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Beyond Air

Entry 675, on 2008-01-16 at 20:10:35 (Rating 1, Computers)

So the rumours were right and Apple released a compact laptop today. The MacBook Air is about half the weight and half the thickness of existing Mac laptops and preserves most of the functionality, apart from a built-in optical drive, Ethernet, and Firewire. I don't like to comment on products I haven't used but this one seems like a good compromise design which is available just as laptop sales look like they will overtake desktops (in the US).

Having such a compact machine will be attractive to many people. I see a lot of users who now have laptops treating them like a desktop machine and leaving them permanently on their desk. This is often because they are too big and heavy to carry around. Maybe with a machine this size they might finally start using their laptop the way they should.

Its unfortunate that the solid state storage is so expensive because I like the idea of no moving parts. With a traditional hard disk the weight, reliability, and power use issues remain. At least the option is available which means that in future we can expect lower prices because of mass production of these components.

We are at the stage now where Apple have an almost complete range of different solutions but I would still like to see a compact multi-touch screen laptop running Mac OS X which could be used like a PDA or a full computer (although it would have a smaller screen and less memory than most laptops).

What I want is a multi-touch laptop with no conventional keyboard, with 32 or 64 G of solid state permanent memory and an approximately 6 or 7 inch screen (wide enough to display a keyboard which is easy to use). A machine with this form factor could be used by holding it in one hand and operating with the other (the screen wouldn't fold out like a laptop but it would have a foldable cover like the Newton had).

This would be something slightly bigger than a Newton but smaller than the Air. It could use wireless technologies like the Air does now... oh, and I would like a built-in cell phone and GPS as well. Is that too much to ask?

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