I've almost stopped buying audio CD's, except for a decreasing number that aren't available for download.

DVD's are a different matter. The Hollywood stuff is available, but I'm really interested in world cinema and the sort of movies that Criterion, Kino etc produce. Very few of these are available for download. Those that are lack the commentaries etc that are available on DVD. The iTunes store also has a terrible habit of providing dubbed versions only for most foreign language films (at least in Canada).

No doubt things will get better, but for anything outside the Hollywood mainstream, DVD's are still a necessity, IMO.

I think if Apple ever decide to produce say a 15" version of the MBA, then I can imagine it cannibalising sales of the MBP.

Apple aren't bothered in removing things if they have a vision for their future. The past has proved that! Remove the optical drive from the MBP's, and you have a thicker Air. And we all know Apple only do thin lol

Whether this is the right thing for each of us individually is another matter, what Apple wants to do is what will happen regardless.

So many reviewers said that MBA is a nice secondary computer but would not rely on it as their main one. Now all of a sudden many are saying that it's the "sexy" laptop to have so go with your heart, not with your head. Read David Pogue's review this week for that gem as he said that his head today would tell him to buy a MBP but his his heart says to go with the sexy MBA.

The $999 Macbook gave you 10 hours of battery, 250 GB storage, 2.3 GHz processor, 2 USB ports, an ethernet port, and a 13" screen.

The $999 MBA has up to 7 hours of battery, 64 GB storage, 1.6 GHz processor, 2 USB ports, and a 11" screen.

MBA is great for travel but you're getting less computer for the same money for those who want the cheapest Macbook. The reduced battery life and having no optical drive is a turn off for me. No ethernet port? I don't want to rely 100% on wireless connection. It can be slower.

The MBA has always been about getting less computer for the money.

Some of us still live in rural areas of the country where reliable DSL is hard to come by much less broadband that would support effortless streaming. I still buy all my media in hard copy and rip it to my computer because it's not worth it to wait several hours for a song to download.

My Macbook is on it's last legs, I'd just started saving last month to replace it. So far the MBA doesn't look appealing to me due to it's size and storage capacity.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC...co=MTk0MjUyODE

The first MBA was sexy, but not very practical. The second one fixed that. 3rd gen? even better.

-David

It was interesting that when Apple removed the floppy drive, then other manufacturers slowly did the same. However we had a crucial program that the software company had only recently converted from DOS to Windows. They'd only done that because a competitor had made a far better prog that ran in Windows and was gaining ground fast. They had done this in such a rush that the backup procedure was still to the A: drive, and you couldn't back up to a network drive, optical drive or anything else. We'd just replaced a load of machines with ones with no floppy drive and as a result we had to retrofit a few with floppies. There were other people who were told they would not be getting a shiny new computer and ould be stuck with their aging piece of junk to allow back ups.

Wonder if the same sort of thing would happen here.

I would agree partially. I have a 17 MBP that I use for a desktop. The MBA is primarily for travel. However, you can have wired ethernet with a MPA, they have a USB adapter for it. I have one in my briefcase but probably havent used it for more than a year. Same with the no drive "issue". I have a drive on the MBP but never use it. Everything is USB sticks and USB hard drives. I just never use physical media. On the very rare occasions that I might I have the USB drive, but again, I cant remember the last time I used it.

That's my experience too: MBP 17 sits on the desk at work with an external monitor, and my MBA 11 comes on the road and it works great even with the video heavy Keynote presentations I give. My iPad used to travel with me, but now it stays home and is my morning newspaper/RSS/NYPost device.

$29 gets you a nice white apple usb ethernet adapter.

The "less for more" is debatable as the reduced weight in the MBA makes up for a lot...

Geez. The reality is that it isn't about pushing people to the MBP, the reality is that ubiquitous wifi, cloud based sharing, and faster internet has largely eliminated the need for using the DVD as a file/content sharing medium.

I will cede that someone like yourself in the cad/cam area may have large files that need to be shared on physical media, but in reality how often are you burning DVDs? Daily? Weekly? And when you do need to burn a dvd are you doing it on the road or from your home or office (where a stationary drive could sit)?

I literally haven't burned a DVD in years. Most of the time when I have large volumes of data to move, its either in excess of the DVD's 4.7gb limit, or I can't be bothered to wait for the amount of time it takes the drive to burn that volume of data. So I'll use a USB flash or USB disk drive. For smaller files, I use email, dropbox or box.net. My kids have had PCs and Macs for years and have never burned a Cd or DVD. Airdrop will leverage wifi and make it easier to share files...

Remind me again as to why its important to lug that drive around?

I think this is totally where the next version of the MBP will go, most likely it will drop the Optical drive, move to a more streamlined form factor LIKE the MBA, but have the supplemental graphics processors, more memory and most likely a dual bay solution, for SSD AND HD combined. Of course, at least 3 USB ports, some form of firewire, mic in, etc. Hopefully, we'll get it sooner rather than later.

The one that shocked me was taking the optical out of the Mac Mini. that puppy was a GREAT HTPC, and was great for netflix streaming, all types of streaming AND DVD playing, not no DVD's allowed.

I'm actually typing this on my 1st gen Macbook Air. While many said it wasn't powerful enough to do real work, I billed over 1,800 client hours with it the first year and it made my weekly travel much easier.

The new MBA have Thunderbolt and with the new Thunderbolt display, you get all your external ports built in (gigabit ethernet, FW800, 3 USB ports, audio, iChat/Facetime HD camera, Magsafe power). My guess is the new MBA + Thunderbolt display is probably all the majority of travelers need. Light, fast computer while traveling; a docking station with large display, at the office.

Ahh, but that is the point.

Only Mac users have to make those kind of choices/compromises.

The rest of us can have SD, USB, 1394, LED HD screen, large and fast HD or SSD, real processor, on-board RJ45, WIFI, WWAN, long battery life - AND a Blu-Ray/DVD/CD burner - in a 2.8 lb package.

The MBAs are purrty though, no doubt about that. I still don't understand why PC vendors don't up their aesthetic appeal, though Sony at least tries.

The main advantage of the MBA isn't that it is pretty, it is that uses Mac OS.