Intel VP: Netbooks not for adults
Remember those first 7-inch Asus Eee PCs advertised with kids tapping on chicklet keyboards? Well, Intel apparently wants us to return to those Netbook glory days.
HP Pavilion dv2 laptop starts at about $700: Will upcoming cheap ultra-thin notebooks kill the Netbook?
(Credit: CNET Reviews)In short, Netbooks are not for adults, according to Anand Chandrasekher, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the Ultra Mobility Group, speaking during a keynote speech at the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing, streamed on Intel's Web site.
"There are things that you would do on a notebook you wouldn't dream of doing on a Netbook...For a kid, a Netbook is fantastic, as an adult you probably want a notebook. So, there are very simple ways of positioning and thinking about it."
(Hmm...what about all those big people with Netbooks? I guess it's time to trade it in for a grown-up computer.)
Now, contrast this with what Stu Pann, vice president in Intel's sales and marketing group, said back in November of last year at a Raymond James IT Supply Chain Conference.
"We originally thought Netbooks would be for emerging markets and younger kids, and there is some of that. It turns out the bulk of the Netbooks sold today are in Western Europe, North America, and for people who just want to grab and go with a notebook," Pann said.
And Pann added: "If you've ever used a Netbook and used a 10-inch screen size--it's fine for an hour. It's not something you're going to use day in and day out."
What Intel may be doing now is trying to reposition the Atom-processor-based Netbook so it doesn't cannibalize the more lucrative notebook market. This strategy may get a boost when Intel offers non-Atom ultra-low voltage (ULV) mobile processors later this year for ultra-thin notebooks, priced roughly between $500 and $1,000. (AMD is already offering its Neo processor--which is the chip inside the HP Pavilion dv2--for this market.)
But is the Netbook tsunami something Intel really wants to tamper with? Acer just announced an 11.6-inch Aspire One with a 160GB hard disk drive. Is this a Netbook? That's what everyone is calling it. And HP continues to build its Netbook portfolio along with Dell and Asus.
Brooke Crothers has served as an editor at large at CNET News, an editor at Dow Jones' Asian Wall Street Journal Weekly, and a senior editor at InfoWorld. His CNET blog covers chip technology and computer systems, and how they define the computing experience. He also contributes to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. Follow Brooke on Twitter @mbrookec. 
Have you ever actually *used* a netbook? I use it all the time at home when I don't feel like turning on my PC just to check my email or surf the web when I am comfy on my couch or bed. There are *some* websites that make it chug a little but those aren't the sites I visit on a regular basis & with Firefox plug-ins like "X Marks" I don't have to worry about not having my bookmarks available.
For the record I own a MSI Wind U100 w/ 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD, 10" screen, 9-cell battery, 802.11b/g and dual boot Windows XP Pro & Mac OS X (v10.5.6)
I'll stick to my "real" laptop for myself but I do see where these little low end guys have their place.
Anyway, back to my point... your netbook experience might be slightly different as yours is more powerful than most.
You're welcome to stick to your "real laptop." I'll stick with my $400 netbook that doesn't break my bank or my back when I have to take it a mile to campus every day on foot, and still does everything I want it to (plus has a 160GB HDD, bluetooth, and wireless N). Not to mention its five and a half hour battery life (that's what I can get out of it) is well suited for running between classes all day.
The specs I listed are after I upgraded it btw. The base specs when I bought it were: 1GB RAM, 120GB HDD, 3-cell battery & WinXP Home.
@Streamline35 is right though...there is no "higher end" netbook because 99% of them all have the same CPU, chipset and RAM type. The differences are usually only the wifi chip (b/g vs. n), battery size and HDD size...all of which are easily upgradable (depending on the model you buy.)
I bought my netbook b/c the laptop I used to have served its purpose well in the 4+ years that I owned it but I didn't need a full size unit anymore. It's a great investment if you all you're doing is surfing the web, editing documents, etc. and it's going to come in real handy when I go on vacation later this year.
Now, I am retired and keep a couple of blogs. I also travel some and all I want is a netbook. It does everything I want and more.
They are so dang small compared to a notebook that they can fit anywhere in your luggage, heck even some of those 7" ones can fit in a few peoples coat pockets! You can bring them along with you everywhere you go.
The convenience in Netbooks is only rivaled by devices such as the iPod Touch, iPhone, Blackberrys and other devices. They bridge that "most wanted" gap of not having enough and having too much.
The new 11.6" Acer will not be considered a netbook. It is far too large for anyone to consider that is shopping for a netbook. They will need to start reshrinking the size back down to stay popular once they realize WHY people are buying these devices. The small form factor is priority #1!
This is typical market evolution. Things go big, and then they introduce something new to take the gap that was left by things going big. Like the Honda Fit is their entry car when it used to be the Civic, etc.
...and a spoon is a shovel, right?
you don't need a shovel, if you're only eating breakfast
wnbear - love the analogy!
I got my Acer Aspire One for $99+ the 2 year AT&T contract. I use it for on the fly remote network management. It works great, no, not an all day machine, but that's not what I bought it for. It's light fits in the side pocket of a laptop bag. But I have at home, connected a 22 inch monitor, a full size keyboard, mouse, and it's about as good as most desktops. So, enjoy your Netbooks.
I'm tired of hearing how the Netbooks power isn't sufficient.
These things can handle a lot. I personally use mine for developing in Java, C# and php (eclipse, sharp develop, xammp and notepad* *I will never give up notepad*) for class assignments involving everything from recursion with 200+ calls to multi-threaded programs, and it is the easiest thing to carry around. It has been by far the best investment I have made towards school, except maybe the schooling itself. It even ran Spore with only minor rendering issues and occasional freezes(thanks to spore not needing the disc while running, I do miss a disc drive)
Proud owner of an Asus 901
*This thing would blow up rendering some high quality video using something like Adobe Premiere though, I won't deny it's limitations*
Acer and the other manufacturers seem to have dropped this class of notebook, which suits me far better than a netbook and without the cost or size of a full notebook.
Sure it is a bit underpowered but it is still faster than a Atom but cost about the same as a lowend netbook!
Me, I like my Atom 1.6 GHz netbook, I retired the Dell Inspiron for this. I use it for troubleshooting the home wireless network, I surf, I pay bills, read blogs, post forum responses, research various homeowner projects, pretty much the same as we are all doing right now. And that netbook comes in at 1/3rd the price of a late model notebook PC with Windows Blister (and Windows Blister would need 3 times the memory I have in my netbook and Blister would also need a Core Cinco or whatever just to boot up). No, seriously, I only want to USE my netbook, I'm not about to mortgage my life to the WinTel Cartel. If I want to do something renderiffic, I can use the 3.3GHz Celeron D for that stuff, I won't use the netbook for totally inappropriate uses.
At $99, hummerzdca apparently got a stunning deal, so if his/her Aspire One gets lost or destroyed, is hummerzdca going to cry about losing a hundred bucks when the notebook class systems all cost no less than 4 times as much as the amount which hummerzdca paid? Well, I guess those people that claim they need Core Cinco with 'Windows Blister' and 'Aiyee slicks' and 'Lookout pressX' just for browsing and reading emails at the airport, yeah, they'd be tweaked at such a loss, but not me, and I'd guess hummerzdca probably won't be too upset when they consider the cost of the same thing happening to a notebook PC.
Honestly, when I've traveled, I've never seen any business person doing anything more than checking emails or typing up a sales proposal in M$ Werd on their laptops. Big whoop. All that cash just to risk getting erased or trashed when it hits the floor.
Efficacy, bang for the buck, whatever you want to call it, this Intel vice-person needs a "come-uppance", I'll take a shot: "Anand Chandrasekher, what is the percentage of ALL multicore PC owners who actually USE more than ONE of their multicore processors? Your answer please....".
While I full wel realize that the N270 processor is inferior to processors that were on the market 3 years ago, I think most people don't realize that in general these machines are more designed to complement rather than replace larger computers.
If I had to do it again, I'd buy a netbook instead of a laptop every time, and use the money I save to purchase a high end desktop computer for use at home. The portability and functionality of the Netbook is totally good for me.
I suggest Intel (especially Anand Chandrasekher) doing more market research before planning their future production. After listening to what he said, I am dumping my Intel stocks in case they are switching their production from CPUs for netbooks to notebook computers.
My Asus netbook fits in the saddlebag of my motorcycle (with a mouse, power supply, etc.)
My Dell desktop replacement ... not so much.
- by libonation April 9, 2009 10:33 AM PDT
- So I'm getting younger by going from hauling a 15'' macbookpro (loaded) to carrying my 10'' lenovo s10. Heck, this thing feels just like my macbookpro especially when you get the 2 finger scrolling configured, and power wise... it's decent enough to handle minor photoshop sessions.
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (53 Comments)I don't know what Intel is trying to say especially when they are the ones who created the atom. I only hope that AMD take advantage of the licensing restrictions on chipzilla's side and create something more flexible of their own.