I'm in the same boat of not really caring about the optical drive in the laptop. For the past few times I've traveled by air, I've ripped movies to my PSP to watch, so the concept of doing this for a laptop isn't really foreign to me. I'm also not too terribly bothered by the battery, as the only time I have swapped them in my 7 years of laptop owning is when I'm replacing one with a newer one due to age. Since the battery costs the same as a removable one, and includes labor, they seem to have that base covered.

I do wonder how you reload the OS on it if you don't buy the $99 external drive. Did they implement remote disc all the way in the EFI firmware as well, akin to the remote CD rom functions in most decent servers? And while Parallels or VMWare on the machine would more then likely satisfy peoples Windows needs, can it run Boot Camp?

I'll admit I'm a bit tempted by it if I go down the path of getting a Mac desktop in the near future. My MacBook Pro will lose most of it's daily use of being my main system, and going to a lighter package would then be tempting. I'd still keep the ambient light sensor and backlit keyboard, and aluminum casing that I've now had on my laptops for 5 years.

The downside is that the speed is a step down from even my 2 year old MacBook Pro. So I'd be side stepping instead of upgrading, though with a desktop this would be less of a concern. If the Air doesn't suffer the fate of the Cube, it's probably in my future, but at least a year or two out.