[cageface]

I wonder if this new crop of ultra-thin Macbooks is going to threaten iPad sales. Certainly the iPad is half the price of the low-end MBA, but the MBA isn't that much harder to lug around and it's so much more capable. Lately I find myself reaching for my 2010 MBP more than the iPad and that's a beast compared to this year's crop.

[inkaudio]

I think most people use the ipad to view content or play games. see: http://mashable.com/2010/07/08/ipad-usage-report/ It not so much about lugging a computer around, but using the ipad while you're on the move. The Ipad is so much easier to use in that way. There are plenty of photographers and videographers who use it to show their work. People are using it to replace e-readers (like me). Restaurants are using it to manage their living social deals, loyalty programs and square credit card processing. And I notice the form factor(touch screen no keyboard) makes it simple for them to use while moving around. Most non technical people won't pay more for Macbook if ipad is good enough for their needs. So I don't see ultra thin Macbooks threaten ipad sales. For me I love using both. Ipad for magazines, books, portfolios, casual games, occasional web browsing. And Mac book pro for everything else, coding, writing music, editing pictures.

[saturdaysaint]

I prefer using the Macbook Air for both content consumption and creation. For reading, resting a laptop on my lap and paging with an occasional tap of a key or brush of the touchpad is far easier than supporting the entire weight of the device and swiping the screen on occasion. For website viewing, I need the freedom to have 10 or so tabs open without the iPad's annoying reload when you try to enter an old tab.

[cageface]

I'm probably not a typical user, but over and over again I find that while browsing on the iPad that I want to comment at length on something I read, which I hate doing on the touch keyboard. I also tend to browse the web with a bunch of tabs open and switch around quickly and this also isn't so pleasant on the iPad. Something like the 11" MBA with Ableton Live, Adobe CS, XCode, Terminal, Chrome, and Transmit could be all the computer I need and would be no trouble to port around.

At this point the only thing I strongly prefer to do on the iPad is read ebooks. I wonder how many people there are like me that love the portability and convenience of a tablet but would be happy to put up with a slightly larger device if it meant they could do real work with it as well.

[clobber]

iOS 5 will solve at least part of this for you: The new Safari will have tabs and the touch keyboard will be "split"

http://www.geek.com/articles/apple/apples-ios-5-finally-brin...

[jonnathanson]

I think that depends on how we define "capability," and for which segment of hypothetical users. Over the long run, I could just as easily see cannibalization's moving in the opposite direction.

To wit: there's probably at least one big segment of the population that just doesn't seem to need laptops all that often, if at all. Even ultralight ones. Give them an iPad, and they can do their web surfing, media consuming, emailing, Facebooking, and fowl-slinging all day long. My girlfriend and my parents fall into this category, for instance; they own MBAs and iPads, and the former are usually collecting dust -- perhaps occasionally used for word processing only.