Initial thoughts on the Macbook Air

Apple has hit some home runs in its day, but I can't say that I am a firm believer in their latest Macbook installment, the Macbook Air.

The first thing that I, like many consumers, notice is price. Apple can set a premium for its hardware and rightfully so. It makes some of the coolest hardware out there and has brought many technological innovations to the table, but I just can't ignore the outrageous pricing of the Macbook Air. $1800 for the base (!) model?! And don't get me started on the "upgrade" to SSD memory. Who in their right mind would pay over a $1000 premium for solid state memory (with less space than the base hard drive) and slight processor improvements? I understand solid state disks are still in their infancy, but come on.

I will admit that I am amazed at the small form factor of the UMPC (ultra-mobile PC). At .76" at its thickest, it becomes the thinnest notebook to ever come off a production line and with only three pounds to kick around, it will surely not be a hassle to transport. I also give kudos to Apple for not including a disk drive. It is my firm belief that in the coming months they will be rapidly phased out by solid state media (like USB drives, or SD cards) with their limitation on storage capacity being their downfall. For example, I have a 4 gigabyte USB thumb drive that can carry only slightly less than a DVD, but yet I can throw it in my backpack and not worry about it until I need it.

I am glad to see computer designers incorporating solid state drives into their lineup, but right now they are downright too expensive for their general acceptance. Like all things tech, I am willing to bet that the prices will fall quickly while storage capacities go up. My initial verdict on the Macbook Air: wait until a revision comes out. Having the latest and greatest is always a plus, but I think I will hold out on this one.