5 ms·
Nice aesthetics and form factor, which makes the choice to use fabric right under the palms, more than odd. Perhaps it will have strong sales given potential b
by wamatt 9y ago
Nice aesthetics and form factor, which makes the choice to use fabric right under the palms, more than odd.
Perhaps it will have strong sales given potential buyers rarely consider these long term issues. However, that fabric is almost certainly going to turn nasty over time and be a pain to manage.
It's like innovating by installing living potted plants inside a Ferrari to improve air quality. Cleaner air is a desirable goal, although the implementation could use another iteration.
- notatoad 9y agoMicrosoft has been using the same fabric for the keyboard covers on the Surface tablet for at least the last two generations. It seems weird on a laptop, but they should have most of the issues sorted out by now.
- georgeek 9y agoWhile that's certainly a concern, let's not forget that Alcantara is very common in high-end sports cars. It's commonly used in endurance racing (24h of le Mans etc).
- gambiting 9y agoI have a full alcantara steering wheel in my Mercedes AMG. It's awful, and AMG Private Lounge forums will tell you the same story, it's not uncommon for people to literally go and swap their alcantara-clad wheels in their $100k vehicles for normal leather. Initially it feels amazing when the car is brand new, but you need to keep cleaning it every month or otherwise it becomes this dirty clump of neither pleasant leather, nor smooth material, it's just unpleasant to touch - and after a certain point it doesn't matter how much you clean it, it just looks like an old rag and the only thing you can do is have the wheel re-done. Having a laptop covered in alcantara sounds like the worst idea ever, probably only a notch better than having shiny black piano plastic on surfaces which scratch from just looking at them.
- codydh 9y agoThis struck me as really odd too. This is one thing I think Apple (and others) have gotten really right. Metal doesn't wear down much from regular use or resting your palms on it like plastic or fabric does.