Rob, before we all go tripping over ourselves at how "revolutionary" this is and how "amazing" Apple is for doing this.

I was at CES and I remember Fujitsu had a very similar device and form factor at the Intel booth.

It was on the left, when you first walked in after leaving the Microsoft booth. An Intel guy put it in my hands and let me, and the people starting to gather, play around with it. Thin as 20 sheets of paper and almost weightless.

Remember?

I wouldn't be surprised at multiple pc things with similar thickness -- the key is the thinner Intel CPU.

Totally agree - the R400 is the one I think you are talking about - very, very thin. Begs to be a tablet.

Is that the one?

As thin as that demo unit at CES might be, I think the fact you can't own one drops it down a few pegs on the amazing scale. :)

As for the Macbook Air, the manila envelope demo is pretty sweet. If I had one (I wouldn't because it's not a tablet, but if I had one), I'd carry it in a bubble wrap-padded envelope.

*sigh* here we go again with the marketing smoke and mirrors. Apple will be hailed as "the inventor of <insert chosen device>"... Sony made the X505 4 years ago. it was 0.4-0.8" (11-21mm), i.e. the same thinness as the Macbook Air, but back in 2004.

But I have to praise Apple for their flawless style, and ability to sell their style. I really wish other companies would spend as much effort in designing their products properly. I think only Sony come close. IMO, everyone else--and that includes all the tablet PC manufacturers--are incredibly poor at design !

It does multi-touch, but only on the track pad. It is 3 pounds, but that is 50% more than the LS800 (of blessed memory).

If they made it with multi-touch on the screen and pen input it would be more impressive.

Once again, this is just a demonstration that Apple is all looks and no brains. I mean, sure it looks like a super-model, but does it really matter if it's only usable for web surfing, entry-level multimedia, and word processing (*IF* you buy Office)? It still isn't a Tablet PC, a Media Center PC, or a gaming PC, and at the start of a weekday, you still can't use it as a business PC.

Oh! And then there's the cost factor... talk about an over-priced feather... who do they think they are, Dell's Latitude XT?

I'd hope to see a lighter such product this quarter, with better battery life. Wonder if many people will think Apple is somehow leading here.

Engadget is reporting the battery is not user replaceable - wow...

http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/15/macbook-air-doesnt-have-a-user-replaceable-battery/

I'm lucky enough to have one of the old NEC VersaPro NEC VY11F/GL-R tablet PC's (how's that for a catchy name?). These were only ever sold in Japan, and boy did that make a fantastic slate Tablet PC. Only 11mm thick and 1.98 lbs. Mine has kind of fallen into disuse due to being fairly slow and my inability to keep all my tablets up-to-date on security patches, etc., but I've been hankering to rescucitate it for a while now :-) It was a fantastic device for inking.

It's the only tablet I've ever used where I found I was willing to bring it to meetings where I didn't really expect to use it. Carrying around a device the weight and thickness of a standard block of paper really is a completely different experience than lugging a hot 4 lb brick that is 2 inches thick. It is too bad they never made it to market in the USA.
I don't believe they are available at all anymore.

I'll take one of those over the new mac any day!

I'm stunned by the battery not being replaceable.

What an incredible limitation this is!

I really don't get who this is for.

No ethernet
no integrated wireless broadband
no replaceable battery
only one USB port

So they say this is meant for the user on the go? You need to carry around a bag full of conversion dongles and a USB hub just to compensate for a thin device. Ethernet dongle, DVI dongle, Modem dongle, wireless broadband dongle.

And no replaceable battery? Batteries die quickly, and while your new macbook will be getting acceptable battery life now, down the road you'll be constantly tethered to an electircal outlet. Talk about ultraportable. I wonder how much Apple is going to charge to replace it.

And again, what is with the resurgance of 4200 RPM harddrives. To hell with battery life; they are too slow to be paired with dual core processors and lightning fast RAM.

In all, this is just one "What were they thinking" after another.

Goodthings2life wrote:

"Once again, this is just a demonstration that Apple is all looks and no brains. I mean, sure it looks like a super-model, but does it really matter if it's only usable for web surfing, entry-level multimedia, and word processing (*IF* you buy Office)? It still isn't a Tablet PC, a Media Center PC, or a gaming PC, and at the start of a weekday, you still can't use it as a business PC."
---------------------------------------

I use Mac and PC. There is nothing I can't do with my PC as a business machine that I can't accomplish with my Mac. Your statement above is simply wrong. Stop looking at the two hardwares as some type of religeous platform and spouting dogmatic untruths. Just be happy for innovation/evolution, wherever it comes from, we are all the benefactors. It's a beautiful thing when something tangible manifests out of the "thinking stuff from which all things are made"!

Only good for "Entry level multimedia" - what tablet pc do you call a workhorse for pro level multimedia??? Be sure to alert the editors in Hollywood when you figure it out. Ever heard of a Mac Pro? You buy THE MAC PRO if you want pro-level multimedia or a loaded desktop PC. The Air doesn't claim to be all things for all people.

Only good for "word processing" - what ever you are smoking I want some.

I love Apple's attempt to toy with bleeding edge. I love the Tablet PC platform too. I love that Gates has made computing an option for the planet at large!!! All of this stuff helps my business thrive and millions of other businesses do the same. And for that, hundredes and hundreds of millions worldwide take home a monthly paycheck. We live in a wonderful time.

Bravo to MacWorld and bravo to CES 2008!

My .02. It looks like an iPod with a keyboard, if this thing flipped its screen and became a convertible tablet and instead of having multitouch in the track pad but on the screen then this would be a product I would get excited. For close to 2k you could buy 4 Eee, smaller and lighter and I also bet I could cram one of those in a manila envelope.

Was the VY11F/GL-R a slate Tablet? Is that how the 19 mm thick Air qualifies as the "world's thinnest notebook" since a slate is not considered a notebook? If that is the basis of Apple's claim to fame, it sounds like a good argument for slates.

BTW, I used the wrong numbers for the LS800 comparison. The Air weighs only 36% more than the LS800 with a standard battery (and the LS800 battery was replaceable so I could carry another standard or double battery in my other pocket). The LS800 is a little thicker (22 mm) but much of why the Air looks thinner is the tapering edges. And the LS800 was released in July 2005.

Hopefully a lackluster reception for this computer will not discourage Apple from doing a Tablet.

Adam Voggle, thanks for your fanaticism, but I never claimed a Tablet PC was an all in one miracle... I said that Mac couldn't do any of those functions well (meaning effectively) and listed them individually. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it STILL isn't a Tablet PC, Media Center PC, and it still can't play games. OK, I forgot, it still has Adobe apps (woohoo?) in addition to Office, but that still doesn't make it viable for anyone with a techy background. Seriously, stop drinking the Koolaid, and join reality.

As for the Integrated battery... great... in 6-7 months it will be the prettiest paperweight in the office.

Update 2: Our good friend Xavier Lanier from Notebooks.com is doing some hands on and has video. He also offers up this bit of commentary:

http://www.notebooks.com/2008/01/15/macbook-air-hands-on-at-macworld/

Xavier: I like how thin the computer is, but there are a lot of trade offs to make.
Steve Jobs kept comparing it to the Sony VAIO TZ series, but that computer
is whole different animal and has its own advantages.

Negatives I'm seeing:

1 USB port - not good to only have one usb port. I fought through that at CES with the OQO and my aircard. Creates a bit of clumsiness.
non-user replaceable battery - not good at all, and enough of an issue that I wouldn't even consider buying one
multi-touch track pad - I'd prefer it on the screen. I can envision some definite conflicts on the touch pad
4200 rpm drive - sorry. and don't tell me to upgrade to 64 gb ssd.

looks good, but not for $1799.

I love how jobs downtalks the kinds of compromises other manufacturers like Sony has made in ultraportables, like small keyboards, when this machine is making some of the grandest compormises I've ever seen to win some sort of meaningless award for thinnest laptop.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but it STILL isn't a Tablet PC, Media Center PC, and it still can't play games."

And it (MBA/Macbook Air) doesn't CLAIM TO BE ANY OF THOSE THINGS Goodthings2Life. What you are blaming the MBA for not being, you can apply to a host of TPCs and laptops alike.

The Air claims to be an ultra portable wireless machine. If I'm a journalist, accountant, writer, business travelor, student, or any number of trades, this might be the machine for me. Maybe not. But I'm certain it has a niche. If the UMPC has a niche the Air definitely has a niche.

A poster above as do you bring up a good point about the "dead cell over time" battery problem all laptops incur. Sending it in for battery replacement is simply not an option, but if I can stop in an Apple store and have it done...eh ok.(not a great solution nonetheless) I wonder if the Apple Warranty Plan for MBA now covers batteries three years out or is this just another revenue producer. I do think they missed the mark on the battery.

I'm not certain the one USB is a problem either although two would have been better - I can print/fac via bluetooth or wirelessly, backup wirelessly. So other than plugging in an iPod or optical drive...??? Seems ok for non-gaming use. It also has an Ethernet adapter for $29.

Antimatter - I tend to agree with you. A bit of hypocracy going on there. I just saw the keynote video. Putting down others to make your point be it CEOs or politicians is simply uncalled for and small minded.

But again looking past the shortcomings of products and people alike, bravo for innovation. Onward!!!

Wow, a 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo based computer is "only usable for web surfing, entry-level multimedia, and word processing"?

Really? Is that really what you're saying? Surely, you'd ought to be able to, at least, answer some e-mail too?

Seriously, AFAIK, Apple hasn't claimed to be the first to do this. I haven't heard any fanboys claim that Apple is the first to do this. I have heard people get angry because they think that some fanboy will eventually claim this. I do hope that the attention this gets will spur the development and mainstream release of 3lb or sub 3lb laptops. (I mean, you can buy them at Dynamism, but that's not really mainstream release.)

@JC
The processor is not the limitation (Though that remains yet to be tested. I believe it was a podcast on this very site that said 1.6 GHz is not the same universally.) It's the 4200 RPM disk that is dragging down performance potential.

Personally, I didn't like this part of the keynote because Jobs simply criticized the TZ for some things that the MacBookAir doesn't really excel at. Claiming to have more performance because of a higher clocked processor isn't fair when you have a 4200 RPM hard drive that isn't upgradable by hand. The really annoying part was the criticism of the 11-12 inch screens. 13.3inches isn't what I would consider "full-size."

This non-removable battery thing is really getting annoying. I don't see why Apple has such a big problem with people touching their batteries.

Wow! Such determination.

@Rob, I was didn't see any of the GBM team prowling the floor of CES but I was there and Fujitsu had the Q2010 on display at the Intel booth (see above post).

Here's the link from PC World since I didn't write the name of it down because I knew I couldn't afford it.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,141360-page,4-c,thinandlightnotebooks/article.html#

Some Windows users are developing a knee-jerk reaction to the air of superiority constantly coming from from that other company. It's like the relative who has a doctorate is constantly throwing it in the face of the relative who just has a bachelors degree.

It's that same kind of feeling if you can imagine being the relative with a bachelors degree but just about everything else in their life being equal (kids go to the same school, same neighborhood, new car (even if one is a Mercedes and the other a Cadillac), go on a cruise every year for vacation, get my point?)

When what you have/use meets your needs sufficiently that should be enough. Except it doesn't seem to be enough for some Apple users, they feel the need to constantly berate Microsoft and anyone who uses their products.

That's where the problem lies. And that's why I said above I held, in my hands (not shipping in two weeks), been available for a looongg while (11/06), an ultra-thin, ultra-light laptop made by another company a little more than a week ago.

And, moreover, if you read what Steve Jobs said, he admitted to testing each and everyone of the ultralights and taking the best features from each one.

"10:09am - "What's that mean? Well, we went out and looked at all the thin notebooks -- most people think of the Sony TZ. They're thin. We looked at ALL of them, tried to distill the best of breed." - Engadget reporting live from Steve's keynote speech
(http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/15/live-from-macworld-2008-steve-jobs-keynote/)

Trust me, if I had it like that financially and wanted to leave the tablet PC world, I'd have the Fujitsu Q2010 over the MacBook Air in a second.

I can't believe so many people criticizing the MBAir - are you all jealous or something?

I mean I love my X60 Tablet but if I compare it to the MBA, my great thinkpad looks like from the last decade design-wise - the MBAir is just stunning-beautiful.

1 USB port - so what? At home I use my old Vaio as my local server and connect to it wirelessly and thus out of my 3 USB ports I use mostly one - the rest goes wirelessly through my "server". Don't need no freakin' USB cables.

The battery - yes - this might be a minus, but it's 5 hours (with wireless on?) so it's not that bad. But yes, road warriors might not like it.

Price tag? I mean c'mon, people are paying $2500 for Toshiba R400 which has both 4200 RPM drive and a slow 1,2 Processor. And MBAir is more beautiful than R400, faster and $700+ cheaper... not mentioning the Dell XT here.

The only negative I'm seeing - lack of touchscreen - just got used to interacting with my screen on my tablets too much... but if it had a touchscreen I'd buy one in an instant...

Although I'm still fighting not to buy one anyway... It's simply so stunning...

I love how the Mac users can't seem to take some criticism over Apple's design. We all sit on these sites and criticize Microsoft products all day, but the Almighty Apple can't take some heat. Yes, any one of the problems I mention can be pawned off on a PC too,but Apple (and its fanatics) do indeed claim the compromises are minor knowing full well they'd piss and moan at any PC with said compromises.

Yes, the 1.6 CPU's, in my opinion, are pretty much crap. If you want to separate web/email go right ahead, I was being too inclusive, I guess, lol.

At the end of the day, you still have an overpriced pretty face and functionality that is lacking, and yes, I'll say the same about the Dell XT or the Toshiba R400.

When I buy a computer I buy two extra batteries so I can swap out as needs dictate. Apple advertises 5 hours, which in the real world means 3.5-4, and yes all batteries lose charge over time, so why should I need to take/send it in for repair?