Reply #90: For most people, that's probably a sensible decision. [View All]

> The MacBook Air is cool, but I'd probably just get a MacBook instead

For most people, that's probably a sensible decision. Right
now, I'm probably in your camp.


> I wonder how long it'll take the MacBook to get LED backlighting
> and the multitouch trackpad....

LED backlighting? Probably soon, assuming that it
works glitch-free in the AirMac; that system is
probably acting as the proving ground. LEDs are
certainly more ecologically-sound, have much better
long-term reliability, and are probably cost-
competitive with (or better than) CCFL backlighting.

Multi-touch? I'll bet it'll be a little while
longer for two reasons: Support for the larger
trackpad absolutely needs a re-design of the
case metalwork (whereas an LED backlight may not)
*AND* I suspect Apple will want to hold multi-touch
as a "distinguisher" between the AirMac and the
MacBooks, at least for a little while.

Me, the thing I think is the real sleeper in
the announcement is the availability of the
Solid State Drive. In the future, that will
be a great, important technology for notebook
and smaller computers and this is Apple's first
dipping of their toes into that water in the
notebook market (although they've been very
successful with it in iPods and the iPhone).
Right now, I'd feel a bit cramped in 64GB, but
Moore's Law says there'll be bigger, faster,
cheaper SSDs tomorrow so by the time we get to,
say, 120 or 160 GB, I'll be in. The extra
expense is worth it to me for the improved
life, shock resistance, and the blazingly-fast
read access speed that Flash provides. I just
hope they have a good "wear levelling"
algorithm in place on the NAND Flash.

Tesha