I at first had this idea for a post about why the Ultrabook will become an enterprise favorite. I wrote down five reasons in less than 15 minutes. Man, this post was going to be easy. Here they are:

The Right Combo the Post-PC Era: The Ultrabook carries on the Microsoft-Intel tradition. It sports an Intel CPU and Windows 8. That’s comforting for the PC-loving world of enterprise IT.

The BYOD Factor: The Ultrabook costs about the same as a PC. It’s mobile. It’s light. It runs Windows. People will buy these to replace the PC. People will bring them to work just as we’ve seen with the iPad and smartphones.

IT Policy Friendly: Enterprise IT pros know that an Intel-powered Windows Ultrabook will fit right into its existing enterprise and security policies. The MacBook Air? Are you kidding me?

Fast and Light: The Windows 8 Ultrabooks are reported to boot really fast. They are wafer thin and are so light that they can balance on a finger tip.

Stylish: Finally, something with style! Apple can’t be the only one to give customers a beautiful machine.

But then I read a story in Ars Technica by Peter Bright. And I realized that Peter is right. The PC industry is obsessed with pointless diversity. I read through his post and could not stop thinking about the heyday of Computer Shopper and the 20 years of telephone book thick magazines filled with so many varieties of PCs that after a while they almost all looked the same. The same is now true when you read through the Web sites of the major OEMs selling the Ultrabooks. As Bright points out the sites feature Ultrabooks “powered by productivity,” or “optimized for entertainment.” They are bewildering in their variety.  Just like the PC-days of old!

Apple on the other hand gave the world the MacBook Air, now available with an 11” or 13” screen. That’s it. And Apple has sold millions. It simplified its manufacturing process to make it as efficient as possible. They optimized the supply chain.

In contrast, at CES, Intel itself boasted it will release 75 Ultrabooks this year. 75!

And you know the PC makers just love it. They can now offer endless variations. Welcome to the same old show.

I will be happy if the Ultrabook is a success in the enterprise. But does it always have to be a commodity game for the PC makers? What about making a premium product?

Middle America has come to love the iPad and the iPhone. They are beautiful, powerful and fast. We can expect that Apple will continue to introduce similar gems in the months and years ahead. The company will enjoy fat margins as more people buy them for themselves, be they for work or play. And they will not give them up for a company issued machine. Consumers are increasingly making the decisions, not enterprise IT. Consumers will make a decision about what best suits them. They’ll then use that machine for whatever needs to get done.

People want simple, elegant machines. The Ultrabook offers that. Windows 8 is getting rave reviews. But will it be an enterprise hit? Only the consumer can decide. Price may win out but over time, the PC makers will have to change the model. The margins are too slim. It’s just not feasible to play the same old game.