99.9% of people DON'T do work on airplanes or trains. Even on most coffeeshop tables you have room for a compact 17"... And you always want more screen, right?

Have you been on the NY<->DC amtrak recently? Or NY<->Boston? Everyone has their laptop out. I wish there was a laptop designed to fit neatly in the tray instead of being slightly too big and being tilted due to the lip of the tray.

Separately, have you been to a NYC coffee shop recently? Few folks have 15" displays, but two people can just about fit. The 17"-ers take up the full table, and it feels like they're bringing a "rig".

> two people can just about fit

if you're the one with the 15", and the person near it's a 12" or 10", there's enough room. lots of people will be satisfied with 12" so if you're the 15" you'll be in the win. get a 12" if you want room in trains, probably. 14" is a weird compromise. you either need a proper office or table or you don't. and 17" will always be rare enough that 2 people with 17" landing on the same table will never happen. I mean, you get a 17" inch machine especially so you can beam a "fuck off, keep the distance" to people around you... :P

> if you want room in trains, probably. 14"

I'm suggesting an "Amtrak laptop" that fits precisely and snugly in the fold-out trays that they give you, regardless of screen size.

IME doing any real work on a 13" screen just sucks. It's not good for gaming or movies either.

> I still struggle to use it on an airplane tray table.

... it's a LAPtop. Why bother with the airplane tray when it's thin and light enough to use on your lap?

> What's the appeal of a thin-and-light 17 incher?

Most mainstream customers don't need a powerful CPU/GPU (see success of MacBook Air). All they want is thin, light and a big beautiful screen.

The neck angle of putting a laptop in my lap on a plane is unusable.

yes with an 11" notebook the angle would be a pain but with a 17" screen it's quite usable

I worked my way through grad school with a 17 inch macbook pro. I would work in between classes by sitting in a chair in the lounge, putting the laptop on my lap and working. The height of the arms of this one chair was perfectly level with the top of the laptop. The angle of the chair back put the screen straight ahead in my vision. The ergonomics were almost as good as working at a desk.

Ikea doesn't sell that chair anymore and apple doesn't sell that laptop anymore. sigh

> All they want is thin, light and a big beautiful screen.

I disagree with the thin part. I have yet to see anyone care whether a laptop is 1" or .7". This is a pointless marketing ploy, invented by Jobs. Yes, lightness matters. But we have seen (and I actually owned one) incredibly light laptops mostly from Japan well before Jobs invented the thin craze.

> I have yet to see anyone care whether a laptop is 1" or .7".

Careful there. I didn't say mainstream customers care about having the 'thinnest' laptop. I agree that a distinction between 1" or 0.7" is pointless. They do care about having a 'thin' laptop. It's largely marketing but also partly ergonomics, especially at the 17" size to reduce volume

I really don't understand the weight issue, I don't mind a heavy laptop at all. Make it twice as heavy or even heavier if I can get more battery out of it. Thinness though is extremely important. It determines the bulk of the whole machine and in what situations I can bring it.

Noise, performance and battery life are really important too, so there are bound to be a lot of compromises. But I really do value thinness.

Most mobile use of laptops is in contexts other than airplanes. (thankfully, from climate change POV)

Contractors who have to drag their laptops to work and home each day but want desktop-class machines.