Looks like it was my less than symbol. Once more with feeling...

I have done this for a number of friends. They want to surf the web and do general document reading but only have less than £200 to spend. I set them up with a netbook running XP and they love it. They use it at home. They didn't get it because it was so amazingly portable and had a great battery life. They got it because it was the lowest cost option that did what they needed.

Go on, take a swing. Just don't go for the groin!

Looks like I got cut off. Just saying..

I have done this for a number of friends. They want to surf the web and do general document reading but only have

I have read most of these comments and felt compelled to respond.

The majority of you come off looking like you are scared of what he is saying. You come out swinging, defending your netbook as if he is actually saying it is going to die. Like a person would die. He is saying that the consumer market is causing the death of what was typically considered a "netbook" due to the usual market forces. I am not arguing that netbooks were created for a purpose. I agree that the Linux based netbook offers a unique solution to a unique set of problems.

IMO it also did the following...

It got people to realise that if all they do with their notebook is surf the web, manage their digital photos, as in copy them off their camera, they do not need a full size >£500 notebook.

Every day consumers started buying them because it was low cost and did what it they needed from it.

They then wanted to plug in their 3G USB dongle and surf the internet....oh, it didn't work. What, it needs Windows or OSX? Or a little bit of understanding of how to tinker with Linux and an understanding of how the dongle goes from mass storage mode to modem mode. The average consumer that only surfs the web to look at facebook, wanted to save money on their purchase, does not know about the inner workings of their PC. They don't know what a command prompt is.

They want Windows. They know it. They know its problems, it is familiar. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't.

They then think, "Wouldn't this be cooler if the screen was a little bigger?" or "I could do with a little more storage"

The point I am making, and I think he was too, is that the netbook is not dead or even dying. The people that use it for what it is will not suddenly stop needing it. He is not trying to tell you all that this thing you think is useful actually isn't and that you all have it wrong. He is saying that enough consumers get drawn to the netbook because it is low cost. They then start wanting to get more out of it and start bumping it up to a point where it is just another notebook, only it costs less. That is sort of what a netbook is. I agree that it might have an intended use but you can't get angry with people because they don't use it the way you think they should.

I have done this for a number of friends. They want to surf the web and do general document reading but only have

But you can see the fold when it is open. That would drive me nuts, a great big crease down the middle of my screen.