Any port in a storm
Although I have no interest in the product myself I find amusing the debate on what Apples newly announced MacBook Air does and does not have. For instance John C. Dvorak thinks it’s critical drawback is a lack of a PC card. Others are complaining about a lack of an Ethernet port yet others are just plain unhappy with the cost/feature ratio period. And then of course all this dredges up the usual lack of features in all laptops threads.
“Unlike Asus’ Eee PC, the MacBook Air may sell slowly because of its high price point and overlapping functionality with the existing MacBook and MacBook Pro lines, said Shaw Wu, an analyst with American Technology Research, in a research note. However, Apple is adept with product placement, as shown by the iPhone and iPod, where there has been minimal cannibalization despite overlapping functionality, Wu said.”
I have basically decided to go with an Eee PC myself to replace my aging lapbook since I have decided to move to webtops for my portable productivity. The Asus has all the aforementioned missing components. However I am not going to rant about the Air but rather about the use of ports. First of all folks keep in mind these devices are meant to be highly portable. That means for the most part leaving wires behind. Now I do have the occasional need to connect the serial port of a legacy server to a portable device (traditionally a laptop) for diagnostic purposes (I have been known to boot a Sun server from a Palm hand held in my day) most of the time we just don’t want to carry around a bunch of wires. I am one to talk since every work day for the last 10 years I lug in (in my arms no less) two laptops, all sorts of serial port adapters, gender-benders and all cross connectors known to man, radios, gadgets, PDAs, GPS, tools, power adapters and other bits of miscellany for just so any occasion of need. But that’s sooo 1990’s any more with prevalent, fast, and inexpensive wireless (Bluetooth included) available not to mention the proliferation of network connected consoles and so-called “Lights-out management” the need for serial connectors, Firewire and USB ports are quickly diminishing. In fact I would be surprised if we are still using wired connections five years from now. By the way this brings up an important point: security. Yes security is absolutely imperative in a wireless connected world. However be careful in what security model you choose for your communications. For instance I read with interest a blog that was basically deriding Linux for not better supporting WiFi protocols (which BTW are often closed source drivers issues hardly the fault of Linux) and the over use of wrappers such as NDISWrapperwhich generally do not support WEP encryption but if you are trusting your security to easily broken encryption models your already at risk. Instead you should be securing your connections with SSL and SSH wired or wireless then you can operate freely in wireless space without encrypting your channel at all. To sum all this up we have adapters available for virtually any kind of port of hardware out there. So don’t be critical of a device because it does not support your favorite and beloved and probably by now legacy) hardware connection instead embrace it’s improved replacement or if your like me go buy an adapter! 
Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature’s inexorable imperative.
- H. G. Wells