MacNN article indicates the MBA has issues with firewalls in general, but it ONLY affects the Remote Disk function - making it far from something that should be considered a "main issue" (the USAToday article does not emphasize the issue, this is pure MacNN spin).

Should have said "could give the impression that" rather than "indicates" in terms of the MacNN's firewall statement. All depends upon how you interpret things :)

the folks at USA Today are not. Similar criticisms were laid at Apple's feet when they abandoned the floppy drive.

Then the problem really is that Apple doesn't contain any 'present' thinkers. They apparently care not about what peripherals or other hardware people might have or use, they're just concerned where they think the world is going.

As for the floppy drive, there was no reason other then Apple deciding "we don't like it" to drop it. "People with existing data on floppies? s**** 'em! "

As for Apple's "forward thinking" on the floppy, it's cheered now because it is outdated, but Apple's big flaw wasn't so much getting rid of it, it was not replacing it with any other type of writable media.

But I guess we don't talk about the times where Apple completely misses the boat, like with the whole CD-R boom.

No firewire? You don't need it,

Really? I guess all those external firewire drives sitting on my desk are there for looks. They'd be great for Time Machine, oh, but I can't connect...

horvatic, just because you don't need it doesn't mean that other people don't. And I really don't agree that this is an ultra-portable... it's physically bigger than a MacBook, despite it's depth and weight! The Asus EEE PC- now THAT's an ultra-portable.

I really wanted a tiny Macbook. I'm pretty disappointed with the Air- the rumors convinced me that it would replace my TiBook. In reality, that isn't going to happen.

I'm with Testudo on this one who is obviously also old enough to remember the whole optical drive debacle with the original iMacs. Also, to add to the firewire criticism (although I've posted this elsewhere already), no firewire means no "target disk mode" in the event that you might need it.

If you already have firewire drives sitting on your desk then you already have a computer that can use them. I would hardly think for a moment that the MBA is supposed to replace anything you already have. Just plug the drives into the your existing computer and share it over the network.

But anyway....all of the firewire drives I've bought in the last few years ALSO have USB 2.0. Yours might too.

Guess what...USB 2.0 Drive enclosures cost as little as $19.95, it IS possible to move the disk inside.

There you go...3 possible solutions...took me all of 3 minutes to figure that out.

Haven't seen the OFFICIAL service documentation yet (it isn't out yet) You CAN boot from USB on the Intel Macs...ever think that you likely can use Target Disk Mode with USB also. It just needs the Boot ROM to tell it to, and since you can boot your machine wirelessly from a different computer's ODD, seems pretty easy to boot into Target Disk Mode with USB.

If you think Apple is the only ones that "'don't seem to care" about what people already have; think again. Try to find me a new logic board that has the appropriate number of IDE channels on it to plug in all my ODDs and hard disks. You might get one channel. The very latest logic boards don't even have that. Everything is SATA.

The MacBook Air is really interesting, but I am waiting for Rev. 2 (and I actually have the $ for a new laptop right now). They made a few too many trade-offs. Here's what would do it for me:

It's a little too thin. If you can't fit a 160GB 1.8" drive inside, then you've gone too far.

The bezel around the screen is too wide (and the space to each side of the keyboard). If that was trimmed down to just the width of the keyboard, you could eliminate nearly 1" of total width of the machine and keep a 13" screen. I'd trade thickness for less width.

Firewire, Ethernet, and audio in. If you can put 3 connectors on the right side, you can add three connectors to the left side, even if it means using "micro" ports with dongles.

That's it. Everything else is fine. I have no issue with poping open the bottom to replace the battery. I have no issues with fixed RAM (because it has enough), or with any of the other features.

isn't it amazing how all the 'competition owned media sources 'attack apple to core when great new products are announced'....

this is not NEWS!! this is SOUR GRAPES by tech industry losers and wanta-bes'.

NEWS SHOULD NEVER CONTAIN OPINIONS!

Gossip perhaps requires it.

Time to properly RE-NAME macnn to MAC GOSSIP

If you already have firewire drives sitting on your desk then you already have a computer that can use them. I would hardly think for a moment that the MBA is supposed to replace anything you already have. Just plug the drives into the your existing computer and share it over the network.

This is what I find funny, people saying the MBA isn't supposed to replace your existing computer. I guess only macheads can get behind the concept of "Spend $1800 on a 'secondary' computer!"

BTW, how does one transfer/sync his data from his little MBA to his "real" computer. I don't see any mention of syncing capabilities on the MBA web site.

Oh, and your solutions to the firewire problem are "Keep your current computer so you can use them", "Hope the cases you have can support what Apple now considers critical (and at this point I would be wary of buying any Firewire-only devices, as Apple has never fully let anyone know what their plans with it is)", and "Spend more money".

Great. The apple way. Spend $1800, then spend even more!

The press need's to stop writing off the MacBook air. If you need to use alot of heavy duty applications, don't buy it. If you only use word and safari and go everywhere with your laptop, then get it. It also has amazing features that other laptops can't offer. (Most notably multi-touch gestures)

USA Today (And Mossberg) raise an excellent point which fanboys like smitch blessedly ignore; the absence of user replaceable batteries in a notebook designed with an eye towards portable use is just absurd. An integrated battery in this instance emphasizes something less important (thinness) at the expense of something more important (extended use away from electrical power, and long term system reliability).

I can't use the computer for the length of a transcontinental flight. What's worse, as a user of Powerbooks and Macbook Pros for the last 6 years, I know for a fact that the batteries tend to fade after about a year. If the battery was user serviceable, I could just buy a new battery while keeping my computer... with the Air, I pay a premium for an underpowered system that is guaranteed to required a mail-away service within two years of ownership. That's hardly forward thinking; that's creating unnecessary dependency for the sake of vanity.

It might be s***, but these kinds of tradeoffs will cost them sales. I want one of these, and have been a reliable Apple customer for a very long time; that said, I won't be looking at one of these until after they figure out that an integrated battery is a bad idea.

[i] This is what I find funny, people saying the MBA isn't supposed to replace your existing computer. I guess only macheads can get behind the concept of "Spend $1800 on a 'secondary' computer!" [/i]

I spent 5 hours last weekend custom building a $3000 PC for someone to use strictly as their "game computer"

Get over yourself.

This is the part of consumers that typically can't think beyond the status quo. They'll get used to it. That's a promise! As I see it, we are looking at the next generation of Macbooks to come... Yeah USA Today does not get it. What a surprise!

I just read the review and it sounded to me like overall he liked the computer. What did everyone see that bothered them so much?

"Similar criticisms were laid at Apple's feet when they abandoned the floppy drive."

...and left their users with no viable transferable media. There were no CDR burners in Apple's models at the time and no USB flash drives available.

I was not alone in finding myself in deep S*** when my G4 screwed up and I couldn't get my work off it or access recovery tools.

Not to mention PC users for years after still gave me files on floppies that I could only access with extreme difficulty and much time wasting.

And you couldn't be bothered with the $30 USB floppy drive, right?

For all the comments on flaws by USA Today and others, the thing that kills the MBA for me is the price. I don't see how after omitting the optical drive, Ethernet, FireWire, audio input as well as small hard drive space, Apple actually charges $1800 for the thing. It's like buying a Polo shirt; half the price is the damn logo...in this case, it's the damn thinness.

I'll pass for sure on this Apple laptop.

/

Glad somebody else noticed battery life. I fly LA-Chicago many times a year for the company. Unless you're a high-end executive you fly coach, so a subnotebook would be ideal. I currently have a MacBook.

LA-Chicago is a 3:45 minute flight and 4:30 return. After 16 months, my MacBook battery barely lasts 2 1/2 hours. I bought a replacement battery that lasts 4 hours, and I use the original for backup power. If I use the MacBook in the airport (good luck finding an outlet at ORD or LAX) I need the spare battery to do a full 5-6 hours worth of work (yes TSA is still allowing extra batteries in carryon baggage).

Then when I get to the hotel, lots of times it doesn't have WiFi. This is a 4 star hotel in the middle of Chicago, but WiFi is a little impractical to install in a huge multi-story complex. So now I need to get a USB Ethernet adapter. But if I want to use my USB flash key at the same time, I'll need a USB hub.

So tell me, who IS the target customer for the Air? Somebody that wants to travel light but not more than 3 hours from an outlet, carry around a USB Ethernet adapter and hub...I don't get it. I don't doubt it'll sell, but I've yet to figure out to whom.