A Quick Tour of the MacBook Air - Searching for Turtlenecks

Baseline takes a quick and dirty tour of Apple's latest laptop, the MacBook Air. Is this gorgeously designed device ready for seasoned business users and road warriors?

For those in the business world who want pleasant day-to-day computing on the hands, eyes and shoulders and are willing to sacrifice some of the basics of comparable lightweight laptops (and you're senior enough that your company will shell out $1800+), you'll love the MacBook Air. I want one more than an iPhone.

Look, I think we all expect there to be, at the very least, Ethernet and/or mobile broadband ports/slots on any laptop at this day and age, but the way Apple is spinning things is that it's a totally mobile device, not a desktop replacement, so if you really need it, you spend a little extra on USB connections and throw them in your bag.

Are there Sonys, Toshibas and others out there that have more ports and slots and are similarly lightweight? Yes. And you probably already have one and it's not as beautiful as the MacBook Air.

Does the fact that other laptops have these things make this less attractive to business users? Maybe, but the simplicity of design, the weight and lack of wires add up to something. The sticking point to me is the mobile broadband slots. Everyone expects a certain amount of fast access, and most companies give EV-DO cards or something similar, so now you need someone to pony up for a USB-based broadband antenna.

If you are going this route with the MacBook Air, you are going to get the extras anyway, so find budget, get approval and expense it.