Switched On: When netbooks suffer from 'Droid rage
posted June 16th 2009 6:13PM
Ross Rubin (@rossrubin) contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.
Despite powering only a handful of handsets available on the market, Android has already had a significant impact on the competitive landscape in smartphones. Looking at its primary rivals that run on a variety of hardware from multiple manufacturers, Android has provided a free and highly customizable licensed challenge to Windows Mobile, And competition with the Google-developed mobile operating system may have also provided the final push of Symbian into the world of open source.
Just because Android has turned the tables, though, does not mean it should be used on devices that rest on them. Recently, the infatuation with Android has led to much speculation and supplication regarding the operating system as an alternative on netbooks and less proven "gaptops" that live between the smartphone and the notebook. But while blazing benchmarks may erase any speed records set by netbooks running Windows, they can't erase what amounts to a weak case for Android on these devices.
Recent history shows that the overwhelming majority of consumers want Windows on their netbooks. This has become especially true as the market has shifted from the quasi-appliance like original Asus Eee, with its suboptimal 7" screen, to most netbooks running 10" and now even larger screens and vendors such as Dell and HP that are pillars of the Windows hardware world have grabbed market share. Even these manufacturers have more to gain by going with their own twist on Linux. HP, for example, has created a unique and differentiated experience with its Linux environment for netbooks. It will take some time before various Android implementations are so unique. It's unclear why an Android-based netbook would fare much better than Linux-based netbooks have.
But if there really are some good Android apps that would be at home on a desktop, that's still not necessarily a strong argument for using Android as a primary netbook operating system. An alternative and more promising approach being offered by Canonical, which develops Ubuntu with its open source community. Canonical plans to enable Ubuntu to run Android applications, which might appear in windows within the host Linux OS. And if netbook makers want that Google halo around their product, they can install the gOS operating system. While it is not developed by or endorsed by Google, it certainly features Google's properties while being free from the "with Google" branding restrictions.
Finally, there are the smaller devices that may be pocketable or lack a keyboard. Call them MIDs or smartbooks. Android is a better fit for these devices since their form factor and usage are more similar to those of smartphones, and Android may become a great enabler for manufacturers of portable media players looking to offer more of the versatility we are seeing from the iPod touch and soon Zune HD. The open question here, though, is how large this market will become as cheap touch-screen smartphones continue to proliferate.
So stick with smartphones, Android. There's lots of opportunity there for the near-term, and as the screens and market share of Android devices grow, they may just encourage development of more kinds of applications that would cross over better to the laptop world. Today, though, Android simply lacks the muscle, momentum, and marketplace to be a strong contender on netbooks.
Ross Rubin is director of industry analysis for consumer technology at market research and analysis firm The NPD Group. Views expressed in Switched On are his own.
"that is only good for browsing and instant messaging. "
Maybe because that's the only reason they bought it? I don't want one of these to compile my code for work.
I do agree with this piece and really don't get why there's so much focus on Android on netbooks. It's a Linux kernel with a Java framework on top, why not just a custom Linux distro? I know the App Store could be a solid, but in order to get the full Android experience, a customer has to agree to certain principals with google, and I don't know how many of these guys have.
Not to mention that I don't know how good Android is blown up. The Web browsing's pretty good for a phone, but I would be very upset if that's my primary browser. Word processing is still an issue, but I think Goog docs could be an excellent solution.
What I don't get is why the smartbooks would cost $200, particularly if it has a good tegra chip, long battery life, and 3G connectivity. I think the first couple will start out in the $500 range and then go down in price as volumes and scale pick up.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/15/gartner-android-on-arm-more-snappy-than-windows-7-on-atom/
The quote of a sub $200 price point is at the bottom.
@TSellers
Yeah, but it looks like that's with a carrier subsidy and a new two-year contract for data. Figure that's at least $30 a month for two years, in addition to whatever voice and data costs for your cell phone, and I think there's very little reason to get this type of device, particularly because you can purchase a "regular" netbook outright for about $150 more.
If they could have it for $200 outright, I'd buy one today.
Manufacturers are jumping on the Andrioid bandwagon because Android is a Google product. Everyone knows Google, so anything Google does will get more attention. Canonical on the other hand... well, there are probably even some people on Engadget that don't know of them. For desktop Linux to really take off, some big name like Google (Yahoo? AOL?) would have to make a custom version of Linux (it technically doesn't have to be Linux. It could be a BSD or even OpenSolaris derivative), create a new desktop platform (strip out X11, gnome, kde, etc.), port over any important applications that people care about (java & open office, webkit, im clients), ship it on computers that rival Apple's in good looks, and promote the hell out of how it meshes with its web services. Canonical's strategy of partnering with manufacturers like Dell to ship computers with Ubuntu pre-installed simply won't work. They get zero advertising so no one outside the geek crowd is aware of them. For the same reason, they would fail at selling their own computers.
They do definitely get some of the glow and overall marketing push that Google has, but Android isn't always tied to Google. In fact, if you want the Google logo on any device, and the tight integrated services with their Web properties, you have to agree to certain restrictions they impose. They're nothing too major, from what I've heard publicly, but Android doesn't equal Google. Because of that, I believe that some people may get an Android device expecting this excellent Google integration, may not get it, and be turned off by this whole robot thing and run back to MS.
Android is doing a lot more damages to the Linux community than a decade of FUD sponsored by Microsoft.
"Furthermore, Android has screen resolution limitations that would certainly come into play using a netbook with an external monitor."
If you think this is relevant in the *slightest* then you just plain don't understand what the target user is. People talking about Android for netbooks are talking about cheap, low power / super long battery life, no moving parts, light, small, no fan/no heat, "browser, email and ebook" type netbook. This is a 3rd computer, not a laptop or desktop replacement. This is going to encroach more on the Kindle's and Crunchpad's space, more than the Inspiron.
"shifted from the quasi-appliance like original Asus Eee"
You almost got it for a second... the very reason the Eee captured the markets imagination was that it was an appliacnce and not a multiuse laptop. They messed up the formula after that first one for a full year by trying to turn it into a general purpose laptop, but it was telling that the original sold so well compared to the many also rans that came afterwards.
"Canonical plans to enable Ubuntu to run Android applications, which might appear in windows within the host Linux OS"
Once again, you just don't get it. To run an Android emulator ON TOP of an entire Ubuntu desktop Linux stack would require a ... *regular computer*. While this is great, and I'll happily do that on my t61p, that isn't what we are talking about here. Give me the guts of a smartphone with a big screen (8 inches, no more nessesary), make it a small package, and make it cheap... I'll jump to preoder it. The use case? Reading the hours of documentation and blog postings I have to read for my day job every day. Cleaning up my work inbox with a nice small cool appliance that I can sit on the couch with for hours without thinking about hte battery.
"Finally, there are the smaller devices that may be pocketable or lack a keyboard. Call them MIDs or smartbooks. "
Ok, now you are just playing a semantic games... to make your point you just pidgeon-hole any of the acutal target demo for Android on Netbooks into MID's
"So stick with smartphones, Android. "
That's the thing with an Open Source OS... it doesn't have to stick with any one thing, it can grow for separate use cases, pushed there by different groups of people. Why do you guys want to stop that growth so much?
"What I don't get is why isn't a smartphone running Android as you describe available for $200 without a subsidy? I just don't think they can get to that cost without having to sign a contract, particularly for a new, untested class of device."
Hitting that target will be hard, but if a company can pull it off they will be minting cash. I would think they could save a lot of money by not having to use such expensively miniaturized components like they need in smartphones. There's a lot more room to design around in a netbook form.
But yes, the first gen of these will probably be more like $500. I suppose that's why having a Carrier slap a 3G card in them and subsidize them over 2 years is probably a good idea for the first gen ones.
The only thing that Google has to do to make Android a proper OS for notebooks/pcs - to force Microsoft Office to run on Android.
"So stick with smartphones, Android. "
Boy, are you confused. You think that Google is pushing Android for netbooks. What is actually happening is a whole bunch of netbook oem's have decided that Android is what they are looking for.
This dude is such a tool.
Seriously tho, talk about MASTER *LIGHTNING CRACK* of the Obvious.
As gadget bloggers and anyone with half a fucking brain has been saying since the first Android-equipped "netbooks" appeared at CES this year, Android on a netbook is stupid and lame.
Congrats, you're a genious.
Get back to blogging about how awesome Apple is now. Thanks.
Oh yeah, G1 user here btw.
Cheers.
I think... in the end... when the world becomes consumed by cloud... where the os has very little meaning because everything is run of of the browser... then... I will buy a android os... I want a light cool quick running os... that will run my cloud browser ie: chrome... and I don't care about all the other bs... that people are accustomed to... I will change and personalize my "Gbook" using android themes, icons, shortcuts, widgets and whatever I can muster... and all I really will need is the browser to work... ill do everything on net and my computer will only cost less than 200 dollars... when the os system requires less because of progression isn't it alleviating to know I would need less to do more? Finding I can confidently say "my computer is super fast with 1gb of ram" haha... that's what's excites me about Android... because that's the future its creating... you are at the cusp of development... and the future is coming whether you like it or not... and if you still choose not to accept the innevitable... then I will look back and wave good bye as the rest of us progress. -el fin
You folks just don't get it. Remember when the mainframe people said nobody needed a PC? Look at the development of phone OS's. Look at how long it took MSFT to finally get it? How many versions of windows has there been? How many of you remember Windows 2.0? Android is young, yet it has stirred the imagination of many, why? I have a Blackberry, Palm and Windows Mobile, along with a G1. My wife was able to pick up the G1 and use it immediately. The Blackberry and WinMo, nope. That is why people are looking closely at Android. If Apple wasn't so stubbornly stupid and if they opened up their iPhone/iPod touch UI to other makers people would be jumping on that. If you build it, they will come to Android. There is no reason open office can't get ported to Android, or any other application. No I am not saying that in an instant Android will replace Windows, it may never, but don't just quickly dismiss it, it has a lot of room to grow. 2.0 is nearing completion, and that is something that MSFT will never be able to compete with, an open source OS that has people from all over the world working to improve it. Yes Linux has had that but never really went anywhere, but Linux didn't have Google to help it. Lastly, look at what the average person actually uses a computer for, email, web browsing, social interaction, word processing, taxes, games, music and other entertainment. All of this can be done on an Android device now.
IMHO Android makes sense on specialized tablet netbook, because it is designed to be used with a touchscreen.
Otherwise you probabler want to use a specialized Linux distro such as Moblin, if you don't like Windows.
I'd install Android on my Eeeeeeeeeee PC just so I could play with Android. Even if it wasn't that useful.
So far, the only device I can name off the top of my head that has Android on it is the G1 from T-Moble.
I'm not willing to shell out the cash for a phone I don't need. I'm already locked into a contract with Verizon. Which is something you don't have to deal with when buying a computer... well, you do now if you buy the thing FROM Verizon...
A netbook with an intel processor has a crappy battery life. You need ARM for a decent mobile experience. That rules out Windows. Lets be clear: a netbook is not a mini desktop computer. It is for internet access, read and write email, surf and some small games for entertainment. That is the android sweetspot.