To balance out a bit of the vitriol here, I'd like to mention that I've had entirely pleasant experience every time I've visited the genius bar (Chicago and San Francisco).

They've tested and repaired a few machines for me, helped me troubleshoot an iPhone issue and once kept the store open to help me resolve an OS problem.

While I have had to wait a bit, I'm consistently impressed with their patience and generally positive attitude. And I'm amazed at their ability to seamlessly shift from technical banter with me to a patient explanation of how a mouse works with a less experienced user.

It's not a perfect experience, but it's pretty damn good. Can you name a single electronics or computer retailer that offers better support?

Neuromancer has it: While I own the books on my shelf, I don't own the content they contain.

When I loan out a volume or sell it back to a used bookstore, I'm passing on the license along with the physical item - the two are inextricably linked. It's a perfect DRM system; I can't "sell, gift or trade" my content, only the hardware that it happens to be printed on.

But digital copies of books, music and movies aren't linked in this way. I can make a perfect copy of a file, pass it on to you, and keep my original. That's where things get complicated.

If you think about it, paper and ink books amount to owned hardware. While that hardware belongs to me - just as a Kindle or an iPod might - the content it contains doesn't. I could, for example, lend you a Kindle or sell it to you loaded with books (although I suspect there's something in the fine print that discourages this). What I can't do is sell or trade a copy of a digital book while keeping the original.

The upshot: We all tend to see our digital assets in the same way as our physical libraries, but we're looking at it in the wrong way. When we buy a book, we're actually buying a license to read that book. Kindle works in exactly the same way. It looks like a sale because it is a sale - the sale of a license. And, as the legal brainiacs at Gizmodo argue, I ought to have the right to resell that license.

But how can I do that and ensure that I haven't kept a copy? How can I (legally) lend a license to a friend while retaining a perfect replica of the licensed material?

Which isn't to say that I'm a fan of draconian DRM measures or anything less than a vocal supporter of Creative Commons. But the issue is far more nuanced than what's been presented here and at Gizmodo.

Not to be too nit picky, but it isn't an SLR. As you can't look through both lenses (well, not easily anyway) the third framing lens allows you to focus and "see" the same thing the stereo lenses are. So it functions the same way as a TLR (Twin Lens Reflex) camera does. A Rolleiflex, for example.

In this case, I suppose we could call it a Tri Lens Reflex . . .

You're quite right in stating that the Air isn't a sub-notebook. Perhaps that's why the term "sub" isn't being applied to the product in any way. It's simply a very thin notebook.

I had a chance to check the thing out yesterday (my office is a couple blocks from Moscone and I was able to borrow a pass) and was quite impressed. It's solidly built, perfectly portable and powerful enough for nearly all of the work I need to do. That makes it far more than a toy.

It's not positioned to replace a more powerful desktop machine, but to elegantly complement it (see the remote drive functionality, etc). Were I not already the proud owner of a black MacBook, I'd be buying one right now.

That's an awfully gory photo to see in the morning.

You wouldn't be deliberately setting up a chaser, would you?

Regardless, I need one. The hand doesn't bother me so much, but the dangly fleshy bits . . . eesh.

John Henry was lying on his death bed,
He turned over on his side,
And these were the last words John Henry said
"Bring me a cool drink of water before I die."