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Over at financial site Seeking Alpha, frequent commentator on (and defender of) all things Apple Carl Howe opines on the apparent target user for the new MacBook Air, the machine that has many wondering just who is in the svelte laptop's sights. A user as elegant and selective as the machine itself, Mr Howe hazards: fashion house executives, ritzy hotel concierges, anyone whose aesthetic hews closer to Armani than to Visual Basic.

Interesting stuff, though I would see that market as a side dish. Too small to specifically target – and Apple's already had a poor experience with a computer aimed at the froo-froo crowd, the Twentieth Anniversary Mac.

No, I rather see the Air as the lightweight, traveling second-Mac sidekick for people with a full-featured, less-mobile computer at home or in the office. "The extension of your main Mac" – that seems the niche need to me. Granted, users with that need will be on-the-go, independent professionals – designers, architects, executives, and so on – and there's nothing there to prevent some serious overlap with the high-society crowd that Mr Howe foresees. But I also expect plenty of users to be roll-up-your-sleeves types with blueprints tucked under an arm, or sweats-and-goatee web designer folks. Anyone with a need to lug a Mac a lot.

See also MacBook Air Lifts Off!

Who do you see as the Air's target user? (And are you among them?)