One More Sleeve…
I really can’t believe it’s taken them this long to produce one, but Timbuk2, the manufacturer that I naturally associate with Mac owners has finally released their, kinda over-branded, version of the manila envelope MacBook Air case.
Don’t let this simple design fool you. We’ve overbuilt the hell out of this sleeve including ultrasonic seam welds, durable exterior softshell fabric (just like the stuff in mountaineering jackets), and low pile brushed fleece lining. The exterior fabric and interior fleece are made from recycle-ready poly, the brushed aluminum buttons can be tossed in your recycling bin with your soda cans, the sonic welds use nontoxic glue, and the string can be reused to tie your shoe in a pinch. Who could even THINK of putting a MacBook Air™ in anything less?
— Timbuk2: Steve Sleeve
Uh… sure, ok. I’d think they were just having a laugh with that product description except that it isn’t April 1st. Ships early March. I think it may have taken them this long because when they noticed that people were doing it they likely had to keep modifying theirs so that it didn’t look identical to the other two already out there. I can’t help wonder who’ll be next!
I also wonder how long it will be before these types of things saturate the market to the point where police start issuing ad campaigns advising people to keep their manila envelopes, laptop case or not, hidden to make sure they aren’t targeted by thieves. I can just imagine the social engineering “I belong here” office thief checking envelopes from desk to desk, instead of the usual purses and wallets, trying to score that sweet $1800 piece of iCandy.
There’s still this “Ooooooooh… Aaaaaaaaaah” factor to the MacBook Air.
Timbuck2’s copy for its product sounds great, very green, but that envelope is too literal. The AirMail’s also too much like an a manila envelope, but at least the Studio Leung sleeve doesn’t look like anything that would get passed around in the intra-office mail, despite the details.