CUPERTINO, California -- Apple on Tuesday announced a new version of the iBook notebook computer, which the company said is smaller and lighter than any other portable aimed at the consumer market.
"There's never been a consumer notebook under five pounds," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said, describing the new machine, which weighs 4.9 pounds and is just 1.3 inches thick.
The notebook, which has a base price of $1299, features a 12-inch display, which Jobs not surprisingly said offers a better viewing experience than competing notebooks. The new iBooks will ship in mid-May.
Apple, (AAPL) as is its custom, emphasized design changes in its new notebook. The company has abandoned the curved shape of the original iBook, giving the new model the squared sides of its more powerful cousin, the G4 Titanium notebook.
Instead of titanium, the computer is made from high-impact plastic, which Jobs claims makes it twice as durable as the old iBook. The portable includes a G3 500-MHz processor, 5-hour battery life and built-in AirPort wireless networking.
It is the wireless feature that makes this laptop stand out in its class, Jobs said.
Jobs outlined a new vision for computing in schools that, coincidentally, calls for expanded use of Apple products. He said a school that offers its students iBooks to use at their desks instead of computers in a central computer lab get more from the technology.
Jobs' theory was seconded by Mark Edwards, the superintendent of schools in Henrico County Virginia, which just purchased 23,000 iBooks for its students.
Jobs said the district order was the largest portable order in education history, and he suggested that the iBook's attractiveness would prompt more schools to follow suit.
"This is going to change technology and learning as we know it," Edwards said. He added that the iBooks would help bridge the digital divide in his diverse community.
But Edwards said the best comment on the iBook came from his daughter, who is in the 9th grade. "She said she's totally pumped about (it)."
