A World Without Wires

That's what the Air is all about. Shedding your wires is incredibly freeing. When you don't try to depend on that measley solo USB port you'll find that Wifi, Bluetooth and infrared really can replace wires.

Wireless Stereo
Airtunes allows your to play iTunes wirelessly though an Airport Express. The AX has an audio jack you plug powered speakers into and forget about it.

Wireless Disk
While the Superdrive is a bargain at $100, it's not the only way to load CDs and DVDs into your Air. The Remote Disk app that comes on your Air Install disc allows you to commandeer the DVD/CD drive of another Mac or PC for transferring files to your Air. Just install DVD Sharing from the disk on the computer you want to borrow the drive from. It will show up in your finer when both computers are on the same WiFi.

Wireless Backup
Time Capsule and the Time Machine app gives you wireless backup. Every hour Time Machine will make incremental backups and keep them for months. Once set you never have to worry about backup again.

Wireless Drive
Time Capsule can act as a wireless hard drive, so you can access your files anywhere there's a WiFi connection. You can even store your iPhoto photos or iTunes songs anywhere you have a Wifi connection. You may not be able to store 20,000 hi-res images and 20,000 songs on your Air (or any computer for that matter) but you can store them on Time Capsule and access them from anywhere. Likewise, a MobileMe account gives you up to 20 Gigs of storage space accessible from any browser anywhere.

Wireless Printing
Plug your printer into either the TC or the AX for wireless printing.

Wireless Flash Drive
Transferring files to another computer, whether Mac or PC can be done over both Bluetooth and WiFi. Bluetooth ranges 30 feet or so, but WiFi offers the ability to send and receive files from anywhere in the world between two WiFi-connected computers.

Wireless Webmastery
The features of MobileMe keep getting better and better. In addition to some unique features Mobile Me and iWeb give you seamless options for Web publishing.

Wireless Control
The wireless remote is sold separately and gives you control of Keynote presentations and Frontrow. You can also use WiFi versions which can turn the iPhone into a WiFi remote.

Wireless Phone and iPod
The iPhone is a solid companion with your Air. Though Apple hasn't set up iTunes to work wirelessly with the iPod, there are many apps available for both the Air and iPhone that allow files and control between the two. Air Sharing is a great app for transferring and reading files on your iPhone. Remote can act as a wireless remote control for iTunes on your Air. There are also apps that allow your iPhone to access your Air's file system and email files from your Air.

Wireless Mouse
There are a lot of options for Bluetooth mice. But just get the wireless Mighty Mouse and forget it. Whatever you do, don't but a cheapie that requires a BT dongle to plug into you sole USB port.

Wireless Headphones
Motorola's A2DP Bluetooth headsets give you stereo iTunes listening with no wires.

Wireless Communications
Any BT earpiece for mobile phones should work with your Air and apps like Skype and iChat.

Wireless Mic
This is still a tricky area like the wireless mouse. Make sure you buy one that doesn't need a BT box or dongle to connect to your Air through USB.

Wireless Camera
You can transfer photos from your camera to your Air through WiFi. Kodak's Easy Share One was the first. Nikon came out with the Coolpix S6 and the P1 and P2 offering Wifi. This technology really hasn't taken off yet, since people dispose of digital cameras every few years and Wifi adds to the price. But you don't really need a WiFi camera, just use a WiFi SD card.

Wireless WebCam
Rovio is like a Mars lander. This little robot can be driven around your home or office and move a webcan where you need it.

Wireless Charging
Uh, not quite yet. I really don't doubt that someday we'll have the technology to collect all the energy in the air that we've put there or that nature has put there, but it probably won't be this decade. But there is one option that might be useful for those who want to run the Air away from a charger.

mikegyver.com is selling a customized Kensington battery setup that can run your Air for an additional 6 to 10 hours. These are expensive at a little over $400 when they are in stock, but some may find them a useful way to get Air power in any situation.


The cost of converting entirely to wireless is staggering, but you should look at it as an investment in the future of your personal computing. You don't have to do it all today. Just check into your options when you buy anything that you plan to connect to your Air.