This is just my opinion, but…

The biggest wow at MacWorld had to be the “Air” - that new, tragically slim laptop that Apple unveiled. It could be argued that it’s the only other product out there that gives as good as the MoGo in the low-profile department.

But Air’s critics have been mounting. Primarily that it doesn’t come with a CD/DVD Drive (external one costs $99).

It was a bigger issue that Slate’s Harry McCracken came up with that has been ringing around in my head for a couple of weeks.

Now I’m going to put it in front of you.

Why is the Air a step backward from the iPhone?

No, Seriously.

The reason the iPhone (And its non-Apple cousins) blew us all off our feet was because that little device gets it.

The Future is Less Stuff that Does More.

We, the People, do not want to keep marching to the future wearing a superhero utility belt holding our 2 dozen gadgets.

This is why the MoGo rocks - because it is not only cool AND functional, but it stores in the device it augments. One fewer thing to worry about.

The plain truth is that phones and laptops (and computers and televisions) are converging. The iPhone was the standard-bearer of that reality. Internet + MP3 + Phone. That was 3 devices plucked from the utility belt and tossed in the bin, replaced by a single wicked multi-tasker.

The next tick in the evolution should not only have been a thin big dog laptop, but one that does more.  For example, when MoGo rolled out the next gen of its product, it had more functionality.

The Air should have, too. It should be touchscreen, it should have cell-hookup capabilities, it should act like -in fact - an iPhone with a whole lot more memory and display and applications. After all, this is Apple. If they don’t get it, then who will?

So, what do YOU think?

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Obvious Statement #147: Your web-based apps stop working when your drop your Internet connection.

But… what if it didn’t have to be that way?

Last week as the worldwide Google Developer Day 2007 kicked off, Google officially announced what had been its worst-kept secret - Google Gears is here.

Google Gears is an extension that allows developers to enhance their web-based applications (like Google Reader, see beta here) so they work even without web access.

Simplistically? It’s open-source multi-platform JavaScript Application Programming Interface (API) that lets Web applications work offline by creating a local cache on your hard drive .

Yes, before you say it, the desktop traditionally is Microsoft territory.

But Google Gears is more than another David-wannabe with a slingshot and a sharp rock. Already, Gears has a lot of support behind it: Adobe Software, Mozilla Corp., and Opera Software all made statements of support.

No one is arguing that traditional desktop applications have their place. The code does not yet exist to make a product like Adobe’s Creative Suite, especially the industry-standard Photoshop, effective as a web-based app.

But for the standard corporate user, managing desktop applications can be a hassle. Even if you are using a product - like Lotus Notes - that lets you work offline or online, you still have to synch and organize as you move between laptop and desktop, or during hardware upgrades. “I think the growth of the Internet has really reflected the difficulties people have running desktop software,” Chris DiBona, open source programs manager at Google told InformationWeek.

What does Google Gears mean right now? Not much beyond a way to make it easier to bring today’s industry news with you onto the airplane.

But looking at the horizon, expect an evolution. Google has word processing and spreadsheet applications that will soon be available to you for both online collaboration and as an offline tool.

Now that developers have their hands on the code, we’ll stay on top of the products and innovations as they are released.

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