Axiotron Modbook: Forgotten future of the Mac

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Axiotron Modbook: Forgotten future of the Mac

16 April 2012 1,814 views 4 Comments

Once upon a time, Axiotron’s Modbook was what the future of the fairer platform might have looked like — the reviews were rave and the MacBook conversion tablet won a Best of Show Award at Macworld 2008. Then came the iPad and the press, not to mention buyers, quickly dried up.

Back in June 2010, a few short months after the original iPad shipped, I wrote that Modbook maker Axiotron’s restructuring was almost complete. Shortly thereafter, the company announced, still citing their near complete rebirth, that a new model, the Modbook Pro, would ship in the first quarter of 2011.

Like most everyone else I forgot about Axiotron. Needless to say, the Modbook Pro never made it to market and the company’s original MacBook conversion tablet has been discontinued.

That said, as shown in the above screen cap from PowerbookMedic, at least one refurbished Modbook remains unsold and there are a fair number available listed on Craigslist, as well.

The rather dated Axiotron website is still online and their user forums are still active. I’ve sent an email to the available email addresses seeking comment — I’m not expecting a reply.

Did you own a Modbook or know someone that did/does? Sound off in the comments below…

4 Comments »

DAG said:

I was interested at launch until I saw the price. That’s what killed the Modbook.

# 16 April 2012 at 12:19 pm

Yacko said:

Is it dead? Both the Axiotron and Other World Computing sites still list it and the conversion process, if you supply your own computer, is likely still alive.

However, in the long run it is dead and not from the iPad. Unfortunately, the only models that can be converted are the plastic Macbooks and we now know that Apple has let that line of laptops come to an end. In the future there will be few Macbooks to convert and the economics of maintaining the conversion process for a few stragglers will just not make sense.

# 16 April 2012 at 9:19 pm

the rocr (author) said:

FWIW: Just confirmed via OWC chat that the Modbook and Modbook service currently aren’t available:

OWC XXXXX: [9:03:35 PM] At this time we are not offering the modbook or conversions.
[9:03:50 PM] We hope to have this service back in full swing in the near future.

# 16 April 2012 at 10:24 pm

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# 22 April 2012 at 6:43 pm