MacBook Air and Time Capsule: eye openers

I just got briefed on the new MacBook Air ultralight laptop and the new Time Capsule network-backup device. A few things jumped out at me:

-- It's interesting how Apple is pushing wireless, HARD, at the expense of wired connectivity. the MacBook Air has no Ethernet port, though you can buy a USB-to-Ethernet adapter.

-- It's interesting how Apple is sounding the optical disc's death knell. Though it's offering an external DVD burner for the MacBook, it is arguing that most users won't miss DVD capability. It is actually urging people NOT to buy one of its products (said external burner).

You don't need one, it said, since the MacBook Air can use another computer's DVD drive over a wireless connection once a piece of software is installed on the machine. In the most eye-popping moment of the briefing, an Apple guy noted how Office 2008 for the Mac can be installed on the Air via the disc drive in a Windows PC across the room. Weird.

Other reasons you won't miss a DVD drive in the Air: New iTunes movie rentals, and easy backups via the Time Capsule (below).

-- Wireless backups via Time Machine are here, via the Time Capsule device. It's basically an AirPort base station with an internal hard drive, and the ability to back up and restore files over the high-speed wireless. This is huge, Time Machine used to be wired only.

Note all this reliance on wireless, wireless, wireless. I predict some problems since I have not found any Wi-Fi hookup to be as rock-solid reliable as Ethernet. I've lost count of the times I've plugged in at the office when a wireless connection went flaky.