
What does the "netbook" craze tell us about the future of laptops - raghus
http://slate.com/id/2207557
======
notauser
"More importantly, netbooks need better operating systems - in particular, a
very fast, mobile operating system that can download and install trusted
applications on the fly, over the air."

Dell netbooks _already_ ship with Ubuntu installed.

The fact that he hasn't given it a go speaks to two failures:

\- Most system builders putting WTF Linux distributions on their devices. Some
are really bad.

\- System builders advertising Windows as the high end choice and mostly only
making Linux available on crippled hardware configurations.

Still, at least the hardware is all Linux compatible, so I can sit here
installing trusted apps over 3G with one click while he waits for his perfect
OS to show up :)

~~~
electromagnetic
I've given Linux a go, it's a bag of crap even ubuntu. I'll stick with a real
product like Windows or OS X where I don't have to do BS I haven't needed to
do since DOS.

I'm glad you're happy with Linux, but I believe the rest of the world just
doesn't care about it and never will.

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markessien
People tend to make simple things too complicated, and also completely
misunderstand the market. Netbooks are selling for two reasons:

1\. They are small 2\. They are cheap

That's it. People want small laptops so they can take them to school, and
those same people are the people who don't have money.

The people don't want linux on their laptops. People just want things to work
the way they are used to, and that would be either Mac OS or Windows.

I can barely write with a pen anymore. I sure as hell don't want to use a
table PC, which is as slow as hell.

The last paragraph however has something interesting - android could very well
be the new OS for small PCs, if an app store comes up there, and the google
does not control this store too tightly.

~~~
smoody
Am I the only one who bought a netbook, realized it was so small that I
couldn't fit a complete thought on the screen and had problems trying to type
with it, so decided it was of more use to me as a paperweight than a portable
computing device? (Kidding about the paperweight bit -- it'll be going to my
nephew).

~~~
yummyfajitas
You aren't the only one. I can't use a netbook, even a macbook (11" keyboard)
is uncomfortable (my shoulders are 24"). I barely notice the weight of a
macbook, however.

I recently met a girl who can fit both of her hands into one of mine. Her
12-13" shoulders probably fit an 8" keyboard very nicely. Her first thought
about my macbook was "heavy". Netbooks are made for her, not us.

When you see ads for a netbook emphasizing cuteness, buy shares in whoever is
selling them.

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vizard
7'' touchscreen tablet that can run a browser : Dont the Archos 7 Internet
Tablet fit the bill? (Its sadly a closed platform though. No SDK which is
really sad).

[http://www.archos.com/products/imt/archos_7/index.html?count...](http://www.archos.com/products/imt/archos_7/index.html?country=ca&lang=en&culture=ca-
enfr&lang_temp=en)

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mynameishere
_At the moment, the laptop market is dominated by two kinds of machines: a
bunch of cheap netbooks that don't do much, and a bunch of expensive Apple
notebooks that do a lot and do it very well._

Huh? Oh, okay:

 _(Seven of the top 25 best-selling laptops on Amazon are MacBooks.)_

Word to the wise, Slate: Serious people don't buy laptops on Amazon.com.
newegg's bestsellers consists of computers of roughly equal or greater power
of MacBooks:

[http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE...](http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2004940032%204802&name=Top%20Sellers)

~~~
GHFigs
What makes you think Amazon is less reflective of the market as a whole than
NewEgg? The lack of netbooks in NewEgg's top sellers would seem to suggest
otherwise.

Also, define "serious people". Are people who buy MacBooks or netbooks "not
serious"?

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hs
the article suffers from 'bigger is better' and 'expensive is better'

back around 5 years ago, the smaller the laptop, the more expensive it was --
eeepc would have sold for $2000+ if she was available back then ... see sony
vaio prices etc

asus disrupted the industry by following apple (smaller mac is cheaper)
pricing model

basically making luxury into commodity

so imho netbooks win not (solely) because it's cheap ... there are bigger,
more powerful laptops priced like netbook but those don't sell as much ...
what gives?

3G netbooks will win big (against cellphones), disrupting telecommunication
(now you can be online anywhere, and make cheap long/international call using
skype and/or usual way using SIM card, paying carriers if you wish)

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bprater
Is the TechCrunch crew still planning on releasing a tablet?

