I have a MacBook Air on order and I am anxiously awaiting its arrival in the next two weeks (I hope). I ordered it because it fulfills three key requirements for me-
a- it runs OS X Leopard

b- it is light

c- it runs cool

Yes, I have read all of the initial mixed reviews on the MBA. Based on those reviews even the most Mac-fan-boyish among us cannot help but conclude that the MBA is a mixed bag. And yet, I am not canceling my order.

Why? Because if I want a notebook that runs OS X Leopard I have one of three choices– a MacBook, a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro. And if I want a machine that is light and runs cool, I can have any notebook on the market today… so long as it is a MacBook Air. Yet despite my excitement, I am increasingly convinced Apple missed an incredible opportunity here. They made one compromise too many.

 
No, it is not the lack of an internal disk drive. I barely ever use the dvd drive on my iMac. I’m happy to use the Remote Disk application and, worst case scenario, I’ll pick up one of the external drives if the need arises. No biggee.

It isn’t the shorter than rated battery life. I would love 5 hours of run-time but, come on, we all knew that in Apple’s world (and most of the rest of the industry) 5 hours isn’t really 5 hours. Coming from a year and a half of UMPCs prior to my Mac conversion last fall, 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours seems like a dream. 

It isn’t the 1.6ghz Core2Duo processor. Sure it isn’t as speedy as my iMac, but I don’t need another desktop. I need something light. And at 1.6ghz it isn’t exactly slow. It will certainly run rings around the other ultra-lights running 1.06 or maybe 1.2 ULV processors.

It isn’t even the limited hard drive space. In the last year my computing habits have changed radically. I am not only a Mac convert but I am a "Cloud" convert as well. Much of what I need is now on Google Docs or my .Mac iDisk. Between that, and my soon to arrive Time Capsule, I don’t NEED a humongous internal hard drive. Especially not on my notebook.

 
For me the fatal flaw of the MBA is the lack of integrated 3g (or even Edge) on a device meant to be wireless. That omission means that I cannot rely on using Google  Docs or the iDisk when I am out. It is the reason I suddenly realized this morning that… The MacBook Air is the iPod Touch of notebook computers…

Why? Read on and Find out…

The iPhone is the first truly successful, always connected, internet device. It isn’t a phone, it is a web device that includes a phone. It isn’t an iPod, it is an internet device that includes a music and media player.

The iPod Touch, on the other hand, is an entirely different animal or, more accurately, it is the same animal with a critical difference. The iPod Touch has a similar form factor with many of the same  functionalities, especially with the addition of many new many of the capabilities two weeks ago, yet it still falls far short of the iPhone. At home, where there is wifi, it does (or would do if I owned one) exactly the same thing as the iPhone. At the office, where there is wifi, it does (or would do if I owned one) exactly the same thing as the iPhone. On the road, however, when there is no wifi available, the iPhone remains connected, albeit through a slower Edge connection, and loses no functionality short of streaming video, while the lack of wifi turns the iPod Touch into little more than a touch screen iPod. 

The MBA was clearly intended to be a web device. When I am at home I will be able to easily go online and access all of my documents and all of my media. When I am at work, the same thing. That’s why the 80 gigabyte hard drive is not a big problem. That’s why it’s important that it is so light. But since it lacks 3G (or even Edge) connectivity, as soon as there is no available wifi, it loses a significant amount of functionality– just like the iPod Touch.
Sure I can (and will) use a USB modem or tether to a bluetooth cell phone. It is not a huge issue, but still was an unnecessary complication. Moreover, if I forget the usb modem or phone, so long connectivity. 

Had the MBA included an internal modem it would have radically changed the face of mobile computing. It would have been truly revolutionary. Steve Jobs could have stood up during his keynote and said "Today I unveil the world’s first truly web 2.0 notebook. It has a small hard drive, but you don’t need it. Because it is always connected you can use our web service .mac to store documents and media. It is designed to work differently than any notebook before. The paradigm shift begins today."

The MBA could have been to notebook computing what the iPhone has been to smart phones. But it’s not. Instead, the MBA is the iPod Touch of laptops. And while that is awfully good, and I can’t wait to receive mine, I cannot help but think about what could have been. 

Related posts:

1. MacBook Air and MultiTouch- A Demo
2. MacBook Air Gets Naked- Conclusion: Sexier Fully Dressed
3. Anticipation…Anticipation… It’s Making Me Wait… FedEx + MacBook Air = :)
4. MacBook Air and A Nation Divided
5. MacBook Air Wretched??? Say It Ain’t So!