I've seen the future, and it's a MacBook

A few tweaks of the MacBook and Apple could render the Netbook a non-issue.

At the risk of adding to the cacophony of gratuitous advice directed at Apple, the company could bypass the Netbook and go directly to the inexpensive "ultrathin" category--where Apple seems to be headed anyway with the incredibly shrinking price of the MacBook Air. In short, take the thin, aluminum unibody enclosure that is a MacBook and move it downmarket.

(Credit: Apple)

Ultrathins are Netbooks without the compromises. A light, small, pick-up-and-go design that has a reasonable size screen and the horsepower do to what a conventional laptop can do. That is, a slightly smaller, discounted--but not so cheap to be unprofitable--version of the MacBook Air or 13-inch MacBook Pro. (OK, there's the $999 white MacBook but that's not exactly the future of Apple design.)

And Intel chip designers are doing their best to enable this category (while keeping Netbook silicon static) by delivering a wide range of low-power processors that deliver mainstream laptop performance (I count 12 ultralow-voltage, or ULV, processors offered by Intel at present). Intel executives are doing their part too, spending a lot of time talking up inexpensive ultrathin laptops and, by insinuation, putting down Netbooks.

Ultrathins--when and if they arrive in volume--are expected to have a median price point of about $850 and be, at the most, one-inch thick (and, according to Intel, usually thinner).

The timing could be right. This report from CNET's Crave blog suggests that Apple needs to tone down its pricing to maintain market share. (Whether Apple really cares about maintaining market share is another discussion.) And there is a fairly steady drumbeat of commentary saying Apple needs to consider a cheaper laptop.

That said, there's nothing like the here and now. A consumer today can buy an approximation of an inexpensive ultrathin: a refurbished MacBook Air for $999. That's a start.

[rmva]

The netbook is a fad. Saying Apple can hurry its demise is giving Apple way too much credit.

[rleon]

In 1995 I was working at Montgomery Ward and 1 thing that helped windows to grow, was that IBM clones would pay from 55 to 75 USDs commission on sales while the sale of a Mac would get me between 20 to 30 USDs, and this was when Win 95 was coming.
People would not know what computer to buy and all of my co-workers would push for the most profitable system of course they also offered a AV software and installation service.

[cs2cdfan]

$850 is too much for the netbook niche.

With things like Nvidia's ION, a $300 netbook that can pump out games and 1080P video will only grow and flood the market.

Windows 7 + Netbook = end of Mac.

[LaTene_Man]

HE was saying that $850 would be about what ultra-thin models should be at.

[cs2cdfan]

If apple can bring themselves to offer an ultra thin 13" for $599, they would claim the market. But we all know Apple are too stuck up on 80's shoulder chips to do such a thing.

[polaris20]

Windows 7 isn't going to make a netbook that much better, and the ION chipset isn't a miracle worker. It's still a tiny screen with a tiny keyboard with an under-powered processor.

It does what it does, but it's not nearly as versatile as a MacBook Air.

[jumpjetta]

"Windows 7 + Netbook = end of Mac."

That's the funniest thing I've read in a long time.

[Mr. Dee]

Jumpjetta, you better believe it, because pre-order copies of Windows 7 have already sold out. Many testers are already running the Windows 7 RC on their Netbooks and the performance is great too.

[GatesOfHell]

Everyone continually forgets that Apple's goal in any market they enter is to make the BEST product in that category, not the cheapest.

Mac OS X is the BEST operating system out there; MS will never beat a UNIX-based OS with any Windows code base, including all of the Linux variants, when it comes to judging the OS on how well-designed and sound that OS really is. MacBook Pros are the BEST built laptops out there and have the BEST integration of hardware and software. MS + Dell, Sony, HP, Toshiba ad nauseum will never be the BEST. But they will tend to usually be cheaper.

MS and the bulk of its partners target CHEAPER. The vast majority of buyers (including businesses) love CHEAPER. As long as it appears that they're getting a "similar" product for the money, cheaper will win nearly every time. Everyone WANTS the BEST. Not everyone wants to pay for it. So many willfully settle for less than the best and attempt to justify it on a basis other than cost later.

Where BEST and cheap/within the budget of the vast majority of consumers intersect, so much the better for Apple. The first iPod was not cheap (it was in the realm of what folks are suggesting netbooks should be priced at now.) But it was the BEST. And it laid the foundation for the iTunes Store. As $500 units gave way to revisions priced under $200 and under $100, suddenly the BEST became affordable to the masses and market dominance ensued. But had MS had the foresight and innovative genes to create the Zune, ZuneTunes, the ZuneTunes Music Store way before Apple, and had Apple subsequently decided to enter that market, you can bet that, even it meant sacrificing marketshare (not the same as profitability, btw) you can still bet that the iPod, iTunes, and the iTunes Music Store would be the BEST.

[Nate Nicoll]

i've been using what i consider a good quality netbook (Eee PC 1000HE) and the Windows 7 RC, which runs pretty well on it. Yet - i'm selling it to buy a 13" macbook - the keyboard is just small enough that mistakes are more frequent than tolerable and the screen size makes it hard to work on more than one window at once.

so i don't believe windows 7 + netbook = end of mac. in fact, it may push more people to the mac

[protagonistic]

dano10000

"90% plus go with Windows because it gets the job done in a superior way on machines that are fairly priced."

Now that line was good for a real laugh. :-)

90% plus go with Windows because they don't know any better. As for getting the job done in a superior way, you should try that line on a number of Windows users I know who regularly come over to my house so they can do their video work on my 6 year old PowerMac G5.

And before you start calling me a fanboy, I used Windows and before that DOS for probably as many, if not more, years than you have. I have a computer sitting here with Windows 7RC running on it, but to be honest that is about to be nuked so I can put the latest FreeBSD on it, And while it should prove to be a very nice upgrade for XP and Vista users it still only catches up to the level I have come to expect from both Linux and BSD OSs for some time now.

If MS were to perchance come out with something really compelling I would start using it. Since most of my usage is in the video and audio areas Windows is no where close to being the best tool for the job. Until it is it will continue to be a side distraction for me.

[mjoecups--2008]

Windows 7+ Netbook = end of Microsoft

[lawsonmusicmedia]

That's the funniest thing I've ever read on CNET. Windows 7 + Netbook = end of Mac? HAHAHAHAHA!
You're insane if you think this.

[cs2cdfan]

"Dunn said Best Buy must account for changing tastes, like the shift away from CDs and DVDs, which have for years been a crucial generator of foot traffic in Best Buy stores. To cope, Dunn said, Best Buy was in the process of moving those products out of the center of its stores and focusing eyes and attention on fast-growing product areas, like mobile phones and low-cost laptops."

From Cnet's own article here:

http://news.cnet.com/Best-Buy-Last-man-standing/2100-1041_3-6249890.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0

[holyreki]

I wish I saw the future and it told me not to read this article! What a waste of time. Let me help shorten this blog post by about 99%.

"I've seen the future and it's a cheaper MacBook Air" THE END

[Seaspray0]

If that headline "I've seen the future and it's a macbook" was printed in 1988, I could have beleived it. Not today.

[Chanticleer62]

The netbook is not a replacement for a laptop or a desktop. It is a great tool for travel. The screen is bigger than a phone or book reader screen, but not as large as a traditional laptop. With an amazingly long battery life and a very comfortable size, I find myself reaching for my netbook more and more. And with a price hovering around the $300 range, it isn't out of the question to own a netbook along with a laptop.

We knew PDAs would eventually be merged with cell phones, and in the future, we will probably have one device that does it all. However, with the current Internet access fees charged by cell phone companies, along with the tiny screens and keys, the option doesn't appeal to me at the moment. I would rather spend the money for a network card to plug into my netbook or laptop and use my phone as a phone.

I would love to own an Apple. Let me check my Lotto tickets from last night....

[qnet]

But who travels without having to do real work along the way or at their destination?!

[ibeetle]

You bought a $1,200.00 laptop, a $300.00 netbook, a $300.00 smart phone + a $70 month data plan.

And suddenly you think you have to win the lottery to by a $999.00 MacBook?

[csoccer1]

for some odd reason, people think $1,200 is expensive for a laptop. did everyone suddenly go poor? i remember when i bought my my mother's first PC in 2003 for $1000. this dell was in the lower priced margin, not the higher specced +1000 dollar computers. But now that computers have become so dirt cheap and the less fortunate can afford to buy a computer, they all complain when they see a +1000 dollar computer. They think price over quality, price price price. "i can buy a better computer for this much less than that one, i'll take it". what they don't seem to realize is that having higher specs doesn't make a computer better than one with specs a bit lower for a higher price. your RAM, processor, and video card are only tools to power your operating system. as good as windows 7 is, it still isn't nearly as fast as osx leopard on an equally specced computer. that extra gigabyte of RAM or extra .4ghz of processing power will only speed up a computer running windows so much. it's all in the coding, which MS is finally beginning to understand with Windows 7. They still have ways to go until it can match Leopard (years for snow leopard) in terms of speed and stability. Macs are not THE way though, if you don't have the money to buy a MacBook, then by all means don't. But complaining about apple computers because you can't afford one is ridiculous.

[Seaspray0]

@csoccer1. The average price of a laptop today is estimated to be in the $700 range. That makes $1,200 the expensive range.

[Perry_Clease]

I said this when the MacBook Air was introduced, the "thin" will eventually be applied to other MacBook models.

I don't think Apple will sell their products much cheaper, once you go cheap you can't go back.

I will tell you something for sure, Brooke's headline for this story is going to generate a lot of comments

[csoccer1]

the entire macbook pro line is all under one inch thick. in order to keep the speed and power expected by a Pro line, the laptop component themselves must become smaller and thinner/more compact.

[Random_Walk]

"Brooke's headline for this story is going to generate a lot of comments"

...and so far they've not shown much intelligence. I especially love the ones where somehow Windows 7 on a cramped little netbook will suddenly wipe out all Macs (in spite of the fact that netbooks have instead eaten away at Dell and HP's notebook shares, while Apple's has still grown...)

[sanjayb]

"Brooke's headline for this story is going to generate a lot of comments"
...and so far they've not shown much intelligence.

Seems like the CNET comment section is just for fanboys to get off. I rarely expect to see any intelligent discussion come from the comment section. I just go here to be slightly entertained and see people defend their company or product like it was their personal religion. What a bunch of losers.

[santuccie]

@Random_Walk:

Some people need nothing more than a simple Internet appliance. And since desktop PCs, notebook PCs, and netbook PCs are direct competitors; it makes sense that the older two would have to make room for the new and cheaper alternative. When Apple makes a netbook of its own, it may have the same effect on the MB and MBP. What's your point? Is this all about whose deity is superior?

[Random_Walk]

@santuccie:

"Some people" doesn't make up a sufficient quantity to comprise an overall trend. ;)

I don't doubt that netbooks have a use and a niche, but their usage have (as I mentioned) eaten away at low-cost/low-end/low-margin notebook sales, which is the domain (and bread+butter) of Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc. They have not so much as touched the higher-end notebook markets that Apple dominates, and grows within.

If Apple made a netbook (I doubt they do), then they would be tacitly entering a market which is seeing this change, and would face the same pressures.The only reason I mentioned Apple in the first place was that some zealot claimed that a netbook with Windows 7 on it will somehow wipe out Apple and Linux (hence the comment that the fanboy crowd hasn't shown much intelligence).

[santuccie]

'"Some people" doesn't make up a sufficient quantity to comprise an overall trend. ;)'
>>>>Cute, but that's a poor rebuttal. Obviously, a LOT of people need nothing more than an Internet appliance; otherwise, they wouldn't be buying so many netbooks and keeping them.

'I don't doubt that netbooks have a use and a niche, but their usage have (as I mentioned) eaten away at low-cost/low-end/low-margin notebook sales, which is the domain (and bread+butter) of Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc. They have not so much as touched the higher-end notebook markets that Apple dominates, and grows within.'
>>>>First of all, switching from Windows to Apple is not a common thing, and generally only occurs amongst people who either bought a low-end machine and were dissatisfied with Vista's performance on it (the smarter ones would return the low-end unit and buy a better one), or didn't know how to secure XP or 2K against malware. Not only am I a PC service technician, but I am a technician who works at a front counter and deals with customers. I know better than you do what the consensus is.

Second of all, Apple is a niche. People who buy Apple computers buy them either for a meme, for software preference, or for the cool look. Anyone who is in it for the hardware would go for Alienware or something higher. Just so you're aware, personal computers can well exceed $2,500. The fastest PC is a lot faster and a LOT more expensive than the fastest Mac.

'If Apple made a netbook (I doubt they do), then they would be tacitly entering a market which is seeing this change, and would face the same pressures. The only reason I mentioned Apple in the first place was that some zealot claimed that a netbook with Windows 7 on it will somehow wipe out Apple and Linux (hence the comment that the fanboy crowd hasn't shown much intelligence).'
>>>>Wrong. First of all, the operating system was designed to store drivers and give the user an interface they could get accustomed to. Microsoft, Apple, and various Linux distributors have done this; preference for the OS tends to come first (notice I said, "tends to," not "always"). The greatest pressure facing an Apple netbook would be consumers' preferences of Mac, MB, MBP, or Apple netbook more than anything; aside from being of the same taxa, PCs and Macs are two very different animals.

Second of all, that particular fanboy may not have shown much intelligence, but you can't base wholesale condemnation on that. I'm a different person; you should base your impression of me on MY comments, not his.

[ewsachse]

How much does Apple pay you to write the propaganda?

Your bio says you are not an employee of C/Net so you must be an employee of Apple.

These articles fawning over Apple sound just like the Linux zealots of a few years ago, and if you go back a few more years, the OS/2 advocacy groups. Where are those fanatics now? Just a footnote in computing history.

[gsekse]

He need more page hits. Titles like "Linux/Mac/Windows is the perfect OS" or other such troll-like articles are becoming the norm. Though the whole Kindle thing certainly has become a new hot spot to write about. Surprised there isn't some sort of comment in the article discussing Apple yanking files off the hard drive without the owner's permission.

OOPS, now I'm trolling from within comment reply... (I should get paid for these extra hits!)

[myles taylor]

I don't get why you guys think that people who are employees of Apple would write articles or comments on here. Apple likes to make it's own publicity and doesn't do underhanded, behind the door PR like other companies. I'm not saying that's good (their methods often leave much to be desired) but the odds of them sending someone out to write an article like this are less than the chances of us getting to Mars this decade. Apple keeps things behind closed doors and you are just spewing hot air when you accuse people of being employed by Apple. People are allowed to have their opinions, especially when it comes to speculation. You have yours and I don't see anyone accusing you of being paid.

[qnet]

20+ years is a heck of a footnote.

And you mean the Linux whose market share is steadily growing?

[Nataku4ca]

@myles taylor

u might be surprised... lol if someone invents hyperspace tech or some wierd thing and suddently shortens the travel time to 1 day it would be funny

and yes i know chances are small, but history told us... never say never

[paul613]

Can't some netbooks start up in just a couple seconds? Or am I thinking of those instant-on Windows CE devices from the late 90s and early 2000s?

[csoccer1]

no, they can't, unless 30+ seconds is considered a few seconds to you. windows xp will take around 40+ seconds to boot up on a netbook unless you have actually installed programs and used the device, which will slow it down considerably. if you are running linux, its more like 30 seconds with programs installed.

[pithenumber]

I think some ASUS netbooks have ExpresGate with 8 sec boot time, but I'm not sure

[Nataku4ca]

expressgate... very fast... that is... very VERY fast,

i like that software most of the time until i need to actually save something

[vurbano]

You must be dellusional. Apple will NEVER has a competitive price against a netbook.

[Random_Walk]

replace "price" with "quality", and suddenly things aren't so clear-cut.

After all, I would happily pony up a few extra ducats for a portable that has a decent screen size, some actual horsepower under the hood, and a keyboard that doesn't induce hand-cramps...

[Nataku4ca]

@ppl commenting against pricing point-of-view

quality is important, yes i agree to that, but i wouldn't drop 800 on a mac for a kid to play with just yet... some of us don't have much money and realllllllyyyyy dont want kids to f*** up my work computer

sry for the dirty word, seems to express it the best

[TechnoMan475392]

@ vurbano

You are right. Apple has great hardware but is too expensive. I would gladly pay about 200 dollars less for each mac and then it would be great (300 for the desktops besides the mac mini which should be eradicated).

[eltoro2827]

Macs will never overtake pc's...macs are just a fad now, people thinking they look cool. You can say they are prius/smart car driving freaks with no life.

[Perry_Clease]

Apple doesn't want Macs to over take PCs, they would have to take those high maintenance, and cheap, PC users with them. Apple wants to continue to sell to top 10-20% of the people, leave the hoi polloi to the Dells

[gwailo247]

Good point. It must be nice to have a very, erm, devoted, user base that actually refuses to acknowledge any problems with your product.

Its rare that you see a Mac user complain on forums, because they will be heckled to death by their peers as an idiot unworthy of using a Mac.

[Tiggobittie]

Owning the market isn't our dream... we just want to be the best in the market. It's like the Mercedes 500 S-Class I own. Its a lovely piece of engineering. Will MB ever own the global auto market? No. They don't want to either. We want Ford or Chevy to do that. Just like we want MSFT to own the low-end, cheap things. Yes... a PC will get you from Point A to Point B. My MAC will get you to Point B in STYLE!

[gwailo247]

"our", "we"?

Do you work for Apple, or you just like to refer to yourself in the third person?

[warp9tenor]

A fad. Hmmm - you must be right. I guess that explains why Apple has only been around for 25 years. Yeah, gotta be a fad ... it's bound to die any day now.

This comment is actually kind of amusing. It reminds me about all those articles written in the mid-90's, which apparently were ALL required by editorial regulations at the time to include in the first paragraph some phrase about "struggling, beleaguered Apple Computer."

Tell you what, get back to me in 10 years and we can have another amusing conversation about the fad of Apple. Assuming, of course, that you're still the same blinkered Luddite then that you are today.

[Tiggobittie]

"I" and "we" = Cool MAC people like me. Life is sweeeeet!

[csoccer1]

Apple, a fad? This is pretty funny. Why not just saw BMW is a fad, after all, BMW has hardly any overall market share yet they've been around forever. People that label Mac users as "people thinking they look cool. You can say they are prius/smart car driving freaks with no life" are jealous. No excuse. My father has a PC because he can't afford a mac, but he doesn't call me "a person who thinks he's cool". My father isn't jealous. Basically, get over yourself.

[Tiggobittie]

I can't get over myself. I'm gorgeous and cool. Again... life is sweeeeeet!

[cidman2001]

A netbook is simply what the original designers of laptops envisioned. There was just no way to cram that much stuff into such a small form factor back then. $300 is the price point that will make these fly off the shelves. You've been drinking way too much Apple Kool-aid if you think $850 to $1000 is a great price point for this type of device, I've got an iPhone to sell you....

[myles taylor]

I have a question:

Why would the people who make laptops want to make a $300 laptop that would fly off the shelves? The point of the companies isn't to get machines to fly off the shelves if they are making no money off of them. Companies would rather sell fewer machines at a higher cost than more machines at a lower cost.

[nachurboy]

"Companies would rather sell fewer machines at a higher cost than more machines at a lower cost."

And yet netbooks is the fastest growing segment of the PC market. I guess that means they're making money on them. Just not as high a margin as a niche brand like Apple.

[csoccer1]

@nachurboy
that's because netbooks are so cheap. and for the majority of people that only check email and browse here or there, it's great. netbooks are small, tiny computers, but in no way will they ever over take the full size laptop market.

[Nataku4ca]

jebus ppl... he said "designer" not the corporate head office money grabber like one of those dudes in the credit card commercial that sticks their hand in your butt for money.

designer envision how to make things "great" not the most "profitable", thats for the PM and sales to think about

[bf400]

WOW!!! A $1000 netbook-beater from Apple. This is genius! How much KoolAid can one person drink? What next?



How about a macbook air bathroom scale? It's thin, metallic and has a screen....and it's only $1000 (for a refurb)



How about replacing your old salt and pepper shakers with two macbook airs? Hey they're refurbs so they would only cost $2000! And wouldn't it be better to have Apple salt and pepper shakers than those other ones?



Hey, while we're in the kitchen, we could buy a whole set of macbook airs and use them for plates! Oh god this is the best idea yet. You could buy a dozen refurbished macbooks for only $12,000!



On second though, how about you take a step back and recognize that the evil empire is Apple (invasive (itunes anyone?), closed architecture, proprietary, secretive, led by satan's spawn) and while their design capabilities are spectacular and their products are nice, I'll stick with my PC.
[CNET editor's note: Offensive language deleted.]

[myles taylor]

Did you actually have anything remotely relevant to say? Because basically your whole comment was just mocking one sentence in the article and dissing Apple without really saying anything at all.

[csoccer1]

saying apple is evil and proprietary is ridiculous. while apple may like to keep certain things closed, apple has always embraced open web standards, media formats, and open cl. you sound crazy.

[bf400]

I sound crazy?!?!?! Well maybe I am...ever consider that? In any event, "apple has always embraced open..." let me stop you there. You must actually be dressed in a giant red kool-aid pitcher. Are you INSANE? Apple is about as open as my iPod touch (get it...it's not open).

Take a step back, and for a moment be open minded and clear headed....okay, that's not possible...but give it your best shot...apple makes nice products, butto hear you clowns one would think that apple has never made a mistep...ipod batteries, newton, the 90s, charging for firmware upgrades, I could go on, but you get the idea.

[Nataku4ca]

as useless as this comment gets, i still have to agree with him that csoccer1 saying apple is the most open vendor is uninformed, at least i view the preventative measure apple put in to prevent pre from syncing with itune as closed thinking...

hey i know ppl are saying why should apple let other vendor piggy back on their software, but i don't see why not, is it really neccessary for all vendor to have their own software to sync? i hate installing all those apps just to get the picture out of a cell phone. (god danm 5 different app for 5 different cell phone on my computer because of 5 family member with different cell phone... stupid world)

[Monokul]

I don't agree with writer of this article. Apple is not going to be much cheaper than they are right now. Maybe >800$, but I don't think much less than 800, in near future. Only than they can offer users fast and powerful computers. They are staburn about philosophy - we don't ever ship junk to users. That has be spoken by Steve Jobs.

http://www.devicedaily.com/misc/apple-preparing-a-netbook-for-their-last-macworld.html

That's why Windows 7 are great to end users that don't need super-ultra-fast-great-8-core-macbook just for mail, and everyday task.

OSX is great but not so popular worldwide because of a price of the ultra speed hardware, windows 7 ftw

[myles taylor]

Question: what's staburn?

As far as what Steve Jobs said, he has a habit of saying they will never get into something that they do a year later.

That article is so old it's crazy. It means nothing and is completely irrelevant.

[Nataku4ca]

@myles taylor

do remember, celebrities like him are accounted for the words they said since the begining of their career like every one else... take government official or those talk show hosts for example, they are held responsible for stuff they did when they were a teenager... still think its unfair to link to old articles?

[myles taylor]

Like you said, I don't think Apple cares about market share as much as they care about profits and margins. I think they're happy with things the way they are right now.

The thing is, I work at an Apple Service Provider and I don't want the kinds of customers that buy netbooks in the store. Yes there are a few of them out there that are just people who want ultra-portable and small machines, but most netbook users are people who are looking for the cheapest thing possible and don't really know or care about anything else. They are the people who whine and call tech support (aka me) when they don't know how to hook up their printer, etc. I'd rather Apple stay in the higher end category.

As far as netbooks go, their end can't come soon enough, IMO. There really isn't anything good about them except for portability. As the writer said, once the standard machines come down in price and can have the same power and portability as a netbook, the netbook fad will go away.

[incendy]

Most netbook users I know are people that already have a high end Computer and want a cheap small device for traveling. I don't see netbooks going away, cheap computers with rugged builds, internet access and great battery life are ideal for a lot of situations.

[lazycat202]

i gave my $300 (tax included) XP netbook to my sister. Oh! I implemented computer security policy & BitDenfender so that she won't download walware stuffs. Since then she hasn't got any spywares and viruses. It just took me less than 1 hour to set it up. All she needs is to do report (word, excel, powerpoint), email, music, web, chat, photo editing. It doesn't look cool as much as iMac, but it gets the jobs done; no matter what. YES! i dumped IE and installed Chrome so it runs faster. With only $300, my sis can do EVEYTHING that she wants to do. I always ask myself this: " Why should i spend $900 (plus tax) on an Apple computer?." With extra $600, I would spend on a new DVD player with GPS ($400/each) and & 2 DVD headrest units ($120/each) for my car.

[csoccer1]

@lazycat202
you gave your netbook to your sister to do photo editing and word processing? she must really hate you. no one likes to type an essay on a hobbit keyboard or edit a photo that is the size of a 17 inch screen on a 10 inch computer.

[lazycat202]

@csoccer:

FREE is better than nothing. At least, she has something to do her simple works and learn to communicate with the world. It's up to her if she wants a bigger notebook and I'm not going pay for it :)

[pithenumber]

@csoccer1
I'm not sure about photo editing, but college students seem fine with taking notes and writing essays using a netbook

[Nataku4ca]

i can not agree with the comment as netbook being fad,

i've said long ago, though not on cnet, that 1.5ghz is good enough for everyday use for 80% of the home users(i am not counting gamers, that would not be fair), i dont know if ppl have noticed but alot of ppl including many that i know, like netbook's portability + battery power so when they are on the go they can still blog, write stuff, and just plain chat on msn/skype/etc...

high power notebook will not be pushed down to the same price range, you are asking vendors to cut their more profitable machine down to the same lv as netbook, make too little on high power machines then prepare for another depression because of large vendors cutting each other's throat to death

[Otto Holland]

Yes, I love the S500 MB but get one fully loaded with the AMG badge will set you back 150,000. I'd buy a Bentley Spur Show and I'll be in style.
I see the MAC guys on the subway everyday and they take pride in playing around and doing nothing worthwhile. Why show off with an expensive device to look (kool) when you can purchase a device that works well at half the cost?

I support MAC's at the job and refuse to buy one; it's a waste of time and money and will recommend one only if the person is a graphic designer who was trained on MAC. Style is what got us into this economic mess; we over spend on worthless things just to look cool, makes no sense.

[lawsonmusicmedia]

How do you know what they are doing on their Macs in the subway? Are you looking over their shoulders with an insecure, jealous smirk? Sucks to be you if that's the case.

[Perry_Clease]

Otto if you really support Macs on your job you wouldn't be calling them MACs. Furthermore, if you really support Macs on your job then you would not how superior they are to PCs. It is the greedy bean counters who got us into the economic mess, not the artists.

[stale_pancake]

Take a look at the Acer Timeline series of netbooks. They are very close, if not exactly, what this author appears to be talking about. And they are already out there for a lot less than $850. I don't see Apple gaining any real marketshare. They are happy with the marketshare they have as long as it works for them and continues to yield between 33% ~ 36% gross margins. And that dictates their pricing. They'd have to compromise on something to sell at the PC netbook price-point and still maintain those high margins.

Given that Apple is not the direct manufacture, more of the middle-man, they don't have the absolute power to compete against companies like ASUS. Those that actually build computers in China can always beat you in a price war.

[soulkamikaze]

um... for u mac fanboys out there, the macbook air can never beat netbooks simply because it's expensive and useless. What's the point of having an paper thin laptop if it's useless? With it's weak processor and lack of features, u might as well spend a thousand dollars and use it as a plate or frisbee. With the rate that technology prices are dropping, in a couple of years, u'll be able to get a decently thin PC for less than 1000 easily.

[applediddy]

Which weak processor would that be? The 1.86 Ghz base model C2D? Last time I looked thats much better than the 1.33 Atom (max upgrade to 1.6Ghz) that the netbooks get. Or could it be that it uses the Nvidia 9400M graphics processor. Also better than the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 500. Maybe you were meaning the 60GB PATA HDD (max upgrade to 80GB). Oh wait, that still half the size of the 120GB SATA HDD in the Macbook Air base model. I won't start about the difference between Windows and MacOS. That's just opinion. And everyone is entitled to what they like. Or the cost differences between plastic and aluminum unibody cases. I got these specs from Dell's and Apple's websites. Yes, the Dell Insprion Mini 12 costs about 1/2 what the Macbook Air does. But it is about 1/2 the computer as well, just when you look at the hardware specs. Might want to do some checking before you spout off about weak processors and lack of features when the Apple's specs are higher and do not lend themselves to your argument.

[Nataku4ca]

im just gonna say this about mac book air,

paper thin -yes, over all size large? - yes small on one dimension is nice but i still can't stick that thing in the small bag that i carry around, net books fit easier,

and may be it's just me but first 1 usb port pisses me off (i hate touch pad) and no ethernet is still a nono in alot of my friends house. and second thing, i know they are light - 3lbs - but for some stupid reason it still feels heavier than netbooks... i dont know why that is... may be i need to find center of balance? this is personal perception i know the specs... just don't know why it feels heavier when im holding both of them

[williamfs]

My opinion all along has been that NETBOOKS are unusable for any extended period and therefore their only purpouse becomes the performance of quick tasks here and there which could easily be done in a smartphone instead. There is no advantage in having a portable computer with tiny screen and keyboad which nevertheless when closed is chunky and awkward.

The ultrathin format is obviously superior for it provides the ergonomics required for proper work. My MacBook Air keyboard is the same size as the keyboards on the other Macbooks.

Portable computing in the next few years should boil down to 3 categories: (1) Desktop-replacement style laptops (15-to-17-inch screen, Optical reader/writer); (2) Desktop-complement Portable (Utrathin, arround 13inch, minimalistic, no optical reader); and (3) smartphones.

[cvaldes1831]

"Portable computing in the next few years should boil down to 3 categories: (1) Desktop-replacement style laptops (15-to-17-inch screen, Optical reader/writer); (2) Desktop-complement Portable (Utrathin, arround 13inch, minimalistic, no optical reader); and (3) smartphones."

That's the way I see it too. Ever since Apple's App Store debuted, I think my notebook computer has left the house twice. My iPod touch and its apps are basically good enough on the road. I don't want a netbook.

With a ten-inch screen and at 3 pounds, netbooks not really that differentiated than my 13", 5-lbs. MacBook (I have the white one from a couple of years ago). And the newer unibody 13.3" MacBook Pro is 4.5-lbs. and slightly less than an inch thick. Netbooks still rely on the same connectivity (Ethernet or WiFi) as standard notebooks. I can't stick them in my pocket, nor can I operate them with one hand like I can with my iPod touch.

In many instances, using my iPod touch's Internet-connected apps is far easier than using a web browser on a standard computer. The idea of the computing world revolving around a web browser on a desktop PC (or even netbook) is tragically short-sighted.

The world is moving to handheld devices.

[pcdude2143]

"The world is moving to handheld devices"

I laugh every time I hear that! Handheld devices are awkward and difficult to use, because they aren't even the size of a piece of paper (even the precious iPhone has this problem). This is the main reason I keep contact with my iPaq to a minimum. It just takes too long to get things done on it and in some cases, it's impossible (try reading a PDF on that ridiculously small screen, without text reflow).

[jparkes1]

Apple is as always an enigma. They do produce a very fine product. They like being in the top tier price-wise, a noble corporate goal, and seem happy to draw in tons of market share from their iPod, iPhone, iTunes lines. Those product lines are massive income generators, Apple is in no danger of going anywhere.
Apple has always been a rebel, they like it, they Love that MS has produced crap for twenty years and people still buy it. They don't want to be 'Chevrolet' they need to have MS's inferior products out there to maintain their top shelf position and prices. I think they are smart enough to know MS will probably always be out there producing pap for the masses, It's how they maintain their elitism.
All they need do is continue to produce top shelf products and a percentage of the multi-billion dollar market share will continue to trickle their way, even increase, if slowly, as people get tired of the pap produced by MS.
Netbooks may never become more than a testing ground for designers/engineers as they work to create the next innovation in mobile computing, not every product will be loved by consumers, but the search continues and that is one way progress happens. I want to try one but believe the Net book is still in its infancy and will evolve, I'll buy when it happens.
The thin laptop has never really been so important to me, if it wont fit in my pocket then the issue is irrelevant to me, weight, capability, and battery life are.
Apples Mac Mini was designed, and priced as an open invitation to iPod fans still using PC's, It's a good machine and at 599 even PC users who are financially limited should be able to own a Mac, but I've never seen a TV spot for it. Maybe Apple just doesn't want to cater to that market.
If Windows 7 turns out to be a trouble free OS I would be happily surprised, but it will still be a target for invasive, insidious net borne agents. I think the industry built around 'speeding up your sluggish PC' and anti viral software folks would be a bit dismayed as well, but we're not seeing any downsizing or layoff's in that category yet.
Fan boys have seen the light, they want to tell the world how good it feels to finally be free of MS. I understand the Fanboy hate, It's a lot like someone knocking on your door sunday morning holding a bible!! This doesn't make us bad people, just vociferous in our preferences, and wanting others to see the light. Hey, if you don't mind all the crap that goes along with being a PC owner, then you have a multitude of choices that can be really cheap, congratulations.

[pcdude2143]

"Fan boys have seen the light, they want to tell the world how good it feels to finally be free of MS."

This is exactly how I feel. This is also the thing that's hardest to explain. People wonder, "Why would I want to be free from MS? Are they enslaving me?" The answer is yes. Example? Vista's non-standard CD formatting. Most evil thing MS ever did. Any CD burned with Windows Explorer won't work in any non-WinNT computer unless you change the formatting from the default (and most people won't)

[pithenumber]

@pcdude
Apple is enslaving you just as much as MS is
if you want to be free, use Linux

[pcdude2143]

Um, yeah, I do realize that. Sorry if I gave the impression that I was using a Mac. I HATE Macs, even more than Windows PCs. The lack of customization is ridiculous.

Fine!

[nachurboy]

People who think Apple is interested in the netbook market doesn't know what the netbook market is. "Netbook" is not a replacement for laptops for desktops. It's a price-point product description, not a low-end laptop description. A laptop that claims to be a netbook, yet costs more than a comparable isn't going to sell as well. Your non-techie buyer only sees $300 and thinks, "Oh, that's cheap enough to buy and try." Once they try, some don't like it because it's too weak. The only people who will pay more are the techies who understand what they're paying more for. That's why Apple is not yet interested in this niche market. In order to be considered a netbook, it has to be cheap, regardless of capability. Even the nVidia ION platform isn't going to rival Intel's cheap platform due to higher performance, hence higher costs. The "laptop shoppers" of the world are buying cheap, the gadget geeks are netbooks for the price as well, but they're also buying ultra-thin notebook or ultra-light notebook that's more expensive. Two completely different markets and buyer segments. The cheap netbooks just happen to be ultra-light by its small size.

Personally, I think the cheap netbook segment will grow because the vast number of people simply browse the web. You don't need much more capability than what is available today for that purpose. The screen size is an issue, but that will change over time. The key feature of netbooks has to remain its low price point. Otherwise, you've got real laptops coming down in price competing against overpriced "netbooks", which shouldn't really be called netbooks at that point. More like undercapable ultra-light notebook.