Early Macbook Airs are to blame for that weird power connector. Look: http://www.slashgear.com/gallery/data_files/3/macbook-air-ha... The industrial design division probably wanted a thin bevel on all sides, and there is no way a classic connector would fit between the macbook and the table and retain the magsafe feature.

Latest macbook airs no longer need this hack and I think Apple will shift back to normal power connectors sometime soon because these metal ones are no good for anything except possibly for those monitor-to-laptop power cords.