Discussion about
The iPad has replaced my msi netbook. The best thing about the iPad is that it's instantly on and ready to go whenever I need it.
Flip it on look up a movie time, a website or whatever I'm looking for. I use it for casual web surfing, checking email and light movie and game playing.
Yup. The only reason netbooks ever sold were because they were within most people's budgets as opposed to your traditional ultraportable, and they only started selling in serious volumes once they started running Windows - which is a truly crap experience on an Atom. An iPad blows away such a netbook as a casual notebook given the way most people use netbooks. Sure, if you're actually using that ~250Gb drive then things may be different, but most people don't.
I was never tempted by the Windows netbooks as I didn't feel like effectively re-owning a more cheaply-built version of a machine with the same power as I had 6 years ago in the same size, but I absolutely understand the initial appeal of something that cost 300 bucks and seems to offer all the mobility of a typical flagship ultraportable for those who couldn't afford one.
Thing is, you do get what you pay for - for better or (in this case) for worse. And a mobile OS based machine makes much more sense on a low-end all-day portable, be it laptop-format or tablet.
Steve Jobs was absolutely right when he said (and I'm probably paraphrasing slightly) he didn't know how to build a netbook / laptop that isn't a heap of junk for $500 or less - every netbook / laptop out there for less than $500 *is* a heap of junk. But most manufacturers know how to quality-build essentially a scaled-up PMP for $500 or less... and that's what Apple is whipping netbooks with. It will definitely be a revelation to people who're working with ancient Windows ultraportables or the aforementioned < $500 heaps of junk.
Well, at least for now. I think however as people realise the limitations of iOS in terms of what they want to do, they might find the choices made possible by forthcoming Android / Chrome/Meego/Windows CE/Whatever smartbooks and tablets just as compelling, if not more so.
I see the non-Apple market tilting at speed towards < $300 smartbooks and tablets playing catch-up with the iPad, with netbooks probably not dying out completely but either moving decisively upmarket, or remaining as an option to the cash-strapped who have to run a desktop OS. But I do see the days of the netbooks in the current sense being numbered.
I was never tempted by the Windows netbooks as I didn't feel like effectively re-owning a more cheaply-built version of a machine with the same power as I had 6 years ago in the same size, but I absolutely understand the initial appeal of something that cost 300 bucks and seems to offer all the mobility of a typical flagship ultraportable for those who couldn't afford one.
Thing is, you do get what you pay for - for better or (in this case) for worse. And a mobile OS based machine makes much more sense on a low-end all-day portable, be it laptop-format or tablet.
Steve Jobs was absolutely right when he said (and I'm probably paraphrasing slightly) he didn't know how to build a netbook / laptop that isn't a heap of junk for $500 or less - every netbook / laptop out there for less than $500 *is* a heap of junk. But most manufacturers know how to quality-build essentially a scaled-up PMP for $500 or less... and that's what Apple is whipping netbooks with. It will definitely be a revelation to people who're working with ancient Windows ultraportables or the aforementioned < $500 heaps of junk.
Well, at least for now. I think however as people realise the limitations of iOS in terms of what they want to do, they might find the choices made possible by forthcoming Android / Chrome/Meego/Windows CE/Whatever smartbooks and tablets just as compelling, if not more so.
I see the non-Apple market tilting at speed towards < $300 smartbooks and tablets playing catch-up with the iPad, with netbooks probably not dying out completely but either moving decisively upmarket, or remaining as an option to the cash-strapped who have to run a desktop OS. But I do see the days of the netbooks in the current sense being numbered.
I have to say my hp mini 311 ($400) isn't a pile of junk, but i do use it way less now that I have an iPad.
Imagine how well iPads will sell once Apple is able to get the price down some. Don't be surprised if we see a $299, bare bones, iPad in the next couple years to hit the mass market.
I'd say the same thing if I didn't need to sync my iPad to my net book!
