New Bags for the MacBook Air

[Darcy]

Stay tuned! In just a couple of hours we will be announcing new bags designed specifically for the new <a href="http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?nnmm=browse&mco=7B723660&node=home/shop_mac/family/macbook_air">MacBook Air</a> laptop.

[maverick]

thanks darcy - looking forward to it!

[Darcy]

Vertical and Horizontal Brain Cells (Size 6X) are now available for pre-order for the MacBook Air.

More to come.

[maverick]

wow darcy! that was fast!!

will there also be a soft cell customized for the macbook air?

[Darcy]

The MacBook Air is so thin it deserves an entirely new style of padded sleeve: Tom is working on the design and will continue to in the coming weeks.

For right now, there is the Size 6X Brain Cell and the soon-to-be-announced bag(s)..

[Darcy]

Ok! You guys get to see this before anyone else does. (The page is still a work in progress!)

The Ristretto Messenger

The Ristretto Messenger is a vertical messenger bag (similar to our Cafe Bags though different in proportion) with an interior compartment padded at the front, back, and bottom and sized specifically for your MacBook Air or 13" MacBook.

The above link and pictures on the page linked above also introduce a new addition to our color palette: Cayenne.

[maverick]

my wife is going to kill me, but i'm getting one!

a cafe bag design with a padded compartment for the macbook/macbook air is brilliant!

will the padded compartment design be similar to what's in the buzz?

also, i notice that the ristretto (please tell the story behinds its name is a bit smaller in dimension than the large cafe bag.

while it would be hard to choose between the plum/wasabi and olive/cayenne, i'd probably confuse myself going with the plub/wasabi since those are the colors of my large cafe bag :-). so the olive/cayenne it will be - i'm looking forward to having this color combination.

all of you black ballistic bag users out there, you have no idea what you're missing.

let me know if you need someone to try out a prototype .

[scholar]

how will this fit laptops other than macbooks? I have a 12.1" toshiba, and looking at my girlfriend's 13" mac, it's slightly thicker(I doubt more than an eighth of an inch) the same depth, and narrower

I ask because I have a definite preference for vertical messenger bags, at least looks wise...

[scholar]

also, is it possible to get pictures of what this one looks like with a q-am strap, with someone wearing it? I can't quite picture how the vertical lay out will work with that strap...

[mrae]

Is the focus on this going to delay release of the small backpack? I don't have nor will have a mac.

[timarelay]

Is the focus on this going to delay release of the small backpack? I don't have nor will have a mac.

haha, I had a similar reaction. =) There keeps being information on everything but the Synapse, which is all I care about right now.

eta: This does look fairly cool, but I'm not a big fan of the vertical layout (I mean, generally, I don't like vertical bags much), or the non extendingness of the front buckle which is my main problem with the cafe bag.

[scholar]

agreed on that one.. and it looks like the dimensions are slightly smaller where I need them to be slightly larger... now I"m wondering how much the sleeve adds to my laptop and if the buckle will lay flat, which the lg cafe bag doesn't with my laptop

[Darcy]

Is the focus on this going to delay release of the small backpack? I don't have nor will have a mac.

Tom has been working on the design of the Ristretto for the past few months: a customer from the forums is currently testing a version of it with a built-in padded compartment sized for the EEE PC. As soon as the MacBook Air was introduced, we all looked at each other and said "The Ristretto would be the perfect bag to carry it!". So, no, no delays on the Synapse because of the Ristretto.

[Darcy]

also, i notice that the ristretto (please tell the story behinds its name is a bit smaller in dimension than the large cafe bag.

Ristretto

It is a bit smaller than the Large Cafe: this bag is the answer for those of you who want to carry your laptop, power supply, a couple of cables, wallet, keys, and a magazine, and don't want a big bag.

while it would be hard to choose between the plum/wasabi and olive/cayenne, i'd probably confuse myself going with the plub/wasabi since those are the colors of my large cafe bag :-). so the olive/cayenne it will be - i'm looking forward to having this color combination.

Olive/Cayenne is a stunning combination, IMO!

Have you ordered your MacBook Air yet?

Everyone should keep in mind that the Ristretto is not yet officially announced: the Ristretto page allows those who read the forums to place a pre-order and see it before most everyone else does, but we will be adding many more pictures and more details about the bag as the first prototypes come out of the factory. Changes to the look and the design of the bag could still occur (that's up to Tom.)

[maverick]

So, no, no delays on the Synapse because of the Ristretto.

The other option would be to clone Tom. We could have a few Tom's running around designing bags!

Just think - we could have new product announcements every week!

We could even have a contest to have Tom and his clones design a bag for a particular purpose and let everyone on the forum vote to select who designed the best bag.

But wait! Do you see the tension building?... what will we name all the clones? how many clones should there be? how do we tell the different clones apart? what if one of the clones decides he wants to take over Tom's position? how will we know who the real Tom is? where are they all going to stay?

As all of these questions fly through everyone's heads in the forum, Tom ponders the most profound question of all: how are we going to feed all of these clones???

Hopefully, Tom doesn't have a big appetite! The last thing I want to find is a message in the forums saying that the Tom Bihn factory had to shut its doors because it was getting too expensive to feed the clones!