Oh come on. The Macbook Air is sexy no matter what your "brand politics" are. It just makes your screenshots look more beautiful than say putting them on a picture of some plastic laptop you find at Walmart... or Best Buy... or everywhere. Why put it on a computer at all, you may ask. It gets people imagining themselves using it on a physical device. A screenshot can be beautiful and persuasive by itself but having one on a piece of hardware allows you to imagine using that hardware along with the software. And if both the hardware and software are beautiful then it makes the effect more powerful.
Honestly, I don't see how it alienates anyone unless you're actually against the vendor. I mean, you say you aren't but let's be real. It comes off like that's where you're coming from.
> Honestly, I don't see how it alienates anyone unless you're actually against the vendor.
So, I have nothing against the MacBook Air (in fact, I love it, and am typing this comment on one: this is my favorite computer I have ever owned, by far); however, I know a lot of my friends do (believing Apple machines to be the anti-thesis of computers, etc.), and they are the kinds of people who might be in the market for useful software.
I guess you can say "those people are closed-minded: I don't want them using my software", but with that attitude you very rapidly realize you wouldn't want to sell to anyone (often including yourself, once you really approach the problem of avoiding closed-mindedness with an open mind ;P). To me, an abstract device would work just as well.
Honestly, I don't see how it alienates anyone unless you're actually against the vendor. I mean, you say you aren't but let's be real. It comes off like that's where you're coming from.