There's really no reason they couldn't build them with the battery more accessible.<br><br>This is a 1.0 product! The inside is made up of components that didn't even exist until Apple introduced them. The entire computer (the mobo) is the size of your palm. The battery never existed until now and you're not going to find them on the shelves of Radio Shack!<br><br>This notebook is not aimed at DIY-selfers. It's target audience is the mobile affluent who already own a desktop and a primary workhorse laptop and are looking for a transatlantic solution that will fit in the sleeve of their briefcase. These are the very same people who buy a new car every other year and can afford to replace the MBA when the battery is dead.<br><br>For you to posit that Apple is ripping them off is just hater talk. Is it so hard to imagine that Apple will improve on the MBA and until such time as that wafer-thin battery becomes a third-party solution that they keep the product a "no user-serviceable" one?<br><br>Oh and by the way, wasn't it Apple that offered the first truly accessible tower which sealed with a simple latch? How long before the PC world finally adopted something similar?<br><br><br>M i c h a e l (OFI)

Battery replacement is a very valid criticism and complaint about the product.<br><br>No it isn't. Especially coming from someone who has not intention of buying one.<br><br>When I bought my first iPod I wasn't even thinking about how to open it up! My mind isn't wired like that. But hey, if the thing no longer charges properly and there is a solution available, I have enough grey matter to figure it out. But I'm not going to refuse to buy one just because it doesn't have an accessible battery compartment.<br><br><br>M i c h a e l (OFI)

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr><p>No it isn't. Especially coming from someone who has not intention of buying one.<p><hr></blockquote><p><br>hrm... it isn't? Then why is that one of the main complaints I see all over the 'net with reviewers?<br><br>i don't care the battery isn't swappable. That's not the point of the machine. But after several iPods that had dead batteries within two years the lack of ease of changing the battery in a $1700 piece of equipment is enough for me not to buy one - and yes, I just might have because it fits what I'm looking for perfectly otherwise.<br><br><br><br>Hey I'm an F'n Jerk!®

Hey look I don't care what you're about to do... but when you make an unfounded accusation that Apple is ripping people off, especially in a Mac forum you had better expect to catch some heat, hostility, and contempt. Especially when we all know you have less than zero first-hand experience with the product in the first place.<br><br>Look at your subject line! "Told you Apple is ripping you off..."<br><br>What does that infer? That you warned us before, that Apple is ripping us off? Or that you're are somehow immune because you don't own any Apple products? What?!<br><br>Who cares whether people "all over the net" are lambasting the Airbook and its battery. JFC! People all over the world are criticizing Apple for global warming, a recession, the downturn of the stock market, iPods, movie rentals, open standards, lock-in, monopoly and everything else under the sun.<br><br>So what? None of it detracts from my own personal Apple experience. I've finished Crysis! My neighbor hasn't even finished building a PC good enough to even play it and it's already been two months. By the time he does I will have finished the next great game. My iMac Extreme kicks neck! The fact that the only accessible feature or component is the RAM, doesn't keep me up nights.<br><br>and yes, I just might have because it fits what I'm looking for perfectly otherwise.<br><br>You and everyone else on the planet who has a spare 1700 dollars.<br><br>It's the future. Apple's business has been moving towards mobility and many of the products we find ourselves buying can be carried out of the house.<br><br>Apple sold a record 2.3 million Macs in the last quarter and they sold 2.3 million phones!<br><br>If that isn't a strong indication that nobody is overly concerned about accessibility to the phones sealed innards or inaccessible batteries then I don't know what is.<br><br>Wow!<br><br>Excuse me for my temper. I'm gonna go chill...<br><br><br>M i c h a e l (OFI)

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr><p>Or that you're are somehow immune because you don't own any Apple products?<p><hr></blockquote><p><br>LoL.. Let's see, I've owned an Apple IIe, Apple IIc, Apple IIGS, Mac Centris, two iMacs, B&W G3, G5.. What's that again about not owning any Apple products? I've owned them for a quarter century!<br><br>But what I don't do anymore like many in this forum still do is to make excuses for a products deficiencies. All of the Apple products have had fantastic traits, and traits that were far less than desirable. I used to overlook those bad traits, but you know what? That's stupid. Apple products have flaws just like all the others.<br><br>In my book, a $1700 machine with a battery that is deemed not user replaceable is a rip off. I don't pull punches I call it like I see it. If people don't like that, tough! I said many times I think it's a sexy machine. I want one! But I won't buy one for the reasons I've stated. Yes, I know I CAN replace the battery, but I shouldn't have to go through the hassle of disassembling the machine to do so.<br><br><br><br>Hey I'm an F'n Jerk!®

You should try opening a Mini and replacing the HD. It isn't as difficult as it appears. <br><br><br>

but I shouldn't have to go through the hassle of disassembling the machine to do so<br><br>Yeah right. This coming from someone who builds PCs. LOL! Are you even listening to yourself?<br><br><br>M i c h a e l (OFI)

Just an informative article.<br><br>&#63743; &#63743; &#63743; &#63743;

The only one in this conversation making is excuses is you sergeant baxter...<br><br><br>M i c h a e l (OFI)

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr><p>In my book, a $1700 machine with a battery that is deemed not user replaceable is a rip off.<p><hr></blockquote><p><br>Agreed!<br>And I don't care how 'thin & sexy' the machine looks.<br>IMHO, it's overpriced anyway...<br><br>[color:blue][/b]Hodie mihi. Cras tibi.</font color=blue>[/b]