We admit, we were more than a little disappointed when we first saw an iBook up close and personal. And not because of the styling, or the color choices, or anything like that-- we were bummed out because of the iBook's sheer size. It's a behemoth. It's bigger than a Wall Street PowerBook G3, and its color scheme makes it look even bigger than that (since white and orange aren't exactly as slimming as Wall Street's sleek black). And beyond that, it's heavy; 6.6 pounds according to the Apple reps at the Expo, and 6.7 pounds according to Apple's web site-- heavier than a current PowerBook, which packs a lot more functionality, such as a bigger screen, swappable expansion bays, a PC card slot, video out, an extra USB port, stereo speakers, and a built-in microphone. In fact, the iBook's feature set is minimal enough that it probably could have been a less-than-four-pounds subnotebook, as the rumors originally implied it would be. So what's with the bigness and the heaviness?

Well, we think Andy Ihnatko has answered our question. In his latest column at MacCentral, he regales us with the tale of his trip to Apple to spend some quality time with an iBook. He was intrigued with reports that the iBook had been designed to withstand "life in a backpack," so he decided to test the unit's ruggedness. First he tested the innovative latchless lid-closing mechanism by throwing the iBook in the air a few times; on the final toss, he even "grazed a lighting fixture," but the iBook stayed shut. As he continued to ask questions of the three Apple reps present, he decided to "swing the iBook into the table leg over and over again," but the iBook showed no signs of damage. In fact, Andy notes that "near the end, [he] was swinging it into the table with considerably greater gusto than [he] had originally intended, but no matter"; the iBook still booted up just fine, and looked as good as new.

Now, what's really telling about this whole ordeal is the fact that, while Andy was inflicting these horrors on the poor iBook, the three Apple reps in the room "didn't say a word" about the abuse. They were apparently perfectly confident that the iBook could withstand the punishment without breaking a virtual sweat, as it were. (They stopped him when he tried to bend the handle all the way back, but hey, nothing's invulnerable.) So all the "wasted space" in the iBook's design apparently acts as some pretty heavy-duty cushioning, giving the system the ability to survive (hopefully) the rigors of day-to-day schoolkid handling. Suddenly we're less reticent about lugging a 6.7-pound, large-binder-size iBook in our shoulder bags; to us, knowing that it'll survive the trip is worth a sore shoulder or two.