Macworld News: Apple Intros New MacBook Wheel

Tuesday, January 6, 2009 | YouTube Watch | Read or Post a Comment

Apple stunned the computing world today by introducing the all new MacBook Wheel—the notebook without a keyboard.

ONN is reporting that Macworld 2009, Apple’s last Macworld ever, is abuzz over the introduction of MacBook Wheel—a diminutive notebook which looks like a MacBook but comes without a keyboard.

The large circular track pad is a wheel similar to the click wheel on the iPod. The Mac has no keyboard. All entry is handled by scrolling the wheel.

Jeff Tate of.... (excerpted).

4 Reader Comments

Joshua DeMichele said:

I hope you know that the macbook wheel is fake, why don’t you try watching the other onn videos.

Wow people really believe this stuff, I guess onn has one hell of a video.

Mac360 Note: Yes, we know it’s fake. Surprisingly, many did not. Hey, it’s from The Onion.

lee said:

Whoa…this is definitely revolutionary but I’m not sure if it’ll catch on. Ditching the keyboard could be a great space saver and make for ultra light portable laptops but I’m not sure the additional “100 clicks” is worth the loss of a laptops primary source of input (the trusty keyboard). The keyboard is tried and tested and I dont think its time to lose it. Like another poster mentioned, maybe its best to introduce a smaller “Wheel” alongside the regular keyboard and break us all in gently.

Jared B. said:

I don’t like it at all! Why you ask? I was forced in to taking typing class in seventh grade and I hated it. Some how I passed that 7th grade typing class and for years I told myself where and when in the world am I going to need typing skills? Sure enough I got my first computer in 1998 and the 7th grade was light years behind me but I still had some of those typing skills in me, kind of like learning how to ride a bike I guess. Well now it’s 2009 and you could put duct tape around my eyes and read a book to me as fast as you can read and I’ll type everything out onto the computer with minimal mistakes if any. I can not imagine a computer with out a key board. I promise I can type ten times faster than a person who has been trained to use that round thing! Is Apple just now finding out that the world is round and not flat.

Wahiawa786 said:

Imagine that, a tactile-access computer. With the big toot on wireless stuff, why does one need to be so “touchy-feely”? Nosiree, the future belongs to the tinfoil hatted crowd! All hail The BlueTooth Mac, with mental access on a 4D display! Think of the movie “Brainstorm” without all the wires. One huge problem remains, however, multitaskers need not apply, since the volume of unstructured thoughts overloads the CPU. Smoke, bolts of lightning and explosive gas explosions have been the unfortuate result of CEO experimentation. Rumors of Steve Jobs’ passing in a lab explosion during the BlueTooth Mac trials have been denied by Cupertino. (Film at 11.)

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