.

Apple has taken a lot of existing designs and made them for the better. Our beloved Mac OS interface, for instance, comes not originally from Apple but from Xerox Research Park. The mouse design also, but Apple went to improve the design.

The same thing with a lot of items about the iPhone. Many of the iPhone technologies already existed prior to the iPhone but Apple improved on the design and added a few "new" things such as multi-touch. But in fact, even multi-touch is not that new! Consider its history of being designed in the past.

So, dear users, do not get upset simply because someone comes along and says a design can be improved upon. Apple itself does this all the time.