...And this is entirely unnecessary. If they'd moved the USB port about a quarter of an inch away, you could do both at once.
Of all companies, how has this happened with Mac?
I'd really love to know if anyone has an idea about how this occured?
If you look closely at the left edge of the MBA, you will see that it is shaped like a wedge. The physical size of the internal connectors was the limiting factor regarding thickness. Apple engineers decided "well, we can't make it any thinner than that, but we can make it wedge-shaped to make it thinner on the front edge". And this required that the connectors be moved as far north as is practical. There is no pooch-screwing regarding this design choice; it is both clever as well as revolutionary.
Once again, Apple leads; others follow. There are at least a half-dozen laptops out there now that have completely co-opted the form-factor and design of the MBA, which is selling like hotcakes, and setting records both for Apple and for the computer industry.
People seem to take for granted many of the things that Apple has pioneered commercially, from the mouse, the plastic-encased floppy, the GUI, and almost everything else you see today or yesterday on almost any modern computer. Every single laptop uses a design with the keyboard pushed up near the screen, and below that a platform for the user's wrists and a trackpad. No one ever figured out this no-brainer design choice until Apple did it; before that, the keyboard was down near the user, with dead space between the keyboard and the screen, and no wrist rests. As usual, it took Apple to figure this out. If it weren't for revolutionary and bold thinking like this, we might all still be using the command line.
As for USB devices fitting into where the ports are, Apple computers rule there too. As well as being accessible with the also-clever mag-safe connector turned around, the USB connectors in Apple products are usually always flush, meaning that almost any USB drive design fits every time. I have to sneaker-net a lot of stuff at work among various Dell and HP computers, and almost every single one of them for years has recessed the USB connector on the front panel. I have responded by grinding down the front part of the case on my flash drives on a grinding wheel to accommodate that. Were those Apple computers, I never would have had to resort to that.
I'm not a fanboy and am not saying Apple is perfect; not putting a USB port on the edge of the iMac is just one glaring ergonomic defect of many, and they have bought and effectively euthanized or at least de-nutted a lot of companies and good ideas that were more valuable (to us as users) on their own, before Apple meddled with them. Just talk to a Logic or FCP user about that. Every company makes stupid decisions, but Apple is about the only company that makes inspired, revolutionary, segment-leading decisions as well.
And there is very little to complain about regarding the MBA, other than it is the first computer that I ever considered putting a cover on, and that was only because it's design is uncharacteristically cold and unwieldy; it is difficult to pick up a laptop shaped like a giant meat cleaver blade with one hand, no matter how light and thin it is. Having a grippy cover helps dull the pain of that.
But I would suggest finding a real issue to complain about. It sounds like you have no earthly idea how lucky you are that Apple has designed your computer, as well as greatly influenced the design of every other modern computer in a positive way.
