Time for another brief Macworld commentary (for the three people who come here each year for that):

• Not a huge deal, but the iPhone update was instant gratification and has some useful features (with innovative interfaces too).
• Time Capsule seems nice (and priced competitively), but I’m still waiting for the original wireless backup feature shown at WWDC 07.
• Happy to get a free Apple TV update, but the movie rental terms, selection and pricing aren’t going to get me to cancel Netflix anytime soon.
• Mac Book Air: style and elegance that everyone will drool over, despite the trade-offs (more below).
• Randy Newman?!?

I really love the look of the new MBA. Sony has owned the ultra-small laptop market for years, providing strong designs and charging a premium. The Mac Book Air has style in spades and I was actually surprised at the relatively low price (the base model is capable out of the box without any extra upgrades). Sony gets burned by Apple again.

There are some obvious trade-offs that Apple had to make with the Mac Book Air, but overall I think they chose well. Personally I’d miss the Firewire port the most, as I seem to be using Firewire hard drives all the time for backup. The Remote Disc feature has been available before, but it appears this has been implemented in typical Apple fashion and will help get around the loss of the optical drive.

No security cable lock? Methinks these will disappear into thin air (couldn’t resist).

The solid state drive at a cool grand is actually market competitive for this technology, and I’d love to see some performance numbers that compare the two options. Slightly disappointing to see the processor speed drop so much compared to the other laptop lines, but the chip did have to shrink in size substantially. I also hate integrated graphics, but hey, it’s three freakin’ pounds.

I’m somewhat surprised to see the screen stay at 13.3 inches, with the width and depth remaining roughly the same as the Mac Book. Can’t wait to handle one in person…