Web Junkie Blogger: Mysterious Apple Brick Computer!

Mysterious Apple Brick Computer!

Think wishful: Concept dream designs of the mysterious Apple Brick have surfaced on blogs.

(Credit: Yves Behar/OLPC)

By now you've probably heard the rumors that Apple is having an event on October 14th, where Steve Jobs will introduce new Apple laptops to the world. At this point, it's unclear whether the lines will be refreshed with new processors and configurations or whether we'll see a more substantial redesign to the Macbook and Macbook Pro. And then there's the big secondary question of what's going on with the MacBook Air?

Chances are, if there's an update to the Air, we'll just see a bump in processor speed and storage capacity, particularly in the solid-state version of the Air. But, then there's this mysterious thing called the Brick that started with a site called 9to5Mac and made a few orbits around the blogsphere. Some say it might be a tablet. Others think it's a new version of Apple TV. And many are conjecturing that it's a low-cost, lightweight Netbook to match up against all the mini notebooks hitting the marketing--including models from Dell, HP, Asus.

If, indeed, we're about to be introduced to a MacBook Mini or an Apple Netbook (or, maybe Jobs does go counter-intuitive and calls this lightweight machine the Brick), isn't it time to ditch the first-gen Air while it still has some value? I figure the one-two punch of a refreshed Air with a new budget-price Apple notebook will knock $300-$500 off a used Air's current selling price.

Or, with two weeks to go before the press event, is it already too late? Is the Air already utterly devalued? Let me know what you think.

Posted by David Carnoy of CNET