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Netbooks Have a Huge Impact On the PC Industry
Xbm360 writes "A report from researcher Canalys said 13.5 million netbooks were sold globally in the 1st half of 2009. Telecom companies have several bundling deals, with about 50 operators selling netbooks. The success of netbooks also surprised Microsoft & forced them to lower the prices of their XP Home licenses, to regain marketshare over Linux."
You don't need the latest CPU or graphics chip when all you do online is watch porn.
A netbook does fine, heck you can even hold it up with one hand while keeping the other busy!
I wouldn't have stated it that way, but I agree... people are realizing the race for powerful chips now exceeds the necessity of most people by magnitudes; most people just want to stay in touch and have access to the web. Even the usual word processing and home finance applications, which few average-Joes actually even use anyway, don't require squat for processing.
There was a netbook on display at Sam's Club that had a "is a netbook right for me" app running on it, so I took the test... the first question is if it was going to be your primary computer, and I said "yes," which ended the test with "this isn't powerful enough for your main computer, and the keyboard and display are too small!!!"
When I use a laptop as my "main" computer I don't like the keyboard or display, either... both external. Same thing I'd do with a netbook. I don't see the problem.
Stupid, sexy Flanders.
TFA is one of those that have a big photo, very little text, and is continued on page 2 (of how many I don't know; I refuse to slog through sites like this).
Free Martian Whores!
What were you in your former life? A library?
I bought a 9" model with linux earlier this year.
Soon after, the linux models dried up, then the prices rose and the screen size crept up.
I should have bought 6 at Jan 2009 price. Baring a change of architecture which increases the battery life 5 fold, I conciser it to be perfect.
It doesn't need any more power because it does everything that I want from a computer the size of a hardback book.
a slashvertisement for who exactly? i'm not a major university, but i do have netbook running archlinux
I have talked to several people that own or have owned netbooks. Most of the people don't like them. One person in general got a netbook from there husband. He got it since it was the cheapest thing he could buy. She hates it with a passion, but it does sorta what she wants just slowly. If I had to guess this type of story could be repeated over and over again. It was the cheapest thing so it was purchased even though the person that actually has to use it doesn't like it.
So, don't take it with a grain of salt. Just understand that an article saying they are used in college != every single college in the world will have netbooks exploding out of the chalkboards en mass.
Don't know where this major university is, but step off campus sometime and go to a Starbucks, Caribou, whatever.
Or go to an airport.
They're all over the place. What I would note is that owners are typically not college-paged. Mostly middle-aged.
So we have a story about a press release about a report by some unknown company. Big deal.
This is an important subject, though. The big issues are 1) will "netbooks" wipe out the notebook industry, 2) will "netbooks" become slaves to mobile phone companies, like handsets, 3) will Microsoft succeed in enforcing their ceiling on how powerful a netbook can get. The story addresses none of those issues.
The fascinating thing, and one that cries out for some good journalism, is how effectively Microsoft squashed the Linux netbook industry. The first netbooks all ran Linux. Eighteen months later, it's very hard to buy a Linux netbook. How did Microsoft get Chinese consumer electronics manufacturers to pay for a OS when they had successful products with a free one?
Yeah but he *is* a major university. I'd say his data is more then just anecdotal.
Creationist Textbook Stickers Declared Unconstitutional by CowboyNeal
My Aspire One running ubuntu is just great thanks. Cost me 250 loonies. Best of all, it's 8" screen means I can manipulate it almost like a medium sized book. I can kick back on the couch, at a table, on the subway, where ever and twist and turn it as needed. I stick with the SSD drive because I it affords me even less worry about jostling it around. With wifi and 10/100 built in, how could anyone go without one. $250 bucks, you can't afford not to own one. Best tech toy to come down the pike ever.
ideopath @ play
So.. netbooks are about 10% of pc sales and carry a margin of next to zero. They are a niche product for those who want a small device for convenience and will see growth stunted as the eekonomy recovers as those who couldn't afford a desk top replacement laptop abandon the cheap netbook segment for low/mid end full sized/powered laptops.
Actually, an Atom N270/N280 has a pretty hard time playing back Flash video... so online porn isn't actually all that accessible on netbooks.
"The succes of Netbooks also surprised Microsoft & forced them to lower the prices of their XP home licenses, ro regain marketshare over Linux."
It is our hope that one day linux apps will be advanced enough to include a spelling checker.
Also... "Citation Needed".
"According to the latest predictions global notebook shipements are expected to reach 200 million units in 2010, of which, netbooks will account for 25%, or 50 million units."
You know, I'd expect at least a couple of these words to be a hyperlink to some source that actually shows who predicted it, or how they arrived at the numbers, but there's nothing.
Who approved this article? Has the bar really dropped this low?
Maybe, maybe not. My netbook stutters a bit on high res youtube videos, and it stutters a good deal on HD h264 videos.
When Microsoft was pushing Vista one of the things that they claimed was that the number of available XP product keys had become exhausted. Due to this they decided to remove the SKU from OEM vendors and other retailers, and set support services end dates. Their claim was that since they couldn't issue any more XP product keys you needed to upgrade to Vista instead.
Linux had begun a fast rise in the netbook market and this alarmed Microsoft to the degree that they decided to issue more product keys. This should have negated their argument about the necessity of upgrading to Vista.
There were questions that Microsoft had manufacturers modify the bios of their new models to exclude necessary information that allowed the installation of drivers for hardware (on computer models, not necessarily including the netbooks). This came out in a number of articles and in one case someone showed that the bios of certain machines had some important tables removed pertaining to Linux, making it difficult to install, etc.
The netbook back at the start of this had a large growing population of women in the 45+ range that had never used Linux before but had become users by virtue of it. Many found it to be just fine for what they were doing with it (browsing the web, writing email, watching videos, playing music, using it for programs like skype to communicate, etc). Since these books had Linux pre-installed by the manufacturer there was no need for them to configure drivers, hardware, to install more software, etc.
Microsoft's reaction was to reissue XP product keys and then to set some limits on what the netbook hardware could do. For instance, they limited the amount of ram to 1 gig. They limited the onboard graphics to a certain subset, they limited the hard disk capacity to 160 gig, they limited the display size which also limits the keyboard size. The prohibited the netbook from having a CD/DVD drive. They limited the processor type and speed, they limit the number of USB ports to 3, etc.
Under Linux these limitations don't exist and that is probably a good part of the reason that Dell has chosen to produce some Linux netbooks with some oomph. These limits are only on XP based netbooks whereas the Linux netbooks can be much more powerful if the manufacturer wishes it. It doesn't mean that they will push the power of them, it just means that it is not necessary that they take these considerations in to account.
The OEMs account for the vast majority of netbooks sold. It doesn't mean that you can't purchase one from these OEMs and then upgrade it yourself. If a netbook has a USB port then you can an external drive or DVD/CD burner. You can also add more RAM and a larger HDD if you are willing to tear one of those things apart, and it can be difficult for some models.
You can lead a man with reason but you can't make him think.
I like the idea of the portability of netbooks, sacrificing power for size and battery life, but would still like to see a good one that can (at least optionally) go without a keyboard. Gimme a nice size (sheet-of-paper is fine), outdoor readable, finger-touchable display with some USB and/or bluetooth keyboard support with that all-day battery, and close to (if not passing) gigahertz performance. If done right, I can add my own storage (USB, flash, whatever) as well as attach to network storage (NFS, SSHFS, FTP...). Sure, there are tablet PCs out there, but they all cost $2K or have tiny displays.
End the FUD
It probably had more to do with the ultra-cheap SSD that came with it than the CPU, something you can remedy for ~$40.
I'm currently using a netbook as my primary computer, following hardware failure. I plugged in a real keyboard, mouse and speakers, which solves the biggest usability problem, and I'm running Ubuntu using the Maximus window manager to get the best use of the small screen. I've also customized Firefox to avoid wasted space. The biggest hardware limitation is the ram size. It's hard to go back from 4GB to 512MB. Hopefully I'll soon be back on a better computer, but the netbook is tolerable.
But that would probably "classify" them as "phones", and thus either be terribly expensive, or be bundled with rip-off phone plans. Just look at the features of the Nokia Internet Tablets (N800/N810) vs an equally feature-rich "smartphone", and you'll notice that the N810 is roughly half the price simply because it's not a top-of-the-line "phone", and therefore has to be prices according to actual specs as an ultra-mobile "computer" and not "super-fancy phone"...
if watching porn is all a customer wants then even a netbook is not necessary, just get one of those portable DVD players.
i think netbooks fill a niche, for those that want to read a website's text and don't want all the high end audio/video media, like slashdot or other websites with news and information, plus netbooks are good for email & basic office tools (school & work environment). it dont take 3D accelerated graphics to read text but most all high resolution video (and games) require a good quality video card and driver along with some decent screen realestate...
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
One of the main selling points for Netbooks was that they were tiny, and could fit in your purse, shoulder bag, or carry-on bag and be taken with you on trips and vacations to check emails, update your facespace, dump camera images to upload, and basically simple tasks that you might want to do when away from home and your main PC and not have to carry a real bulky laptop around with you. Unfortunately, the new "netbooks" are as big as laptops these days, which defeats the entire idea behind them. Instead of making them SMALLER, they are going the opposite direction. By now we should have netbooks with 3" screens that go in your pocket that complete with smartphones and devices like the ipod touch. A budget OQO, basically. To me, netbooks should not be considered a netbook if the screen is larger than 8". Anything bigger and you're in portable laptop territory, regardless of processor speed.
Strange use of an ampersand, indeed.
My learning for today: until the 1900's "&" was the 27th letter of the alphabet!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampersand#History
No, it is not fixable. Atom sucks at video playback and costs too much.
Athiesm is a religion like not collecting stamps is a hobby.
Quite a few of them now have HSPA hardware and a SIM slot built in. If you walk into a high-street mobile phone shop, you'll see a few examples on sale. They're often 'free' with a two year data contract, but you can also buy them with pre-pay plans for a more reasonable total cost, especially if you're mainly using WiFi and just want the HSPA as a fall-back.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
A top of the line smartphone has something like an OMAP3 with an OpenGL ES 2.0 GPU running at around 600MHz. The N800 has an OMAP2 with a fixed-function GPU and runs at around 400MHz. The N800 also lacks the hardware for communicating with the mobile network. It's not surprising that it's a lot cheaper than a modern smartphone...
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Hmm, seems to work fine for me. Guess my Atom proc is special or something.
Obvious is right. Consumers (me included!) had been hanging out for netbooks for at least 5 years before they actually appeared. The market was there all along, there was just no product. The fact that it took Microsoft + the collective OEM industry so long to figure it out is staggering.
The success of Netbooks also surprised Microsoft
The success of {GUIs | LANs | The Internet | online music/iTunes/MP3 players | Netbooks | every other major advance} has surprised Microsoft. That company has always been more reactive than proactive. Of course, they can afford to be, which gives rise to their rather conservative approach to entering new markets.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
I'm on my third netbook now since they came around, and the second running OSX perfectly. OSX on the Dell Mini 10v with a SSD is really fast and works perfectly. It's a really nice machine to have in addition to another 'real' computer.
Okay, not all people using laptops in class are assholes.
I've had professors that would cover 100+ slides in a 50 minute class. I can't write fast enough to keep up, but I *can* type fast enough. I sat in the back so I didn't disturb anyone.
With a netbook, the noise is minimal. The keys are usually pretty quiet, and there is no fan noise.
I do recall one asshole, though. He sat two rows ahead of me, and had a laptop. He used to watch porn in class. I don't remember a single lecture =)
Indeed. People are keeping older computers longer now, and newer computers no longer require the purchase of top notch hardware to be useful. I can't remember the last time I bought anything other than the cheapest CPU Newegg offered for the motherboard I was looking to pair the chip with. For general usage there's barely any difference between the fastest chip they sell and the slowest - most home users would never tell the difference. RAM has also gotten cheap. $40 or so will buy you 4gb, which I'll not go so far as to claim is "all anyone will ever need", but realistically it's plenty enough for most desktop users. Heck 1GB is still plenty for most of them and that's been a very attainable number for nearly 10 years now.
Truthfully, despite having upgraded my processor and ram several times in between (mainly for stuff like gaming, video encoding, source compilation, etc), for BASIC usage my newest machine, a 2.5Ghz Phenom with 4GB of RAM, doesn't really feel any faster than my old Athlon 1.2Ghz with 1GB of RAM felt. I still want my faster machine for those times when I do just need to crunch some numbers (and most of Slashdot will need the same from time to time), but for your regular old users out there, they just don't do that sort of thing, and older (or in this case smaller and cheaper) will do them just fine.
"People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
So don't go to 512MB. I replaced the 512MB in my EeePC 900 with a stock 2GB SODIMM. I also upped the 4GB SSD to 32GB.
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
>>>People are keeping older computers longer now
That's true. (caresses his Commodore Amiga 4000 lovingly) (just kidding). But if I was buying new I'd still want the most-or-second-most powerful CPU if only for longevity. I keep my cars 20+ years until they die, and it would be cool if I could do the same with a PC too. The Pentium 4 3000 MHz I have now is seven years and I still don't feel a need to upgrade. My AMD 500 megahertz laptop is 11 years but that's pushing it (the porn plays back in slow-motion)./
>>>for BASIC usage my newest machine a 2.5Ghz Phenom
You still program in BASIC? Cool. I wrote a Star Trek battle game in BASIC. It's simple but fun. ;-)
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
despite having upgraded my processor and ram several times in between (mainly for stuff like gaming, video encoding, source compilation, etc), for BASIC usage my newest machine, a 2.5Ghz Phenom with 4GB of RAM, doesn't really feel any faster than my old Athlon 1.2Ghz with 1GB of RAM felt.
Might that have something to do with feature additions in Visual Basic eating up all the gains from your faster CPU? (See Wirth's law.)
How come you know that porn uses Flash video?
If they're flashing you, they're showing you their private parts. Otherwise, it wouldn't be porn.
P.S.
Apple and Microsoft are going to have a hard time surviving in the 2010s. Their business model is based-upon selling a new OS with new features like music playback (early 90s) or video playback (late 90s) or HD playback (now). These new features came-about because computers get getting faster. But what happens when users buy a Phenom machine in 2010 and are still using the same machine in 2020, and feel absolutely no need to upgrade wither the hardware or the OS? Microsoft will see its revenue shrink.
Perhaps this is why they are trying to move to a rental model, in order to ensure they keep getting paid even if you don't upgrade.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
I agree that the keyboard & display are too small, both on netbook or laptop. But even a wimpy netbook is powerful enough for most tasks, except of course running Vista.
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
Don't think so. I'm currently using an ASUS EEE 1000HE (N280 I believe). I have no issues with flash videos stuttering for SD content (pretty sure Hulu uses flash throughout). Bear in mind I have wiped off XP Home, upgraded to 2GB of RAM and installed XP Pro, additionally disabling the services I don't use on a daily basis. Prior to the re-install and disabling of services the stutter was there and quite pronounced. Google Earth gave me problems (rendered horribly slow) prior to the re-install as well, now works great. For those who don't know which services to turn off... Deal with the stuttering. If you are still brave enough to try, this is a good beginners guide to disabling some of the services in question (stick to the "SAFE" configuration): http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm Honest opinion; I have a Quad-core "dream machine" I built that is useless save for gaming and re-encoding video now. I typically only use the netbook and my HTPC.
It doesn't necessarily imply that revenue will shrink, more likely growth will stagnate which is *almost* as bad and is already happening.
Is it? The car I drive today is basically the same as the car I drove when I was 18. About 100 horsepower, holds 5 people, has a trunk for groceries, and gets around 35 MPG. The industry has not stagnated because they learned to sell style, and encourage people to upgrade simply because the top changed.
The PC industry needs to learn to do the same. Or else end-up just like the kitchen industry (selling appliances barely above cost).
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
I think most people are disappointed when they see how slow they are.
Well, I have an Eee PC with a 1GHz processor. It seems to run apps about as fast as other 1GHz systems I've seen. I've got Eclipse, a CAD system plus some other 'heavy duty' applications on it and it seems to do just fine.
What OS are you running on your 'slow' netbook?
Have gnu, will travel.
That may be so, but I would hazard a guess that putting a P4 in a netbook would run much hotter and deliver significantly lower battery life. The Atom 270 just hits a sweet spot for most people regarding power/battery life. I can play AVIs and do video Skype just fine on my 900HA and it 'feels' just as fast as my Core 2 desktop.
Once I was a four stone apology. Now I am two separate gorillas.
Actually, an Atom N270/N280 has a pretty hard time playing back Flash video...
What about upskirts?
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Since the release of low-spec netbooks for $300+, the OEM's now charge $450+ for low-end laptops that used to sell for as low as $320. Reminds me of the cereal aisle, where you get more box and less product for only a little more money. Yay!
Imagination drew in bold strokes, instantly serving hopes and fears, while knowledge advanced by slow increments...
Have you actually seen what it takes to upgrade the memory in some netbooks?
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_jUFbxHoAU
Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvoixR46wNY
The Atom netbooks all support 2GB RAM unless the manufacturer crippled them.
My Samsung NC10 has 2GB RAM (after $20 upgrade). This model also has a full-sized keyboard and an 8 hour battery.
I'm a gamer, so I need a bitchin desktop. But when I'm traveling? The NC10 is more than enough.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
From shareholders' perspective level revenue is as bad as losing. They need to see GROWTH. The problem is Microsoft grew so huge that the only direction they can go is down. That is why they have been desperately trying to best Google (good luck with that!) and also have been vainly been trying to get into the music distribution market that Apple is enjoying huge success in, and why they are going to be opening "microsoft stores" next to every Apple store in major markets. Why? They are trying SOME way not just to delay their implosion, but to continue to grow.
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
Ever since processors hit 500mHz I've been telling people it doesn't matter what CPU you have, and you just need enough RAM for the OS (not minimal, but enough). It's plenty powerful for anything you want to throw at it.
Of course, then I looked at Nero, which was dumbed-down and rewritten in Molasses. And AVG rewritten in Pitch, with extra notifications windows and a little pop-up which helpfully summarizes whatever you're looking at, in case you happen to be... I don't know, woefully myopic to the point that you can't read the window you just clicked on. And Visual Studio which has to run a compiler every time you open a file. And it was then I realized you'll never win. It's never going to be fast enough after you apply all of the security updates.
I used to be able to watch individual controls get painted because file I/O had a high priority (and apparently even with far more RAM than necessary Windows likes to page things out). Now I have the same experience, only it's because of the applications being inefficient. Black-box object reuse abuse at its finest, like using IE rendering engine to run JavaScript to show a message box.
I'd say Sam's Club is right on the money. Next year that netbook won't run any new apps, so you better be planning on using what software you already have.
Unless it was your monitor that failed, why not plug that in too?
I like my large monitor to be fully utilised, and for the small laptop screen to scroll round, so I use this command:
xrandr --fb 1920x1200 --output VGA --mode 1920x1200 --output LVDS --mode 1024x600 --panning 1920x1200+0+0/1920x1200+0+0/512/300/512/300
They are *plenty* powerful for the majority of computer use.
I wish people would comprehend the implications of this. It's also the same problem with "Linux is suitable for the majority of what people do at home".
Yes, majority. A car that can only run 60 miles on a tank of gas covers the majority of what people do with their cars. But a cat that only runs 60 miles on a tank of gas would be unacceptable because, while a majority of people's driving sessions consist of less than 30 mile trips from home, they still need the occasional trip to a friend's or relative's place in the next town or two over, and the even rarer, but still critical, road trip out of state or wherever.
With netbooks, the majority of what people do, a netbook can do acceptably with regards to performance. But sometimes people want to check out an HD YouTube clip (even HQ clips have performance issues on the current Atom N270/GMA950 netbooks), or process those vacation photos/videos, etc.
Take, for example, something that almost everyone uses: iTunes. iTunes will run just fine on a netbook, will play music just fine, and probably play SD videos just fine, but when they decide they'd like to rent an HD movie or TV show, they will find out the performance just isn't there.
Yes, most people, most of the time, will be just fine with a netbook. Unfortunately (well, fortunately, actually), people sometimes do want to do more than a netbook can handle.
I suspect someone's going to chime in that HD doesn't make any sense on an 800x600 screen, which isn't strictly true (1280x720 will look better on that screen than 640x480), is a side issue when the topic is performance (a few posts up someone mentions using an external display, keyboard and mouse with their netbook) and just further illustrates another problem with netbooks. It's definitely *not* a feature that the screen is so small that HD content has more detail than the screen can display.
Do most people watch HD videos on their computer?
I've never done it in my life. Maybe I'm unique. My netbook is great for everything except gaming. Of course, it'd better be, considering it's got more graphics grunt than I made it through college with, and nearly as much processing power.
It's been a long time.
I just got my Toshiba NB205-N210. On the whole, I love it. But I borked up the Toshiba utilities installation(s) when I tried to uninstall some of them. That triggered a quest to re-install Windows XP. Whoa Daddy!! Took all night.
Problems:
1. No WinXP disk included.
2. No optical drive.
3. No SATA driver on a WinXP disk (not even on SP3) assuming you have one handy (BSOD when starting the installer).
4. I had a WinXP/SP2 disk from somewhere in my past. Wasn't compatible with the CD key on the back on the Toshiba.
5. Some weird reliance the installer has on whatever may already be on the c: drive was producing a corrupted file error that would prevent the XP installation from proceeding.
5a. Another weird error from the XP installer that wouldn't let me remove the existing c:\ partition. It said it was using temporary files on the C drive.
Solutions:
1a. I had a WinXP/SP2 disk already.
1b. nLite.
1c. **IMPORTANT** Save the C:\WINDOWS\I386 directory from the factory installed XP before you blast it!
1d. Created a hybrid installation between the WinXP/SP2 disk and the I386 directory from the netbook. Worked!
2. There are a few utilities out there that will create a bootable flash drive WinXP installer from a source disk.
3. BIOS setup, AHCI->Compatibility
4. See 1d
5. http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page. Used it (also transferred to a bootable flash drive) to blast the factory created partitions.
At 4:45am, I was successful. Is this really what is required to re-install fresh XP on a netbook? Re-loading their factory installed image defeats my purpose and besides, I broke their tool that does it. I'm not about to ask Toshiba support for XP install media. I pre-assume that to be worse than what I endured.
Point well taken-- I think the main issue is the perception of what the netbook is intended to do. We can spend all day coming up with uses they are ill suited for due to size/form factor/performance etc. I suspect video games and potentially HD video are among the few things netbooks don't do well that people really want. If one of those is your dealbreaker then you are right for not buying yet. I have an Aspire 110L (one of the more ancient models with the GMA 950) running xubuntu. It is quite capable of playing full screen standard definition video (unless it's Flash video... but that's a linux Flash problem). I honestly haven't tried HD video as standard def playback on that screen really hasn't left me wanting. Of course, you have a different opinion in that matter.
There are a ton of complaints about netbooks in comments on this article, it seems the issue folks take with them is they can't always replace a desktop. That's fine, they aren't designed to. HD video and video games are two applications I'd have to give you that they don't do well.
+1 Disagree
Hey, I had problems watching videos until I use the slider from Full Hardware Acceleration to Medium Hardware/Software acceleration. I thought that would take pressure from the crappy embedded graphics card and move it to the processor. Turns out the video runs now smoother than before.
Am I wrong thinking this slider uses the processor more now than before?
First, what cat goes 60 miles per hour?
Apparently, the Cheetah, which currently holds the record as the fastest land animal (the typical Slashdotter jerking off to his netbook notwithstanding.)
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
Not Apple. The goals of the new Apple have always been selling the hardware. That won't change, and they can bring out new stuff when they feel the need for it. The software is just the icing on the cake.
For Microsoft, however, it's a real problem. They're selling ONLY cake frosting, and sometimes people decide they want pie or pudding instead. And they can't go into the cake, pie or pudding business because they have all these partners (OEM) already established in those areas and doing so would mean stabbing them in the back.
Whenever they tried taking over industries this way it has happened: gaming consoles, music players, now mobile phones. If they had had a resonating success in those areas at least they would have come out with something, but they haven't. So they just decimated their former partners and destroyed their markets for nothing.
I'm watching them fascinated, to see if they will be so stupid as to cannibalize their last standing market, the PC, and try to stab the OEMs in the back. Because they would SO abandon Windows and move to Linux. The new wave of ARM processors will show the way.
What will stop Microsoft? Apparently, Microsoft itself. I'm amazed to see that it's not so much all the external factors but the mistakes the company does itself that mess things up for it.
i ate crayons when i was a kid and now i have two braincells and the blue ones taste nicer
I've used a notebook as my primary computer for years. It still handles the newest games just fine; DMC4, Crysis, etc all play with settings on high at 1680x1050 beautifully. Even in regards to gaming, you can be using comparatively old hardware and still get excellent results if you use GOOD old hardware. It's not like the "old days" where a computer was worthless after 3 years. The reality is that these days the majority of computer users absolutely do not need a high powered system. My wife, for example, runs an old dell notebook, a 1.2ghz dual core amd of some description, with 2gb ram. It'll outperform an Atom, but not by a large margin. She doesn't have the slightest problem with performance. She certainly can't game on it, but it does everything else she needs to do: Largely, web based stuff, non-HD video, etc. Most households have multiple computers these days too - particularly if you count smartphones. There's really only a need for one more powerful system for the odd time you need to actually do something that really requires the horsepower. I'm always on the go. I got my notebook specifically to be mobile with my computing. But really? As a 17" notebook at 8 lbs, it's "portable"... but I never take it anywhere. Packing up it's huge power brick and lugging around the bag, coupled with the awareness that it's still a very expensive machine make it unpleasant to actually travel with. I never, ever game "on the go" I'm looking to pick up a Netbook. The lions share of computer use I do - virtually ALL the computer use I do outside of gaming - is easily handled by one. Further, they are small enough to be stuffed into any random bag, and cheap enough to be moved around freely, without undue concern. If I bang up a $300 notebook, it's not going to hit my like damaging a $2500 notebook. Their batteries (when you get 6 and 9 cell variants at least) power them many times longer than my notebook will run even without doing anything strenuous. Why wouldn't you go Netbook for portable computing?
Meh.