I know a lot of people purchase iTunes songs, burn them to CD, then re-rip them to MP3 format for use on non-iPod devices. The Apple Air will effectively put an end to that practice for its users. Certainly not the biggest deal in the world, but I think it’s a sufficiently interesting wrinkle to merit a comment.

But no ethernet? Only wireless? This is supposed to be a travel notebook. Sure, wireless is common, but so are wired ports (especially at hotels). And you may well prefer wired over wireless given the choice anyway; less connection troubles, higher speed.

And as you say, for a subnotebook it’s just too big. My R6 has a 10" screen, making the machine the size of a textbook, and quite a bit shorter than A4. That is a decent size; I would not want anything bigger.

As far as the size is concerned, I think the arguments that it is too big are ill-founded. In my experience, once you get to about the footprint of a piece of letter paper, people stop caring about footprint, they care about thickness. Our culture is so subconsciously built around that dimension, once you hit it, objects tend to effectively disappear because they blend in with everything else you are expected to carry so well. The air gets this balance right. The biggest gripe about thin & lights typically is the keyboard and screen size. The Air gives you plenty of room there because of its’ "big" footprint. I think this is a very smart design choice for a thin & light. I mean come on, they’re supposed to be "thin & light" not "cramped & squinty" right?

Also, Skippy, very astute. I think you’re right on with that point, especially in light of the other announcements that happened at Macworld. I think it was mere convenience that leaving out an optical would be required to hit their size & weight targets.

For myself, it’s interesting, but I think I’ll pass at that price point. That said, I know a lot of people for whom this thing will seem like The Answer. If it comes down to sub-$1500 and runs Ubuntu well, I’ll bite.

The MacBook Air is smaller, and weight less, it is perfect to put in your backpack and bring with you everywhere without annoyances. I know a friend who had an older mac laptop, 12" and he was so happy with it because of this reason. It is not an Eee or something similar but a real laptop that you easily can bring around.

It is exactly what I need and want, and well, I won’t really miss the disc drive. I think I used the disc drive in my mac around 4 times the last year and just to copy a few photos… today it is a lot more attractive to buy a small usb harddrive for this usage.

When Ferrari brings out a new model, do you hear people complaining that it has no towbar, or that you can’t use it for work if you’re a bus driver? Apple have brought out a computer that’s the equivalent of a Ferrari: it’s very sleek and expensive and is most likely to be bought by a wealthy middle aged bloke who doesn’t get laid very often and wants to impress his peers, . If someone has to have a laptop with an optical drive, or with a FW800 port, or with a 120GB HD, there are plenty alternatives available, but they are less likely to make people go "Ooooooh".

http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/30/palm-foleo-hands-on/

"Is it just me or does that computer only have one USB port?"

http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/24/intels-metro-laptop-prototype-is-worlds-thinnest/

"The 0.7-inch thick 2.2-pound Metro [...]"