Lenovo On the Future of the Netbook

thefickler touts an interview in tech.blorge with Lenovo's Worldwide Competitive Analyst, Matt Kohut, who spoke about his vision of the future of netbooks, which involves Windows 7, bigger screens, built-in 3G, touch integration, and lower prices. Linux fans will be disappointed to hear that Kohut thinks Windows 7 will dominate future generations of netbooks because it offers a better, more familiar solution, with the benefits of touch. Quoting Kohut: "The other challenge has been, in order to keep the price points down, a lot of people thought that Linux would be the savior of all of these netbooks. You know, there were a lot of netbooks loaded with Linux, which saves $50 or $100 or whatever it happens to be, based on Microsoft's pricing and, again, from an industry standpoint, there were a lot of returns because people didn't know what to do with it. Linux, even if you've got a great distribution and you can argue which one is better or not, still requires a lot more hands-on than somebody who is using Windows. So, we've seen overwhelmingly people wanting to stay with Windows because it just makes more sense: you just take it out of the box and it's ready to go."

Comments

So basically ...

[khasim]

Everything you see today, only larger, faster and cheaper.

Nice "vision". Where can I get a job like that?

I'm confused.

[twidarkling]

You know, I thought the whole point of a netbook was to be cheap and portable. Why would you throw a bigger screen on it? I've got a 17" laptop. It's great for long-term use, since it has a full-sized keyboard. Great use in class, when I was taking notes. And yet I'm *still* considering grabbing a netbook and an aircard so that I'd have something tiny to carry around for if I need to look up something quickly (bus schedules, addresses, etc). Something with a larger screen would just be relegated to laptop uses, especially with an increased battery drain from the larger screen. Seriously, what's the point?

Goodbye Lenovo

[Reed Solomon]

What with their ridiculous SL series and their lack of Linux support (and flagrant linux dismissal) since IBM spun them off, I say goodbye to you. I shall miss the trackpoint, but as you are trying to phase it out anyways, c'est la vie.

Why is there no major Linux vendor, anyways? Aside from repackaging Windows machines with Linux? Why can't somebody do for Linux what Apple does for OSX?

Re:Goodbye Lenovo

[Darkness404]

Why is there no major Linux vendor, anyways? Aside from repackaging Windows machines with Linux? Why can't somebody do for Linux what Apple does for OSX?

Because most Linux users are geeks, and us geeks enjoy customization. For example, even though I might enjoy using Ubuntu, a KDE user might be appalled that KDE (and all the KDE applications) aren't installed by default. Gentoo users would find it wasn't fast enough, Fedora users would complain at the lack of Yum and it being Debian based, people who use lighter WMs would find GNOME too bulky, users of paid distros wouldn't like the hand installing of certain patented codecs, etc.

Basically, its impossible to find a distro or tactic that works for everyone. For example, I have an EEE PC that had Xandros installed, it seemed like a crippled version of Debian, so I just installed Xubuntu with a custom kernel which I could have done if it came with Windows.

Apple has basically said no to customization throughout their existence, so Apple users aren't used to customization, they like it one consistent way and will stick with it till the day they die. Windows, while it has a lot of GUI customization available via themes, there isn't really a supported way of customizing Windows the way you can Linux. It doesn't take too much work to make a distro of Linux that can fit in 10 MB and have a functional server, userland, etc. Within 50 MB you can have a full desktop distro. When you take Windows to fit in that size you remove some needed parts of the OS.

Re:Goodbye Lenovo

[MrEricSir]

There was once a company "VA Software,"
They sold Linux on custom hardware,
Their stocks took a dive,
Yet SourceForge did thrive,
And now they own Slashdot, you're aware?

Re:Goodbye Lenovo

[Hurricane78]

Why can't somebody do for Linux what Apple does for OSX?

Indeed. I mean we can certainly outperform OSX, when we do it right.
The problem is, that it feels somehow nasty, to do it that way.

Here is how we should play it:
0. Warning: Do not change Linux. It already is what we want. Make a separate OS, to allow for things that would not be OK to do with Linux.
1. Dreams, dreams, dreams! What matters is what dream you sell. Since the day of the Hoover dam. This is a marketing job. So we need marketing geeks, imagining what the greatest dream of every person in the target group is. And making it seem possible.
2. Looks, looks, looks! Yes, it has to be good below. Of course. But it will never come that far, if it does not look good. As with people, the first 10 (or 30) seconds count the most (exponentially falling curve). The Microsoft people understood this. But they did not have the base below the looks. We can easily fire up Compiz, and make them have their eyes fall out. Hell, every girl who looks at my desktop wants me to install that on her computer. (They are talking about the looks.) And on the basis, we are way more stable too.
3. Integrate with closed-source stuff, like driver makers. Define simple interfaces and make them happy. Go call them, and make them have wet dreams of their card working in our new system.
4. Support, support, support. Either have a high-quality human contact on the phone, who can solve any problem, or go home? (*booooo*)

See, it feels dirty. But that's the way...

So imagine this:
A b-e-a-utiful laptop. Something that a women would "wear", even if it's just for decoration. A variant for men, being actually made out of carbon-steel. A box for professionals. Looking like an engine block. With heavy looking metal work.
Then you see the display and the keyboard. Everything looks like it's made out of one piece. Including the OS. CompizFusion is a must here.
Make the OS different for different people. (Build on the Ubuntu philosophy.)
Do NOT imitate. Do not make it look or act like Windows. Or OSX. Make it better. Make them feel that. (E.g.: There is no point in binding the window-close command to Alt-F4. Ask the average secretary if the uses than one. She doesn't. ^^)
On the first start, show an impressive tour around the system. Let the user choose when to stop, and when to come back.
Make the tour like a game. With the same technique of motivation. Show the controls in the order of their usage frequency. With sound and video and substance, and comfort, until they shit their pants in awe. ^^
After 10 minutes they have to be able to fully use the window management and run applications. After 30 min, they have to be able to use all their main programs. (For a business guy: the office suite, the calculator, the PIM suite).
Offer two things everywhere in the tour: 1. CALL SUPPORT, 2. Customization (I WANT IT MY WAY!).
In support, always offer to actually program a feature for the user, if he wants it. There is no no. There is just an offer with a fair price. (As long as physically possible.)

So the ultimate user experience has to be like this:
1. He saw a dream.
2. He got that dream.
3. He was up and running in <30 minutes.
4. No matter what problem, there was someone there for him, offering a solution.
5. PROFIT! ^^

Ready to go

[Phroggy]

Linux, even if you've got a great distribution and you can argue which one is better or not, still requires a lot more hands-on than somebody who is using Windows. So, we've seen overwhelmingly people wanting to stay with Windows because it just makes more sense: you just take it out of the box and it's ready to go."

If Linux netbooks aren't ready to go out of the box, the vendors are doing a poor job.

If people are trying to install non-bundled apps, they might run into trouble. Otherwise, everything should just work. If it doesn't, something's wrong.

Re:Linux vs. XP

[Nursie]

It's worth checking out Ubuntu Netbook Remix, an official ubuntu thing. Myself, I use debian and have no complaints. But then I use it on nearly every computer I own or have access to :)

Guidance/instructions for the eee range are here:

http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEeePC

I don't know how well it works on other netbooks, but I'm sure it's just a quick google away.

Linux eeePC is ready to go

[mangu]

If Linux netbooks aren't ready to go out of the box, the vendors are doing a poor job.

What the TFA mentions that "Linux, even if you've got a great distribution and you can argue which one is better or not, still requires a lot more hands-on than somebody who is using Windows" is blatantly false. I unpacked my Linux eeePC, plugged it in, turned it on, and started working, something I never managed to do with any Microsoft computer.

In windows you always need to get and install all the software you need to actually do something with the computer.

In my case, I do a lot of Python programming, and that was there. I also found Kate, my favorite editor for programming. Plus OpenOffice, a media player for music and video, a bunch of icons for starting Firefox in several different modes, which means 99% of what I need for work and play was already there. Let me see a windows netbook that comes with all that pre-installed.

The only complaint I have about the eeePC is that the keyboard should be just a little bit bigger, other than that it's an excellent machine. But, of course, one can always have a thinner, lighter netbook, with longer lasting batteries. That would be my choice of directions for evolution.

Re:Linux eeePC is ready to go

[Telvin_3d]

Professional programmer with extensive experience using open source software finds Linux easy to use out of the box; Can't understand why other people have trouble. News at 11.

Bingo...

[schon]

If Linux netbooks aren't ready to go out of the box, the vendors are doing a poor job.

And this is exactly what we saw.

Acer said they got lots of Linux returns, but ASUS says the opposite

Re:Bingo...

[sammyF70]

Indeed.
I was chatting to a non-computer savvy friend who moved to another country a few months ago, and he said he wanted to buy a new computer, but it absolutely shouldn't have linux on it. I asked him why, and he said that he was using Linux right at that moment on his wife's laptop and he was hating it with all his heart. I was kind of amazed by his horrified reaction to linux (I mean, okay! It's different from windows and so on .. but he was REALLY upset about it).
I asked him whether he was using Gnome, KDE or if, at least, he knew which distro it was. It turned out that his wife had bought an Acer Aspire One ( which, ironically, I was typing at, albeit using Ubuntu 8.10) and he was still using Linpus. For him, Linpus WAS Linux ... and seen from this point of view, yes, Linux *IS* a PoS.
Too bad I can't just tell him to boot off some live CD to show him what it's really like.

Re:He has a point about linux

[guisar]

My ma, my kids grandma runs Ubuntu- no problems whatsoever. She loves it. As far as the bigger screens nonsense Lenovo is spouting- sounds like he doesn't like the low margin netbook market and wants it to go away. My 7" ASUS was fine but the screen IS too small for regular use. The form factor though is perfect. My new 10" ASUS is about perfect esp with about 11hr (extended battery) run-time. If the screen were bigger I wouldn't get it, it would be too tough to carry around and bring on planes. If a notebook/netbook isn't EXTREMELY portable with a long run time I'll just stick to a much cheaper, more reliable and usable desktop.

Agreed

[Max Littlemore]

If Linux netbooks aren't ready to go out of the box, the vendors are doing a poor job.

Yep. And they are doing a piss poor job.

I was in a shop the other day and had a good look at whatever the latest Linux EeePC thing is. I use Linux exclusively for my personal computing and I found the desktop really confusing. And it looks so bland - as if they have spent several years and multiple design cycles iteratively increasing it's blandness until it makes a plain brown paper bag look absolutely fascinating in comparison. "Hey, that browser icon looks a little interesting, I'd better file a bug report."

What do Windows users do with one of these? They stuff around, find they can't figure out how to use it (I could barely figure it out) and take it back. What do Linux users do? Most put Ubuntu on it rather than the crap it comes with.

I wonder how long it will be before a manufacturer to realise that if they stop sabotaging Linux user interfaces and start using distros that everyone is using, e.g. Ubuntu for the EeePC, then they will actually have a market. I reckon they are deliberately screwing with the user experience to make windows look more favourable, and I think they are being stupid in doing that.

He's been anti-Linux blogging for 2yrs

[whoever57]

This guy has been blogigng his anti-Linux views since at least 2007. Most amusing from the blog is that a Lenovo VP comments on his blog that he is full of sh*t.

Printer Drivers not readily available

[Gibbo]

Also some manufactureres such as Canon refuse to publish the specs for their printers, provide drivers for other systems or put restrictive terms on the information. Hence making it almost impossible to write effective drivers for 'unauthorised' systems.
And there is no technical reason for the above restrictions. In fact it was trouble with obtaining printer information without having to sign an NDA that contributed to the formulation of the GPL.

Re:He has a point about linux

[binary paladin]

Yeah I was reading that thinking, "Isn't a netbook with a bigger screen a laptop? So the future of netbooks is laptops? Huh?"

Re:He has a point about linux

[TheLink]

Yeah, that sounds like the "SUV" thinking that got the US car industry in trouble- "The future of cars= Larger, lalala, I'm not listening".

Totally ignoring the netbook market.

A lot of people want something that they can use like a laptop (do work, use gmail, facebook, MSN etc), but it MUST fit their _handbag_.

The laptop market is not going away anytime soon, neither is the netbook one.

FWIW, I'd rather have a wearable computer that is actually practical (very usable) and won't result in the special forces shooting me in the back of my head. But I guess there are only a few like me :).

I wonder why users find Windows easier

[williamhb]

"Hello, I'm having a problem with my Linux computer. The SuperSpoodle application says it won't work because it has the wrong version of something called ffmpeg"
"I see. Ok, I'll talk you through updating that package. Do you usually use yum, yast, apt-get, or portage?"
"What are those?"
"They are package updaters. Ok, do you use Debian, Ubuntu, Suse, Gentoo, Fedora, or Linspire?"
"What are those?"
"Ok, maybe it would be easier if you just brought up a terminal window and I'll tell you letter by letter what to type"
"Ok, how do I bring up a terminal window?"
"Well, if there's not an icon on your desktop, then it depends. Does your Linux computer use Gnome, KDE, XFCE, or Enlightenment?"
"Um, what are those?"
"Those are different windowing environments you might have. Depending on which you have, the menus and interface could be very different."

(pregnant pause).

"I see ... would it be possible to install Windows on this machine?"
"Bring it in and we can do it overnight."
"Thanks."