When I posed the question Yesterday about the new iPad 2 being the ultimate blogging platform, I received an interesting response from John Saddington, the creator of The Standard Theme for WordPress. In his view, the new MacBook Air is the best blogging platform and he gave 10 reasons why in a compelling post on his blog.
After looking at John’s post, I think he makes some good points. The MacBook is powerful, lightweight, and truly makes a great desktop replacement. But how well does it work as a blogging platform?
Here is where we differ. John looks at a blogging machine from the eyes of a ProBlogger. He wants a powerful machine that can run Photoshop and blog design software. He wants a machine that can do it all in a small and convenient package. The MacBook Air fits this to a tee. I would agree with him that the new Air is the best bang for your buck in laptops.
From my viewpoint, I look at the iPad 2 as a machine that I can take anywhere, has a 10 hour battery, and a convenient touch screen interface. The iPad makes blogging simple. I just turn it on, fire up Blogpress, and start typing. The keyboard auto corrects my mistakes, and makes my typing faster and easier.
I can use the built in cameras to snap pictures and videos. The dual camera setup allows me to speak to my audience and then click to the backside camera and show what is going on in front of me. It’s a great way to do interviews or product demos. Inserting the video into the post is easy and with the click of one button, my post is on the web. With 3G I can do this anywhere there is cell service.
Overall, they both are great machines. I truly like the convenience of the iPad and the speedy self correcting keyboard. This little device has greatly increased my writing efficiency, and Blogpress allows me to focus on content rather than the complexities of HTML.
My advice… If you are a ProBlogger, get a MacBook. If you are a casual blogger, the iPad may be the most convenient blogging tool you can buy. It certainly is an amazing product for the price. The bottom line, blogging can take a lot of time. Both of these tools make it quicker and easier!
Question: What type of machine do you use for your blog posts?
Related posts:
About 
ah, love this! a great question and i’m sure we’ll find people on both sides…!
one is obviously cheaper though.
It seems like your setup (11″ MacBook Air and large screen monitor) is a great way to go… portable and powerful. I’ve heard that the iPad 2 is completely sold out in the US. The online order dates are indicating a 4 to 6 week arrival time. It will be interesting to see the new apps that developers come out with. I am amazed at the cool things you can do with the $4.99 Garage Band.
I just bought a MacBook Air about a month ago. I didn’t buy it because John thinks it’s the best platform for blogging (sorry John), but now that I’ve had it for a few weeks, I completely agree with him on that. I bought it based on the recommendation of Michael Hyatt and several other people I’ve connected with, mainly through Mike’s blog.
I bought my MBA to use solely as a blogging/writing platform right now. Mainly, that’s because I can’t afford to replace all my PC software that I use frequently. Plus the MBA allows me to write distraction free, since all my other stuff isn’t there to catch my eye.
My problem right now, is I’ve never used a Mac before now. So the learning curve is pretty steep for me. I’ve already posted questions on John’s site and even emailed him, asking what applications he used for certain things. I appreciate his help.
But I love the MBA. It’s lightweight, yet powerful. Having never had an iPad, I can’t really compare the two, but I do know that I love what I’m using.
By the way, I got a GREAT deal on it at quibids.com. Much less than I would have paid for one online or at a store like Best Buy. Plus, it came with iWork 09, apple care, and even a rebate!
Love it!
By the way, I bought the 11″ model, and also use it with a dual monitor setup. Works great!
I had a MacBook Pro as a work laptop for years. One thing that made the transition easier was to install BootCamp, so I could boot into Microsoft Windows. It’s a simple process and the current version supports Windows 7. You can see details here. http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/
This really makes for a versitile machine that allows you to run any windows software you might have.
hah! although, didn’t mike mention my review? ;0
Really works on 11″ Macbook i think. Well, i will share this to my developing team and they will be the one to decide what would be the best. Because i wanna buy.
I Thnk a true problogger can get both ipad 2 and the macbook air
really interesting topic. May josh gives input? They serve on different reason actually. Josh put some links might be interesting to read it.
Macbook Air vs iPad2
warm regards…