and will be interested how its sales fare. Too pricey for me, but in the ballpark for those wating 3-lb Sony TZs (2099-3699$ vs Apple's 1799$ [or 3098$ with solid state drive]). However, how large is the ultraportable market, and can Apple grow it? Or will this be, as I've already read someone call it, the "Cube" of 2008.

Once again, the battery is not user-replaceable. Feh. And no CD/DVD drive? Double feh.

You overlooked something. iTunes gives you 30 days to start playing your rented movie -- then 24 hours to watch it.

This does not matter to folks who don't have iphones, but the upgrades seem pretty great. I am looking forward to taking control of my home page, adding bookmarks to my gmail to my home page and having a better maps function.

More importantly, I am happy to see apple living up to the promise that the iphone was different not because of its features alone, but because it could (and would) be substantially improved with each new software upgrade.

There are other computer companies in the US.

I think. Let me check. Yep. There are.

You get 24 hours after you hit the play button. But you get 30 days from the moment you download to start watching it.

How many people watch half a movie now and the other half 2 or 3 days later? I can't remember a single time I have ever done that. Maybe it's common. I have no idea. But it sure sounds strange.

gezelligtexas asks:

"Why does this site seem to report exclusively on Apple?"

Because Apple is stylish, and this is a style site.

I remember, back in the day, before Broadsheet had taken over everything on Salon. That makes me an old timer.

I've been wanting to replace my old Powerbook for a while. Having an intel based mac would have several benefits. But the damn things are too big. I've been wanting a 13" monitor, and if I'm buying a new computer, it's going to have a proper video card, not one that shares memory with the CPU. Apple has been unable to deliver this, and I remain disappointed once again.

"How many people watch half a movie now and the other half 2 or 3 days later? I can't remember a single time I have ever done that. Maybe it's common. I have no idea. But it sure sounds strange."

Those who take a 3 hour business trip, that's who. Boston-Miami, is 3 hours or 1.5 movies each way.

I'm afraid to ask, but is the "better Apple TV" a software upgrade or should I toss the $299 model I purchased a year ago into the dustbin?

/spittle

For free.

... is busy promoting its proprietary method of video downloads, and their proprietary set-top box for viewing them.

That's a lot of set-top boxes. It seems to me the smart consumer would let them fight that out in the marketplace a few years before committing to an expensive box.

Until then, DVDs work.

Thumbs up for Time Capsule.

All of the iTunes store/AppleTV/etc. news... how is that superior to Netflix, my laptop's HDMI output, and BitTorrent/USENET? I don't mind paying if Apple can provide a superior service than my own personal hacking setup, but they're still missing the mark.

manyctnj, it's a free software upgrade so us early adopters aren't screwed (for once).

The MBA (now, was that an accidental acronym?) has no internal CD/DVD drive, no built in Ethernet, and no FireWire target disk mode.

So, this ultraportable cannot be docked to a bigger machine, nor can a bigger machine be docked to it, except over a LAN, wireless or otherwise.

The whole 'sharing an installer DVD over the wireless LAN' is going to be slower than downloading Hi-def movies, and kludgy as hell.

You cannot remove the battery yourself, so you can't swap out the batteries on a long flight or other trip.

In short, the MBA will be a vanity product. In years gone by, this would have doomed it, but given Apple's fashion cachet, I am sure they will sell every one they can manufacture.

Gimme gimme gimme! The hate for apple products leaves me befuddled. You look at this thing (good tour of it on apple.com) and it's clearly years ahead of any other laptop - yet everyone's reactions is 'yawn - style over substance again. How dare apple create a product unlike anything else! They should get in line and imitate everyone else!' You might hate it, but in three years all notebooks will look and act like it.

... it's contempt for the iTards who think Apple is the beginning, middle, and end of every technological story, and can't wait to throw their money at Steve Jobs.

I have no doubt whatsoever that the Air is very well made. Its limitations are clear, and its advantages (style, mostly) are also clear. For the people willing to pay the money and overlook the disadvantages, I'm sure they'll be very satisfied with their purchase.

Concerning the statement: "It's that 24-hour limit that gets me." I thought it was a 30 day limit once you rent it. It's only a 24-hour limit once you start WATCHING the movie. I think that is very reasonable.

... has precisely the same limitation for rentals. 30-day rental, 24 hours from when you start watching it.

IF (that is the big if) the battery actually gets 5 hours, what then. Recharge, but no second battery. It couldn't be that hard to add a door for the battery and make it user accessible. Think of all the sales for a second battery. Oh yeah, think of all the service to replace it...

When will VMware produce a version of the MAC OS that will run on Windows. Then you can have a small REAL computer that runs both operating systems.

DVD player or VLAN will play those ripped DVDs. Takes 10-15 minutes a disk. Well who knows if you are doing it over the wireless virtual cd... Just load up your netfilx for the trip. Plus since you can't carry two batteries you don't need to take that much along. Along with the flash drive and no wireless you might get 6-7 hours..... hmmm...

google mactheripper....

You are just time shifting the content. Be sure to delete when you are done as copying is stealing and all.