As I type this on my msi wind “netbook,” it occurs to me that some otherwise very smart people are getting a very odd message from the explosion in this new computer category’s popularity.
Farhad Manjoo, Slate’s tech guy and author of a book that has received very respectable reviews on Amazon, wrote last week that the netbook craze means that the public wants small tablet computers (preferably made by apple), and not cheap laptops with a small factor.
When I see the huge popularity of the new netbook category, I see it rooted in a new combination of small, light computers and cheap computer: People have a desire and use for this novel combination, but there haven’t laptops in this niche until last year. Nothing is easier to carry around to class, the library, or around campus than a netbook. While ultralights would do the job even better, the cost is prohibitive. Tablet’s aren’t desirable for taking notes, writing emails, or any other active text-input–it’s not an interface best suited for the job. When I bought my MSI wind, I needed a computer—not a bigger version of the iPhone.
While netbook’s are not an ideal as a everyday desktop replacement, they are great second computers and get the job for basic productivity software. And let’s face it, PC computing has been on the decline for some time now. My new MSI wind is roughly as powerful as the $2000 Powerbook G4 I bought four years ago. It runs XP beautifully with Firefox and Word open. That’s sufficient for 95% of my computer usage.
Would I want to sit at a desk starting at the 10″ screen at all times? No, of course not–but did I enjoy lugging my powerbook to class everyday? Nope. The keyboard gets the job done, but it’s an even better size for children and women with smaller hands, two groups that some people have said have really taken a liking to these small laptops.
Let’s be clear here. Netbooks don’t represent some new edgy crossover device. They are computers that sacrifice glamor in exchange for great value and a small form factor, nothing more.