I haven't slammed the 17" MBP. Nor have I slammed the Xserve. A note to whitedragon : you're mistaking me for someone else.
A small sample.
What about a 17" screen is required for developing ? I develop apps on a 13" MBA just fine.
Lots of professionals don't need 17" laptops
As a programmer, you should realise that screen inches means nothing. They could simply come out with a 1920x1200 15" and you'd see the same code for multiple classes or pages as you do on your current 17".
I do all of that on my 13" MBA.
17" screen is just an arbitrary spec. It's meaningless by itself. The fact that Apple insists on shipping a gimped 15" in the PPI department is the only reason for the 17" to exist.
Screen inches and real-estate have nothing to do with each other. Pixels. Only Apple links pixel count and screen size, and again, a 15" 1920x1200 display would offset the loss of the 17" to begin with.
In response to KurtangleTN saying "some people need a lot of power."Again, screen size and screen real-estate have nothing to do with each other.
And some people don't.