Entelligence: Netbooks, R.I.P.
By Michael Gartenberg 
posted Jun 23rd 2009 3:02PM
posted Jun 23rd 2009 3:02PM
Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he'll explore where our industry is and where it's going -- on both micro and macro levels -- with the unique wit and insight only he can provide.
It's one of the hottest selling items in the consumer electronics market today. At a time when vendors are struggling to sell PCs, it's the one category that has been selling consistently in Amazon's top ten list of technology purchases. Apple and Sony have both dismissed the category, even as other vendors bring more models to market. Yes, I'm talking about the phenomenon called the netbook. Here's why I think it's going to be pretty short lived as a category.
"What's in a name?" Shakespeare asked, adding "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." While some perceive the netbook as a new product category -- a class of device that's never existed -- I would have to beg to differ. A netbook is merely a laptop with the pivotal axis based on price first and foremost. In other words, "how much computer can I build for $300-500?" (which is about the average selling price of most netbooks). When Apple or Sony designs products, they look at what materials they want in a device. If it costs too much to deliver, it gets scrapped. If the materials are too shoddy to deliver at a price point, it gets scrapped. That's why we don't see netbooks from either vendor. At least... not yet.
Sure, my price-oriented definition might sound heretical to those who view the netbook as an ode to cloud computing, ubiquitous usage scenarios, and freedom from Microsoft OS tyranny, but that's not how the market has shaped out.
Let's look at history. At the end of 2007 a netbook (or laptop you could build for about $300-$500) had about a 7-inch screen, a tiny keyboard, about 4GB of storage, half a gig of RAM and no Windows OS (that Windows thing adds to price). Purists argued that the max screen size for a netbook was 7-inches. Fast forward to today: that same price point will deliver you a 10-inch screen or so, a gig of RAM and perhaps 160GB of storage. It also gets you a copy of Windows for the most part. By year's end, we'll see vendors offering 12-inch screens, full keyboards, and 300GB of storage. And they'll be called netbooks. But that doesn't matter, does it? Because that rose still smells the same -- no matter what we call it.
Sure, there are some folks who adopted netbooks as an additional PC or even a primary machine -- but the driver has consistently been price. Tiny, underpowered laptops have been around for more than a decade, but few people bought them because there was a premium price associated with them. As prices came down, capabilities
increased and more folks bought them. But not as netbooks -- rather as laptop replacements. The proof? Look at the sales and return rates of Linux netbooks vs. Windows-based ones. The vast majority of folks want Windows. The reason? It's their laptop replacement. No one carries a netbook and a laptop.
The cellphone and laptop represent the core part of a user's mobile experience. With most consumers willing to carry two devices total, there's not a lot of room for 'tweener devices. That's one reason vendors have worked so hard to increase netbook capabilities. The more they increase, the more they can displace the laptop for more users. Of course there's a downside. Netbooks use less horsepower than many other laptops. They ship with Windows XP (at least for now) instead of the more expensive Vista. That's why Intel and Microsoft are working hard to constrain the specifications of whatever's called a netbook. Of course, that won't work: technology moves at its own pace and no vendor can control it. That's why when I can get a nice 12-inch screen, with a full keyboard, a few hundred gigs of storage and a lot of RAM for $300-400 I won't care if it's called a netbook or a laptop. I'll just call it Moore's law in action.
Michael Gartenberg is vice president of strategy and analysis at Interpret, LLC. His weblog can be found at gartenblog.net. Contact him at Gartenberg@gmail.com Views expressed here are his own.
"What's in a name?" Shakespeare asked, adding "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." While some perceive the netbook as a new product category -- a class of device that's never existed -- I would have to beg to differ. A netbook is merely a laptop with the pivotal axis based on price first and foremost. In other words, "how much computer can I build for $300-500?" (which is about the average selling price of most netbooks). When Apple or Sony designs products, they look at what materials they want in a device. If it costs too much to deliver, it gets scrapped. If the materials are too shoddy to deliver at a price point, it gets scrapped. That's why we don't see netbooks from either vendor. At least... not yet.
Sure, my price-oriented definition might sound heretical to those who view the netbook as an ode to cloud computing, ubiquitous usage scenarios, and freedom from Microsoft OS tyranny, but that's not how the market has shaped out.
Let's look at history. At the end of 2007 a netbook (or laptop you could build for about $300-$500) had about a 7-inch screen, a tiny keyboard, about 4GB of storage, half a gig of RAM and no Windows OS (that Windows thing adds to price). Purists argued that the max screen size for a netbook was 7-inches. Fast forward to today: that same price point will deliver you a 10-inch screen or so, a gig of RAM and perhaps 160GB of storage. It also gets you a copy of Windows for the most part. By year's end, we'll see vendors offering 12-inch screens, full keyboards, and 300GB of storage. And they'll be called netbooks. But that doesn't matter, does it? Because that rose still smells the same -- no matter what we call it.
Sure, there are some folks who adopted netbooks as an additional PC or even a primary machine -- but the driver has consistently been price. Tiny, underpowered laptops have been around for more than a decade, but few people bought them because there was a premium price associated with them. As prices came down, capabilities
"Tiny, underpowered laptops have been around for more than a decade, but few people bought them because there was a premium price associated with them." |
The cellphone and laptop represent the core part of a user's mobile experience. With most consumers willing to carry two devices total, there's not a lot of room for 'tweener devices. That's one reason vendors have worked so hard to increase netbook capabilities. The more they increase, the more they can displace the laptop for more users. Of course there's a downside. Netbooks use less horsepower than many other laptops. They ship with Windows XP (at least for now) instead of the more expensive Vista. That's why Intel and Microsoft are working hard to constrain the specifications of whatever's called a netbook. Of course, that won't work: technology moves at its own pace and no vendor can control it. That's why when I can get a nice 12-inch screen, with a full keyboard, a few hundred gigs of storage and a lot of RAM for $300-400 I won't care if it's called a netbook or a laptop. I'll just call it Moore's law in action.
Michael Gartenberg is vice president of strategy and analysis at Interpret, LLC. His weblog can be found at gartenblog.net. Contact him at Gartenberg@gmail.com Views expressed here are his own.
I suspect none of them care what YOU think.
The thing I like most about netbooks is it makes my Macbook Pro look amazing after spending time on them.
"Apple and Sony have both dismissed the category..."
What are you talking about? Sony has a netbook. They have that little computer that fits in a large pocket that runs a full OS.
That's an MID honey..
They do not call it a netbook, first off. Secondly it way above the $500 price point.
Oh no, the P series is not a MID. A MID conjurs up significantly less capability than even a 'netbook' delivers. A Nokia N810 is a MID. The P series delivers more, with Vista standard (though that decision might be questionable) twice the normal RAM standard, higher res screen, BT, GPS, N wireless standard, and the ever-impeccable SONY quality. And it costs twice as much as a 'netbook'. That's why I think SONY doesn't sell 'netbooks'. Would Lexus build a small fuel efficient vehicle and call it a compact economy car? They couldn't sell it with that nomenclature at a Lexus price.
I respectfully disagree with the article premise. I think 'netbooks' are an attempt to make a device that can do what most people want to do, and is really portable to boot. Price is secondary. No, they aren't going to build one out of titanium and carbon fiber to get the weight done and charge $3K for it, but the idea is light, at a palatable price. We have been able to get $400-$500 15 laptops for some time, with more features (DVD, PCMCIA), but they are boat anchors. Ask anyone who regularly drags one back and forth to work, or is a road warrior, air or auto. I think they are here to stay, but I expect they will gradually increase in basic power, and start offering docking solutions like the old SONY R505 or Dell X200 where the dock becomes an integral part of the unit if you want it along.
Sven, I think he meant the UX
"They do not call it a netbook"
Oh, well, then it must not be one!
@Sven Johannsen:
'Would Lexus build a small fuel efficient vehicle and call it a compact economy car?'
They already do, they call them Toyota's
Sven: I carry a 15 Inch notebook around every day( hp dv5t). It is not a problem for me. In fact, I am very happy with the portability. I dont see how someone can be so inconvenienced with a full laptop. If you carry a briefcase or backpack, the laptop fits right in, which is probably the same way you would carry a netbook.
"Sven: I carry a 15 Inch notebook around every day( hp dv5t). It is not a problem for me. In fact, I am very happy with the portability. I dont see how someone can be so inconvenienced with a full laptop. If you carry a briefcase or backpack, the laptop fits right in, which is probably the same way you would carry a netbook."
As someone who used to own a 15.4" Acer Aspire, is currently typing from a 10" EeePC, and is waiting for his new 15.4" Thinkpad in the mail right now, I can safely say that a 15.4" laptop is a _huge_ hassle in terms of weight and size, especially if you travel with public transportation.
Oh, and did I mention the battery life? The EeePC (even this old one) gets 7 hours with low screen brightness and wifi on the _standard_ battery. The Thinkpad I just ordered will be lucky to get 5 with the _extended_ 9-cell battery...
So basically, netbooks are going to become cheap laptops. Then we'll start making even cheaper and even smaller laptops and before you know it, we'll all be carrying around either a UMPC or a smartphone.
I have to express my concerns about the whole netbook thing. One thing this article completely failed to take into account was the issue of size. I was drawn to netbooks not just because of their price, but because of their size. Until the Asus EEE came along, a sub-notebook of that same size cost close to $2000. Now that I see most netbooks shipping with 10-12" screens, I feel disappointed, because I think my 9" netbook is wonderfully small. It fits in my bag and I use it every day. I just hope they'll keep making cheap, tiny laptops.
Why on earth would I listen to a person who is obviously NOT well versed in technology. I've been supporting PC's for over a decade and I will tell you right now it's NOT all about the price point. Yes, the $300-$500 price point mentioned does add to the lure of the netbook, but it's truly the "SIZE", and BATTERY life and then the price point that put's this in a category by itself. Notebooks can and will go over the $500 range (i.e. adding GPS, 3G, Touch Screen etc...). I can almost guarantee if some manufacturer added all three said components to a "NetBook" for a premium price, it would still fly of the shelves! This article was written by a tech 'enthusiast' not someone in the tech sector.
@Mark
No. As the author mentions, netbook sized units with comparable battery life have been around for a long time. It's only when the price reached this point did the netbook take off.
"before you know it, we'll all be carrying around either a UMPC or a smartphone."
And they'll still argue over what it should be called. A cell-top? A lap-phone? A net-lap-cell-phone-book-top?
@Chuckles
Sorry but you can buy laptops that cost under $500 and I don't see them flying off the shelves. Yes smaller systems have been around for a long time but were either way to slow for normal use, or way to overpriced for the average Joe(Sorry but I haven't seen many systems back then that could handle a 10 hour battery life...). Consumers want a balance of form, function, and price point. Something we haven't seen since the dawn of the term Netbook. Period.
@ Clyde
I've had smartphones in the past and sorry but they are horrible at surfing the web. UMPC's are just too small to do anything with.
I don't care what you call it! A netbook is still a laptop, computer, notebook, pc to me.
Just make sure its compact, light, 100GB+ storage, wifi, bluetooth+edr, 2+ usb, hdmi, speakers, mic, multi-touch, bright 10.1 screen, 2 GB memory, webcam, card reader, good CPU, 6+ hour battery and plays HD content...
...$400 and i will buy it and put windows 7 on it.
Many people are replacing their laptops with netbooks.
Back in december my main laptop died and i decided that I didnt need gaming, so opted for a netbook.
The problem is that many consumers have not clue what a netbook is. They think its a small computer that they can play hd movies on and graphic intense games on.
But thats not true so they buy it thinking they can do all these thigns when they can't.
It was a good price but its not a full netbook.
This is were ion base netbooks will pick up there markets from.
Confused consumers will see an ion netbook and wont know it from an non-ion based one.
So more confusion.
to me a netbook is whatever the hell you want it to be.
They can ever sport a 17in screen.
Good day
Here come the attacks.
Nah, "netbooks" are currently growing in size, not shrinking. The first netbook was a revelation because previous iterations cost $2000+
The fact of the matter is that there will be a range of laptops available, with screen sizes from 9" - 17", which use the cheapest available Intel or AMD processor and chipset and cost $300 - $400. It seems like we have arrived at the sweet spot where the OS does all that most users need, and that OS is Windows XP and it runs fine on those cheapo processors. Too bad for Microsoft and Intel who want to sell you more expensive operating systems/processors.
Whether you call 'em cheap laptops or netbooks doesn't matter at all.
Apple and Sony will have to get on the bandwagon. The times when a mainstream laptop cost $1500 are officially over. And I am saying that typing on a very nice $3000 MacBook Pro unibody.
If I may say so, this was probably the worst article I've ever read on Engadget. This guy sounds like a some how less in touch Wal Mossberg. I've been reading this site since I was in high school. Don't start bringing in second rate journalists with zippy headlines that don't back it up with shit.
Everyone has their own need for a netbook. I use mine in auditoriums where there isn't enough space for a full on laptop, and I used to use it as an in car navigator/pc. That's worth the price of admission for me, and there are other specific needs a netbook addresses. However, I think the primary reason people buy them is novelty, and later they collect dust.
What they really need to do is go back to the original goal of the eee pc and make a sub-200 dollar netbook. That will drive the novelty sales again.
They still make and sell the EeePC 900 and 901, and I've seen them on sale as a few places recently for $150-200.
Wrong. It's about not weighing 20 lbs, and having an all day battery life.
agreed
I see what he's saying about netbooks starting to blur the lines between cheap laptop and true netbook, but the fact is that a good 9-10" netbook will always remain, and it will always be a true netbook.
I also disagree that netbooks are being used to replace primary laptops. Netbooks are used for when a real laptop would be overkill - for instance, you want to go out for the day and might want to do some light browsing and email while traveling around. You need something light with a battery that will last all day and doesn't need a lot of horsepower. Leave your macbook behind and take the netbook. Netbooks are secondary laptops - and why not, at their price?
I sincerely doubt anyone is trying to replace their real laptop with a netbook, and if so, it probably isn't working out well for them.
@juaquin
but if u are right and it's about light web and email. Why a netbook? I used my motorola v6 and nokia 6120 for this and neither were even "smart phones", now I use an iPhone. Try and suggest a phone over a netbook in these forums and see what happens to you. People seem quite clear about being able to edit/create work on their 9" screens.
Clearly a replacement for their laptop and even desktop. Though it says a lot about the user and their "work"
I replaced my real laptop with a netbook. I downgraded from a 2GHz Core 2 Duo with 2GB of RAM, to an Atom N270 with 1GB. I did that because EVERYTHING that I want to do on a laptop can be done on a netbook. When I need to do real work (mostly to do with audio or video), I have a desktop PC for that. I only really want a netbook/laptop for browsing, email, and light-use, and so I can VNC-into my desktop when I need something from there.
I expect that most people don't really use laptops for anything that requires the power of most full-sized laptops. Normal people need a laptop to browse Facebook and YouTube, and maybe play a Flash game or two. That's pretty much it. If normal people have any complaint about a netbook, it's not the speed, it's "How do I play a DVD?", or it's, "How can you see anything on such a small screen?"
I choose my netbook over my notebook 95% of the time. For the size and weight, and because the netbook is "good enough" to do what I need it to. The exception is when I really need all the screen size/resolution I can get, and there's no external monitor to plug a netbook into, that's about the only time these days I'm forced to lug around my Thinkpad T60.
I agree that netbooks are good for surfing, emailing/IM'ing, and the occasional word processing document, but not all people use their notebooks for just those purposes. I needed a machine that could do really heavy movie editing and extremely graphics-intensive things, but I needed to carry it everywhere as well. As I cannot afford a tiny netbook AND a desktop I chose to settle on a 13" laptop and beefed up all the specs to make it a portable desktop replacement. Netbooks won't really go away because there is still a need by a good percentage of people for just those tasks. There is good reasoning in making them, because kids and seniors do not need a $4000 MacBook Pro 17" with a 3.06 GHz processor, 8GB RAM, and a 500GB HD to use Facebook and watch Youtube. They would be the ones at which the netbook is targeted. For the students and businesspeople who use every ounce of processor power, every byte of RAM, and every GB of their hard drive for their job, the netbook would not be a practical idea. However, the percentage of the "ideal netbook market" as described above would be enough that they will continue to sell millions of those tiny little computers to that market.
Right. It's the Atom CPU that made netbooks happen. Previously, low-priced notebooks either had gimp Celerons or were just older models with last gen parts (Core Duo, anyone?). Atom has enough horsepower for what people want to do, yet is easy on the battery and the wallet. Combine that with low RAM prices, and it's the perfect storm for a low-priced, decently-endowed netbook. Buying a low-priced notebook isn't really "settling for low-end" as it had been before.
Could not agree more. As someone who 3 sitting here we have tried these as the owner of my company. 2 thing... either they could have done it on their smart phone or it took a more powerful laptop to do it. Either way it did not justify the cost. I watch these netbooks bought all the time at Bestbuy and i hear them saying that this is going to do what a laptop does. Buyers remorse is the name of the game here. Apple and Sony are right.
What's wrong is "saying that this is going to do what a laptop does"
.... long live netbooks, and owners that know how to use them.
No, Apple and Sony are not right. They are two companies that overcharge for products that you can get of equal value elsewhere for less. Asus and the like have already cornered the market on netbooks and Sony and Apple won't get into the business of producing something that they can't charge you out of the ass for such as a $300 netbook.
What a meh article.
AGREED. Pointless IMO.
I actually thought it was a very well written and mainly well thought off cogitation.
Yeah, pretty weak overall, since he totally ignored the reasons why netbook users pick them over full blown laptops.
Never trust a person who wants a New York bagel when they can have a Montreal bagel. Infinitely better. :)
Forget the bagel stuff, never trust a person who was a 'Microsoft Evangelist'
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/15/microsoft-hires-michael-gartenberg-as-new-evangelist/
Funny that so many people here think Engadget has an Apple bias, yet they have this guy on the payroll!
Forget the bagel stuff? Never! :)
Agreed. I have both a full-power laptop (MacBook Pro) and a netbook (Dell Mini 9 running Ubuntu). They both have uses with me.
I love the full-power laptop when I need to do video editing work, graphics work, burning DVDs, etc. I love the netbook when I travel to countries where it's more likely that my computer will get stolen or damaged, but I still need the power of a true computer.
Eh.. this is almost certainly MS FUD being seeded before Windows 7 comes out. They are probably going to mount a campaign to deflect criticism of the crapped on version of that OS for netbooks..
what's the vaio p again? a mid?
very good point. That little runt is a netbook!
They class it as a laptop.
Well you do use it from your lap...
but it can go on the net!
and it's about the size of a book!
Than it's a netlap, settle?
Now onto more important posts...as long it's not an apple product.
Considering its as wide as a pamphlet is long, I christen it a Netphlet.
All of you are wrong. Sony itself calls the Vaio P an Ultraportable. It is not a MID or a netbook, by their definition. However, none of that even matters. It is what it is. Just as the article says. Who cares what it is called? It's a device with enough power to (barely) run Windows Vista and is small enough to fit in a large pocket; all for a premium price.
"No one carries an netbook and a laptop."
eh? when I travel I carry my 17" Toshiba SLI gaming computer, and my 8.9" Aspire One netbook. I didn't get it to replace my laptop, I got it to complement it, as has everyone I know that owns one. That way I don't have to take my laptop to things where I only need small use, but can still have it when I actually want to do something worthwhile and have a plug nearby. Even if I didn't have a gaming laptop I probably would still use both.
I bought it for the size and longevity, it's a great complement computer.
eh, I guess I'm just annoyed when people declaring a market's future use absolutes like "no one", as if they can speak for every person in the world who has ever purchased whatever they're talking about.
I agree. I have a high powered desktop that is good for doing productive and resource intensive tasks, but I also have an Asus eee netbook that I use just as much. I can take it with me anywhere I go all day to do quick searches and sit in front of the TV with.
This article is really sweeping people into categories. Supply and Demand anyone?
Price point clearly isn't THAT big of an issue considering the people willing to shell out $2000 for a mac book....(who always seem to be the exact same people who don't use it to its full potential and simply use it to surf the web / itunes.
I second that!
same here!
Very nice .. that tru ........... there are some ppl who judge that netbooks got no future ....... Well they got a great future ahead.
Sony and Apple dont make cheap products. They are meant for rich ppl. They charge some premium for their marketing overheads.
Some ppl are trying to tell that only SONY and APPLE make quality machines so thats why they dont make netbooks
Most of the notebooks with screen sizes less than 12" costs above 1000 USD. A 12" screen laptop doesnt serve as your primary laptop you get mostly for internet use, emails, browsing web. documentation. blogging, showing photos, stuff like that.
Thats where ASUS jumped in and slapped them hard in the face by bringing a quality product which served this purpose very well, less priced machine, better built quality, better battery life, and BETTER POWER CONSUMPTION. (Thats why some manufacturers will never make netbooks)
Some ppl will have to accept the change.
The reason people pick Windows is because they are familiar with it, they have applications for it, and I know I personally prefer it over Ubuntu. Windows 7 works surprisingly well, and MS supposedly isn't going to shoot themselves in the foot by charging out the butt for a basic W7 edition for netbooks. Netbooks are cheap, ultralight, compact, low power laptops. In five years even if they surpass the capabilities of current notebooks, it doesn't matter as long as they are cheaper, lighter, more compact, and lower power than the laptop/notebooks out at the time. And I don't see the powerful notebooks disappearing, as more and more they are becoming desktop replacement devices. Having a netbook for travel and a desktop replacement notebook w/ dual drives, bluray, 15-20" screen, w/ the latest powerful processors and high power graphics cards together compliment each other well (or desktop if you wish). To me, the author sounds like a Apple apologist! According to Steve Jobs, Blu-Ray, E-Sata, and SDHC cards are "just a fad" too.... lol! ;)
"The reason people pick Windows is because ... "
... MS was quite fast to move into netbook market and Asian manufacturers prefer it this way.
"... they are familiar with it, they have applications for it ..."
LOL. Try to explain to average Joe what the "application" thing again.
Mass market doesn't care about applications - and will never will - as long as a computer does what it was purchased for.
People pick windows mainly because they have no idea there are even other options. Hell when i got my mother in law setup on her 17" MBP she at first couldn’t grasp that it didn’t come with windows, she even asked me "How are we going to do stuff without windows"?
So really the main reason people use windows is because they think they don't have another choice, they are brainwashed to programmed to use it, and we are talking normal consumers here, not the geek public like those of us on engadget etc.
The brainwashing that MS has succeeded in is definitely good for them, but very very bad for us. This is the same company that provides an OS that will NOT open PDF's, or their own office files out of the box, you MUST buy office or install some form of office suite, but yet people accept that, and it is why the industry is so effed up.
Blindly purchasing a windows computer just cause its "the popular thing to do" while at the same time bashing OS X and Ubuntu makes you the biggest part of the problem and the primary reason MS was even able to get away with selling the subpar Vista then releasing a full price paid service pack for it and calling it a new OS.
sorry for the rant
@Tsing Tao - If you recall correctly, when Microsoft bundles apps (e.g. a web browser) with the OS "out of the box", they get sued for using their OS dominance to crowd out other players.
So we're calling the death of the netbook based on semantics here?
"That's why when I can get a nice 12-inch screen, with a full keyboard, a few hundred gigs of storage and a lot of RAM for $300-400 I won't care if it's called a netbook or a laptop. I'll just call it Moore's law in action."
You could just as easily proclaim the long life of the netbook - a 12-15 inch screen, full keyboard, some multicore processor and Ion combination with lots of storage and ram running windows 7 because that's what we're going to have later, you just wouldn't have as many people read your article.
I see so many of these guys get the whole thing wrong.
Its about consumer behavior not about PC manufacturers.
Bottom line, people LOVE netbooks because they are SMALL, Light, have super long battery times and if all you need is internet, MS Office, email, listening to music or watching movies on the netbook then it runs flawlessly.
Why does every one of these writers think we all want 15inch screens or 17 inch screens? We dont want SUV and we don't need a screen bigger then 11.6" (10.1 is a tad small).
I want small light weight long battery and a big enough screen with vid out for a second monitor..what is there not to love?
People want smaller, lighter, longer period...netbooks are here to stay as that is what the customer wants.
You put a netbook against a laptop at same price and the netbooks will thrive as the laptops are tooooooooo big and have crap for batteries
I think the reason the future of the netbook is in question is because consumers always want more/better/faster/stronger. However, PC manufacturers have such a low profit margin on netbooks as it is. They won't be able to make netbooks much faster, or with much more features than they currently have, and still manage a profit. So, I think there is a limit to how much more function netbooks can provide. As long as there are consumers willing to accept the limitations of netbooks, that category will survive. But looking at how the specs of netbooks are inching towards mainstream laptop specs, I feel like it will become more of a niche product
Agreed. The problem is that most bloggers are the type of computer users that generally require larger screens and more more power for applications such as photoshop.
WRONG! Driver hasnt been only price, but small size, light weight.
It's idiotic to think that slimmer, lighter isnt the future. Screen size will be the only differential.
I think the real reason for death of the netbook is feature creep. I mean look at it the basis of the netbook was under 10 inch screen with a atom processer linux and ssd versus hd. this made the battery life spot on strong. my personal reason for getting a netbook is going out to a retreat center every 3 month which is on solar. they are sticklers about wattage use so something that only used 35w versus 90 watts was preferable. Overtime though however the versatility of a cheap laptop i don't give a rat's ass about beating up and i can pop out in a moments notice has made it my primary computer.
I was going to post this same thing. Feature creep and price creep are what bothers me about the "netbook". Specs for a "netbook" in my opinion are:
10.1" screen or less,
32GB flash drive or less (I guess an 80GB 1.8" HDD),
Atom-like CPU (Atom, ARM, Tegra, Whatever),
1GB RAM Max,
a "lite" OS (splashtop-like Linux, Android, WinCE, Win XP or Win7 "netbook edition")
Pricetag of $299 or less
These should be the Maximum specifications for considering something a "netbook". Anything more is creeping into laptop territory and should be called out for being what it is (i.e.: a laptop replacement).
Heck, I think even Microsoft is a little sick of the poorly-defined segment and that's why they're trying to limit what can be classified as a netbook.
Price creep, yes, feature creep no.
Apart from physical size, price and perhaps minimum battery life, it's pretty silly to define a class of products by a set of "maximum" specifications, given that technology is constantly improving and becoming cheaper. Are netbooks NOT supposed to improve with the times, the same as everything else?
If a netbook can eventually be had with an additional gig of RAM and double the capacity of the flash drive, all while staying under the magic $199-299 price point, why should it lose its "netbook" designation?
Five years from now, when the average cell phone is sporting 32GB of flash storage, and the average notebook is being sold with 12GB of RAM, shouldn't we expect more from our netbooks? I think so.
Perhaps I should have said that **current specs** should be no more than...
I understand that technology will improve over time, and the definition should change as well. But thinking in terms of here and now, I think that feature creep is a problem.
I somewhat understand this article. For most people, a smartphone is all they will need. Checking email along with actual phone service with texting is enough. I used a netbook for about a week a month ago. I got annoyed quickly. Every time I started extensively web-browsing on it or even editing a document, it just made me miss my regular 15-inch notebook. Normal-size notebooks aren't exactly a burden to travel with, are they?
ever carried one around at college + your biology and physics book?
When businesses need a portable powerpoint presentation box and the employees don't "get" the PDA solutions for that, netbooks are the way to go (speaking from personal experience). The article doesn't really address how much computing power most people need, which is what I attribute the success of netbooks to.
"A netbook is merely a laptop with the pivotal axis based on price first and foremost." You lost me right there. I bought one for the size, lack of weight, and battery life.
No, you didn't. You bought it because of those things, plus the price was affordable. Those features have always been available, for $1500-2000. You didn't buy it then, and wouldn't have, because it wouldn't make economic sense. Netbooks are about price.
@Shawn
No he didn't.
When deciding between a 15" laptop and a 10" netbook at the same price-point, the smaller one is an obvious choice for most mobile users here.
I completely disagree, while cheap laptops have been around for a decade, never have they been so capable and so affordable. People are buying these because they have enough mobile computing power to satisfy someone who would otherwise use a desktop, while maintaining an absolute minimum footprint in our purses, backpacks, briefcases, ect. The fact that Sony and Apple are passing on them doesn't mean much to a geeks like me, who're more concerned about price/performance. Innovation doesn't have to come from Sony and Apple, in fact (beyond the PS3) I haven't given Sony products much more than a casual glance in years, and can't really afford a nice new macbook pro. It's very cool that I can find a laptop with a 10in screen and a battery life of about eight hours for less than four hundred bucks, and I would hope that it continues. And build quality? My NC10 is rock solid, couldn't be more pleased with it. Why even bring up the Linux distro? Obviously the Linux netbooks sold at Best Buy are going to get returned, everyday consumer's want OSX or XP... simple.
after reading the article.... I can't relate the title to it..... So why is the netbook dead?
/agree
Apparently, the clever new journalism is to create a catchy, shocking title, then take six paragraphs to say very little.
If you skip all the fluff, I guess his thesis is that Moore's law will ultimately deliver a laptop at netbook prices.
He really only needed one sentence.
Must agree with you.
Man, I wanna like this author, but his columns always seem so damn obvious.
The MAIN thing holding back netbooks, for me and about everyone I know, is THAT DAMN 1.6GHZ ATOM PROCESSOR!
It seems that Windows 7 will open the gates a little more, and of course Intel will come out with a dual-core Atom. Then hopefully it'll get an ION GPU and HDMI-out. Then other components like displays and SSDs will become better and cheaper.
Only THEN will I consider buying one, but that's only because I have no need to carry a computer with me every day.
And I agree that the netbook category is becoming infinitely saturated and diluted, more and more every day. The term "netbook" doesn't seem long for this world, unless they can start offering them in the $99 range.
So you're saying RIP netbook because a 12 inch computer is a laptop? A netbook is not a tweener device, people carry them instead of their laptops.
I think the basic netbook concept has and will continue to flourish. Although I've used a relatively 'tiny underpowered' Thinkpad X40 as my second computer for years now, it does sing the netbook song. The important aspects of the netbook are the lack of an internal optical drive and the inherent attention drawn to a web browser and a very basic software suite, both things that anyone who traveled with any of the old compacts would tell you.
The fact is that plenty of people realize they don't want the beef. They just want to check their email and stalk people on facebook, which a small computer is just fine for.
Again, the netbook is not just about screen size, it is about simplicity and portability - I guarantee the 7-10inchers will continue to sell, especially as their screen resolutions continue to increase.
The problem with this article is summed up in the side quote: "Tiny, underpowered laptops have been around for more than a decade, but few people bought them because there was a premium price associated with them."
Netbooks are tiny, yes, but are only underpowered when compared to a full on desktop or larger laptop. They can do many of the tasks people need on the go, are way more portable (especially when you get into the 14-17" range laptop), and are cheap.
I don't see netbooks disappearing anytime soon. Whatever you call them, I think 10-11" portable computers are going to be around for a long time, especially as the market matures, we see hybrid displays like 3Qi's take off and more manufacturers start producing convertibles. The combination of a 3Qi screen in a convertible netbook would, for example, render Amazon's Kindle product obsolete overnight.
Who cares what Sony and Apple think of this market? If we only paid attention to them, we'd all be paying more for our computers, with their Memory Stick slots and iTunes would still be loaded with DRM.
As for the operating system issues, well they'll sort that out along the way.
How dare you bring to light the redundancy of our different sized laptops!
Ok but you are missing at least 2 important aspects : the weight and the power consumption . No laptop is for now cheap, powerful, light and with a decent battery .
Err, the Acer Aspire Timeline is around $500 to $600 (although cause I live in the UK, it cost me £529.99 which is about $870) , weighs only 1.8kg (3.9 pounds) and has a battery life of 8 -10 hours.
So what's the point of this article? The title of it suggests that he thinks that netbooks are going to die off, but the content article doesn't really say this. Is he trying to say that the lines between the category of netbooks and laptops are going to merge?
I'm one of those people that bought a 4gb 7 in eeepc and loaded up Windows XP. I still have it and this dude's right--it has become my laptop replacement. I carried it to class to take notes that first summer, as a teacher I run Powerpoint from it. I grab it when I take off on a trip, sit on my couch watching TV and surf the web, or head to a staff meeting where I need web access. Because of my netbook, I have not upgraded my full laptop (long overdue)--I have a cheap laptop that does what I need it to.
You haven't upgraded your full size laptop because your netbook can do what you want your laptop to do? Then why would you even want to upgrade your laptop? It obviously can do anything the netbook can do AND more.
My Eee 901 isn't my laptop replacement, it's my netbook. I have a custom built Athlon 64 3700+ desktop, a Sager Pentium M widescreen laptop, and an Eee for travel when I know I'm not going to need the power of my Sager machine. The biggest reason for owning my 901 would be the ease of portability (fits in any bag or backpack) and the five hours of battery life. Why people are bothering getting screen sizes larger than 8.9 inches is beyond me though, I really really would not use my Eee as a laptop replacement, does not multitask well at all.
My iPhone is my "netbook". If I need to use serious apps or need a physical keyboard I use my Macbook.
The problem with using the iPhone as a netbook, is that it kills your battery in short order. This weekend I spent a couple of hours at a Starbucks catching up on some emails and doing some online shopping, while I was in between appointments. How long would my (non replaceable) battery last on my iPhone using it in that way? I love my iPhone, but I don't see it as a replacement for my Acer Aspire One.
When somebody figures out how to make a touch-screen computer for under $500 (e.g., Apple tablet, Android notebook), netbooks might go away in current form. However, it is due to netbooks we are seeing accelerated trend toward inexpensive, lightweight, optical drive-less portables.
I use it for class. Esp. for those which have powerpoints or pdfs, it helps to cut down on note taking and be more productive.
Takes up little space on my desk, very light in my bag and does not disturb my neighbors.
Netbooks are more useful for people like us, who need simple operations (briefly check email, view files, light reference browsing) to be done in a 2x2 space with little intrusion.
So yea, you can go get all the premium stuff, it's an option. People who spend absurd amounts on a netbook, imo, just want one to look cool and really should explore what they can get for a regular laptop.
Netbooks are not laptops, but should supplement a user who has access to a more powerful pc. My EEE is the best piece of hardware i bought for college and it serves me well because i know it's limits and functions.
(i hate people)
I have a laptop and a netbook as well. I take the laptop with me when I'm away for work. And I use the netbook when I'm riding my motorcycle, it fits perfectly in my tankbag. In fact the only reason I picked up the netbook was so I could take it on my numerous riding trips.
I have one of those 7in 4gb eepc's and it has kept me from upgrading my laptop. It does what I need a portable computer to do. I use it to surf the web, take notes in class, run Powerpoint, check email, skype, etc. Without it I would have upgraded my laptop in the past year, but my "cheap laptop" does what I need it to do and has, therefore, replaced a laptop.
How can you call this piece as an article??
The author does not justify the title of the work with any explanation whatsoever, does not conclude the article, and mostly offers what everyone and their grandma already knows.......repeatedly.
The title of the article should have been: "The Netbook name, RIP", because that's all you really proved. What the market proved is that there's a need for small, light computers. What you'll see going forward is a range of sizes and prices to suit a broad spectrum of needs. People will -- and already do-- have many computers for many needs.
I suppose if all laptops had crazy long battery lives and were cheap then netbooks might just go back to being cheap laptops. But I think the name will stick-before netbooks rolled around the only way you could get that a notebook at that size and weight was with insanely expensive Japanese notebooks, and even then the battery life estimates on those were pretty optimistic.
The netbook was a product that millions and millions of people had been needing or wanting for years-cheap, light, can surf the web and type/read stuff (what 99% of people do). Now that video is more important to the web experience the new graphics accelerators should shore up the only real weakness. So I think they're here to stay, although surely the line will blur as more powerful small notebooks get cheaper.
I guess the real question is basically whether netbooks would still be netbooks if they had more powerful processors. I think the answer is still going to be yes as long as they have a mostly web/word processing/battery life/cost focus.
This market is driven primarily by the nonsense prices which have been placed on 10inch notebooks of the past. now, they feature bargain hardware and a bit less margin. Also no Optical Drive, lacking memory, etc.
They are WebBooks.
By the time you can get "A nice 12-inch screen, with a full keyboard, a few hundred gigs of storage and a lot of RAM for $300-400" a few hundred gigs of storage and what is a lot of RAM today will be obsolete. it may seem attractive now, but ten years ago the eee pc 700 would've been one of the most attractive computers available, and you would've loved it. Netbooks will always be around because they'll always be cheaper than normal notebooks, and although they'll get faster, they'll still be slower than notebooks, so they'll still be "slow".
sorry testing comment system, weird stuff happening