MacBook Air: Lust and lingering doubts
LAS VEGAS--I was in the Mix '08 press room Thursday chatting with Directions on Microsoft analyst Greg DeMichillie, and somehow the subject came around to the MacBook Air.
It turns out we've had the exact same reaction to Apple's waif-like laptop. Every time we see or touch the MacBook Air we decide it's the perfect laptop for us.
Then, with its seductive thinness more distant, we think about its specifications: its slower processor, small hard drive, and lack of connection ports.
"It's a left-brain, right-brain thing," DeMichillie said. It wouldn't have to be perfect to win us over, but maybe just a little faster or a little cheaper. I think a price cut or the addition of a couple of ports in the next revision would probably be enough to push either of us over the edge.
"The iPhone's flawed but I bought one of those," DeMichillie noted.
On that front, my reasons for not buying an iPhone also got shorter on Thursday as Microsoft added Exchange Server support for the device.
Incidentally, there are many more Macs here at Mix than a typical Microsoft conference, although a fair number I saw were booted into one or another flavor of Windows.
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
