I think there's also the factor that people are overlooking the main target market for this device (which is partially Apple's fault: they haven't really played it up). This isn't a device for people whose primary machine will be the MBA. Sure, you can add on all of the stuff that will make it worth of being a primary machine, but by that point you might as well buy an MB or MBP.

The primary market, I'm told, is people who have a desktop machine, and want a secondary travel machine. The MBA is meant to be a secondary machine. Thus, the ability to share your CD/DVD drive from your desktop, etc. The design trade-offs make a lot more sense when you think about it on that level.

(I still don't like the machine, but it does make _some_ more sense when you see it that way ... personally, I'd still rather have an MacBook ... and, yes, I HAVE lugged such a machine through an airport (not a 17" machine, but I don't really think that's an appropriate comparison -- those who want/need a 17" laptop aren't going to be buying an MBA either, nor visa-versa; the appropriate comparison is the 12" and 15" mac laptops, like the 15" Titanium Powerbook, 12" and 15" Aluminum Powerbooks, and the 12" and 15" MacBook and MacBook Pros; what I had was a 15" titanium)

(actually, on one trip I lugged 3 laptops: my titanium, my wife's titanium, and a sony vaio F490 I was giving to my mom (which was a bit heavier than the titaniums) ... I still don't see the objection to lugging an MB or MBP through an airport, not even a 17" one)