Fail?
Many of you claim this machine failed miserably, that noone wants them, that they missed the market.
1) they missed the market YOU think they were aiming at, which is actually NOt the market they were choosing. The market for the air is people who want FULL SIZE light and portable machines... People who want a simlg slim briefcase or bag to contain ALL their business work, not to have a briefcase AND a laptop bag. These are peopole who want portabilitiy, but the ability to still work with video and graphiucs on a limited basis, and who don't want to have a magnifying glass to read the screen.
2) Apple has sold a TON of these machines. I see one leaving my local BestBuy in the hands of a happy copnsumer every time I'm there... In fact, my understanding is they outsell 13" pro machine...
3) External DVD is an option... no it's not included, but most of the competing ultra-thins don;t include one either.
4) Having a removable battery completely defeats the idea of portable. not only would it dramatically increase the size, but also you;d have to carry that extra battery. It runs 5-7 hours on a charge, and charges in 30 minutes to 80%. Tell me where you'll be for 5 hours where you can't find an outlet and where the notebook will be under constant use and I'll show you somewhere else you could be using it. Besides, most of the machines with removable batteries only have 2-3 hour charges anyway, so 2 batteries in your machine is the equivalent of my internal. Also, how do you charge 2-3 batteries??? I've had several notebook sin the past where I've been convinced to get a second battery. In most cases I rarely used it, in others, the second one was never charged as i dodn't have the time to babysit it for 2 hours while it charged so I could swap out the battery!
5) 1 USB, I agree, a bummer, but when have you needed more than 1 USB port when on the run where it was not also convenient to bring a 2 oz 4 port adapter? Yes, I'd like to see a 2nd port built to me that's not important for a presentation and lightweight portable machine. Even when i need both a mouse and a USB stick, I can unplug the mouse, copy files, and plug it back in (of course, a bluetooth mouse solves that problem).
6) 2GB of RAm an issue? expect a 4GB option shortly. But really, it's a Mac, it needs half the RAM of a Windows machine, and it;s intended purpose is presentations, basic photo management, word processing, and the web... if you need more than the equivalent of 4GB of ram, suck it up and carry 1.5 extra pounds... Adding a doot to access memory modules, or the HDD, would add thickness. It;s not required.
7) this is NOT meant to be your only PC, but it IS meant to be a lot more than a netbook... Apple is NOT entering the NetBook market, give up on it, they will NOT be releasing a ultra CHEAP ultra portable any time soon. They have no interest in the 9-10" market. Their OS is designed for usabiltiy, and that's basically impossible on a 1024x700 screen... Also, this is a PRESENTATION machine, targeted in a large part at business professionals. It needs to SMOOTHLY play music and video during a presentation while running dual display, and support web conferencine without jitter or stutter, you;re simply not going to do that on a cheapo celeron or budget machine, and making a budget machine smaller without firther depreciating it's performance costs more, not less. Start with a $900 business notebook, cut the weight in half and size ot a 3rd, and you have a macbook air.