Macintosh Ultra-Portable

I have seen the future. And it is an ultra-portable laptop from Apple to rival the Sony TX series of two-pound super-tiny laptops.

My sources for this prediction do not come from anywhere near Cupertino, so nobody should get in any trouble for this little announcement. In fact, it’s not an announcement at all. Just a prediction.

Intel chips with built-in RAM and WiFi, cooler operating speeds, and generally heavier new models of MacBook (heavier than previous Powerbooks, actually) all indicate a bifurcation pending.

The other predictive factor is that whenever I consider buying something other an an Apple for features that Apple won’t give me (in this case, something I can carry easily to the cafe where I do my work, these days, or onto a plane for traveling), Apple usually shows up with that very thing I want six months later.

So, expect an ultraportable Mac – a bit heavier than a Vaio – but with an included WiFi and some kind of cellular-wireless or EVDO capability (deal with T-Mobile?). January’s MacWorld feels too early for a production run, but not too early for an announcement and some pictures. They’ve got to stave off the exodus with the promise of a kinder, gentler laptop.

Meanwhile, I still feel like I’m watching my 1995 predictions play out, here. I kept thinking all this stuff would get cheaper and more accessible if we focused on usability and accessibility instead of features. Cripes. A simple DOS machine with WiFi capability and a jpeg viewer would do everything I need.

But no one will make that, and the energy it’s taking me to transform my old laptops into units workable on the java-infected web is taking too much time away from my writing.

Still, imagine a TRS80 that did the web… That’s what made me realize Steve must be thinking about the same thing.

There is room in this world for something between a PDA and a laptop. That runs os x.