it sure seems that those who are more active and "vibrant" are also much thinner than those who are much less active and generally overweight. That level of activity does not generally just relate to physical activity from what I've seen. There's far more mental stimulation going on along with that physical activity. So, are they just noticing that less mental stimulation means less brain mass?
purely a side effect, this limit was added because Windows had little server marketshare and Microsoft was trying to sell a high priced version of of Windows as a server while at the same time trying to kill off Netscape. When Netscapes web server was packaged and marketed to run on Windows NT Workstation after Microsoft wedded MS IIS to Windows NT Server, sales of Netscapes web server jumped because it was a far far cheaper solution over Microsofts IIS and NT Server packaging. The solution for Microsoft was to impose a limit on TCP/IP connections.And I'd bet that they let businesses know about this legal license change too.
artificially limiting an OS just to segment the market into client and server markets is a marketing trick and one well used by Microsoft. It's something completely different when they bundle applications on top of the OS to enable more server features, but that is not what they did, they crippled the OS to segment the market. And anything they do once has no limit to how many times they'll use that trick. Like no enabling the mid 90s technology called PAE in 32bit Windows desktop OS. IMO
so what was that stuff about having to get the Windows Server kernel to get over the 4GB issue on the 32bit stuff?
Besides, I was also referring to the client TCP/IP connection limit they put in back when Netscape was selling their web server for Windows NT Workstation and providing a solution cheaper than Microsoft's restriction of only running IIS on their Windows Server productline. Games they play...
but with something like Linux and how it is developed, you don't have it being designed for marketing. With Windows, Microsoft does things like restrict the number of TCP/IP connections either in software or in their license. They disable part of the system to limit its usefulness and sell it at a lower price as in Windows XP Starter Edition and almost did the same with Windows 7 with all that talk about only being able to run 3 applications.
So there's been a hardware based solution to this since the days of the Pentium Pro( early 90s ) and it is used by open source while Microsoft uses the 4GB limit as a tool to get people to pay up. Surprise, that's why Microsoft has so much of your money in their bank account. These kinds of things are old news but it always helps to let others know that in the open source world, these restrictions and/or features get worked around to improve the product instead of getting used to extract money.
it's an exaggeration of the term "open source" but if you look at the pages linked then you should see what it's said the whole clock is open source.
LadyAda publishes the circuit schematic as a PNG image file and in the original Eagle data file format. She publishes the board layout and the source code for the micro controller too.
So what about this not being "open source" do you not get? The source data for everything is open to you.
but it's hackable and they even saved a few bucks by using the microcontroller to create the HV to run the tube. The microcontroller is an atmega168, just like what's in the Arduino but I didn't see if it was straight C or Arduino code.
"The power of marketing influence is great! But these Jedi mind tricks only work on the weak minded."
but there are just SOOOOooooooo....... many of them.;-)
Ever notice who many emails from iPhone users still say "sent from my iPhone"? They've no clue that the default signature is set to that and they just keep going on with it.
I wasn't there so I can't tell if it was put forward but what makes Android attractive is that it'll run on more than one phone. Although Microsoft did a great job at keeping phone vendors from talking about their soon-to-ship Android phones earlier this year, there was some press over the last month or so about over a dozen Android based phones due to ship this year.
It should have been sold to the investors as the difference between the IBM PC compatibles and the Apple PC market. Apple makes a great device but it's a single vendor solution. The IBM PC compatibles shipped from dozens, hundreds, and then thousands of hardware vendors. If all they saw was the G1 and thought that it was the only market for the software then they completely missed the point of Android.
Maybe because it's another fantasy so we'd get a laugh out of it. 2 3/4 lbs, and Intel CPU, Windows and they claim 12 hours of battery life? Are there any laptops or even netbooks on the market with Intel CPUs and Windows getting even close to 12 hours of battery life?
It seems Nokia has learned Microsofts technique of advertising/selling something they can't provide.
but the system is designed such that it gives the impression that you invite people to share with and that includes your info. Now, I wonder why they say you can't see someones info unless you're "friends" with them when in fact, you just needs to be friends with one of their friends. And you know, when you go to click an app and see where it says the developer has access to your profile data? It didn't, and probably still doesn't, say that if any of your friends accepted the app, the developer already has access to your profile data.
Public info is public info but not when you're given the impression of selective publicity.
Isn't that one of those beefed up "netbooks" or better yet, small laptop? From what I saw, it's got an Intel Atom (1.6 GHz), RAM installed is 1 GB, and it's got a 160 GB Hard drive along with a price tag over $500US. I know someone who bought one of the first HP "netbooks" and to get 4 hours of runtime he had to get this battery which stuck out the entire length of the device and across the bottom.
So I'm sure there are a good number of "netbooks" which have enough power these days to run Windows with anti-virus after all, since Microsoft jumped in, the hardware has jumped considerably. The problem is, you lose what advantages were originally there, long runtimes, and light weight, cool running.
but fair enough, I didn't spec what the others had and were saying they had performance issues. So the trick is to buy in the high end and you'll probably be able to run Windows with AV software and maybe something else for a few hours.
screwy editing, I was typing along the lines of "GNU/Linux system" etc but then figured I'd try mentioning the kernel,, all the stuff above the kernel but below the desktop. I really sucked at that didn't I.
lash me with a wet gnuddle, I deserve it for this.
what I made of that was along the lines of it using a full GNU/Linux kernel and most of what you'd get/use on a laptop or deaktop. When you look at what's on all the other devices, you see they are something much less than what you get on your desktop. Apple's iPhone uses a special SDK although it's still Objective-C based, Google's JVM-ish platform, Microsofts WindowsCE based OS, Palms new WebOS, etc. The N900 appears to bring a standard Linux kernel, GNU utilities, and what's expected on pretty much any distro under the GUI. I think that has pretty much been the standard fare for the N8xx series but this time they stuck a GSM phone in it so someone decided to get cheezy with the description.
I was surprised to see a comment that Windows Mobile was dead and that Microsoft has plans for trying to shrink Windows down to run on these and porting it to these CPUs. If they're targetting 2012, it'd probably be 2014 before it was anywhere near useful. And yes, I've heard Windows 7 works on "netbooks" but never have I seen it stated they were running the required anit-virus software and the one time I heard a user say he'd installed anti-virus he said Windows was unusable on his netbook. So, having "the unmatchable power of GNU/Linux" on a phone is pretty cool but not something people generally even think about since they've never had it on such a small device before.
they spent billions, with a "B" to create the product, after its first year on the market, they had to dump over $1 billion into it to fix all the broken units and extend the warrant and that was on top of the hundreds of million in annual losses. The old PS2 was and probably still is selling better than the product. IIRC, the PS3 is getting smaller, cheaper to make, and dropping in price to $299 so that's not going to help the Xbox sales or reduce losses. Are Microsoft investors getting their moneys worth when Microsoft keeps spending billions in profits on perpetual money losers?
It makes one wonder who would, from a business point of view, or even could continue _selling_ such a poorly performing product? The emphasis on "selling" is because when you're having to pay out so much in losses for so long, is the word "selling" really the right word.
much like the OLPC design for their mesh networking. Another cool thing they, the OLPC people, was to let the CPU sleep but the video card keeps displaying what's on the screen.
I believe a consumer focus on gasoline has lead to car companies' focus on gasoline-electric hybrids instead of diesel-electric.
we may see more diesel hybrids but the jury is out now that GM has been allowed to continue to exist. IMO, had they been allowed to live the true capitalistic life and died from their failures, we would be seeing a growing market of innovative car companies picking up the slack. Ford and Chrysler would be toting the old-school line with some diversions in new directions but not like Tesla or Aptera are doing. We probably would have seen many many more of those kinds of companies. Instead, we've still got GM and they are still mentally old-school and they are still tied to the oil industry and tied down with the power of the unions.
as great a mile logs or odometers are at keeping track of distance, it does not keep track of what roads you traveled on. I could spend most of my time out of state and have to pay my state fees for all those miles. Up in Oregon, they've been trying to put a tax on hybrids since just after they were released in the US so someone should look up there to see what they've come up with or failed at. And the logic of adding a tax on the people who are paying alittle extra to do the right thing so that those who continue to drive clunkers, for what ever reason, don't is backwards.
something needs to fund the upkeep of the roads and in time, hybrid and EV owners should become part of that process. But not now, and not until some large percentage of owners are driving those kinds of cars. Maybe 30% is a good number.
Now a gps tracking system would be great for this but I will tell you that if the government were to tell me that it would be completely anonymous, I would not believe them unless it was an open source system where the analysis of the instate sections was a module devoid of reference to the vehicle and its only exported data was the number of miles. The track data would have to be 100% volatile once uploaded and the data path completely protected.
otherwise, it could be done at smogging or registration time in a drive-thru type of situation via wireless.
they are already experienced at using ARM because they already ship GNU/Linux on ARM in their computers with the quickboot bios called "Latitude ON". It's an ARM processor and memory on the mobo along with the x86 chips and boots Montavista Linux. So I would say that they are already experienced at this to know how well it does work and would like to capitalize on that ability. As stated, it also takes Microsoft out of the picture regarding existing contracts and changes the ways Microsoft can pressure them to do what Microsoft wants them to do in the design and software packaging whatever that may be.
IIRC, on those laptops with "Latitude ON", when running on the ARM subsection, that laptops have runtimes counted in days, not single digit hours. And they can play video, do web access, email etc so Dell is in a position to lead or help lead in this sector. Their work with Ubuntu on x86 is another major plus for them and with ARM Inc working with Ubuntu on the ARM platform, that's a strong partnership( Dell, Canonical, ARM ).
This is an important one to follow and it would be great to see something from Dell this year.
yes and finding a reason for Windows Mobile to exist since it is really starting to lose share and they really can't dump more $$$ into paying vendors to use it. It sounds like what they would like to have is a Facebook kind of social network phenomenon but with a gaming tie-in. Think mining for gold in common areas of the game and while you are typing, you're not only mining but also conversing with other miners.
It's and interesting concept but can Windows Mobile hold up to the resource demands of such interactive and connected resource usage?
I see this as Microsoft starting to figure out how to get enough money coming in from its many money losing products to pull them off of the Windows teat. IMO
doesn't Google Gears give you localized storage and localized caching of applications? If it's not Gears, it's something else that I read Google had for doing those things. So it's not "the network" or nothing. If those don't work very well than that would be a problem for the reasons you stated.
except that they've never been very successful at anything off of Windows. Xbox has lost them many billions, Wndows Mobile and it's other names(Windows CE, etc ) has lost them around $20 billion and the Zune is another big failure. If they had a history of profits off of things tied to their desktop OS then you would have a higher likelihood of being correct. So, when Ballmer lets his kids use the iPod and Microsoft start selling products for profits which are not tied to Windows, only then should you believe they'll survive a shift because of a company the size of Google.
those might have a slimmer likelihood of success than you think. Those things could only survive if they can be transitioned from money losing products to profitable ones at the very same time that Microsoft is scrambling to keep Windows relevant. losing profits, and probably dumping more hundreds of millions on marketing. They get funding from Windows profits now and in a downward spiral, that kind of transition in that environment is going to be a tough one. They will also have to be moving those tools to other platforms while still part of Microsoft and that is something Microsoft does not do and has not done. It's been all about keeping Windows front and center and that'll have to change way before the cliff dive.
You are correct only if you look at the content of his post and not the title( "No need for a conspiracy" ). I should have addressed his content also since I believe that too is a naive way to look at the issue. So here goes:
"The whole reason for having a netbook is that it's tiny and portable." is your opinion based on your needs, so what about those who want a netbook that's light and lasts more than 4 hours? Maybe they one with not fan running so they don't have to worry about sucking in dirt, hearing it, or blocking the intake? Now about not having a spinning hard disk and a nice big screen to play videos on over the network? There is more to the netbook segment than a small screen but it looks like that option is getting pressure to disappear.
And as far as thinking that "Market forces at work." is how the hardware you get is offered goes, you are seriously mistaken. There are other forces which have far more effect on what you see on the shelves and on the web sites. If you've ever been involved in retail, you know it has a lot to do with how much the store is paid for the shelf space and how much they store employees are paid for commissions and advertising. These are just some of that which determines what the public gets. And as we can see from the differences between Microsoft's "maximum"( yes, maximum) hardware spec for Windows licensing on netbooks(WinXP vs Win7), you'll see it is probably a major factor as to why no more 12" netbooks will be seen.
For me, I would love to see a 12" netbook with 6+ hours or more of battery life, GNU/Linux installed and the ability to play HD video. Seeing that Intel does not like the 12" netbooks and Microsoft spec'ed their licensing against it, the ARM platform is likely going to be the only option available. The ARM vendors shouldn't be making them to Microsoft's spec's since Windows does not play there.
and after Apple shipped the iPhone, one of Microsoft's partners was quoted to have said they had to ask permission to put a custom UI on the Windows Mobile phone kit. I didn't save the link and couldn't find it but I know what I read and it sounded like the normal MS practice of controlling what the customers see when using an MS OS on devices.
And Jane, look at what Microsoft dictates as the maximum hardware for Windows 7 on netbooks and then find what they spec'ed as the max for Windows XP. hint: 10" and 12.1"
Slashdot Mirror
it sure seems that those who are more active and "vibrant" are also much thinner than those who are much less active and generally overweight. That level of activity does not generally just relate to physical activity from what I've seen. There's far more mental stimulation going on along with that physical activity. So, are they just noticing that less mental stimulation means less brain mass?
LoB
purely a side effect, this limit was added because Windows had little server marketshare and Microsoft was trying to sell a high priced version of of Windows as a server while at the same time trying to kill off Netscape. When Netscapes web server was packaged and marketed to run on Windows NT Workstation after Microsoft wedded MS IIS to Windows NT Server, sales of Netscapes web server jumped because it was a far far cheaper solution over Microsofts IIS and NT Server packaging. The solution for Microsoft was to impose a limit on TCP/IP connections.And I'd bet that they let businesses know about this legal license change too.
artificially limiting an OS just to segment the market into client and server markets is a marketing trick and one well used by Microsoft. It's something completely different when they bundle applications on top of the OS to enable more server features, but that is not what they did, they crippled the OS to segment the market. And anything they do once has no limit to how many times they'll use that trick. Like no enabling the mid 90s technology called PAE in 32bit Windows desktop OS. IMO
LoB
so what was that stuff about having to get the Windows Server kernel to get over the 4GB issue on the 32bit stuff?
Besides, I was also referring to the client TCP/IP connection limit they put in back when Netscape was selling their web server for Windows NT Workstation and providing a solution cheaper than Microsoft's restriction of only running IIS on their Windows Server productline. Games they play...
LoB
but with something like Linux and how it is developed, you don't have it being designed for marketing. With Windows, Microsoft does things like restrict the number of TCP/IP connections either in software or in their license. They disable part of the system to limit its usefulness and sell it at a lower price as in Windows XP Starter Edition and almost did the same with Windows 7 with all that talk about only being able to run 3 applications.
So there's been a hardware based solution to this since the days of the Pentium Pro( early 90s ) and it is used by open source while Microsoft uses the 4GB limit as a tool to get people to pay up. Surprise, that's why Microsoft has so much of your money in their bank account. These kinds of things are old news but it always helps to let others know that in the open source world, these restrictions and/or features get worked around to improve the product instead of getting used to extract money.
LoB
it's an exaggeration of the term "open source" but if you look at the pages linked then you should see what it's said the whole clock is open source.
LadyAda publishes the circuit schematic as a PNG image file and in the original Eagle data file format. She publishes the board layout and the source code for the micro controller too.
So what about this not being "open source" do you not get? The source data for everything is open to you.
LoB
but it's hackable and they even saved a few bucks by using the microcontroller to create the HV to run the tube.
The microcontroller is an atmega168, just like what's in the Arduino but I didn't see if it was straight C or Arduino code.
LoB
"The power of marketing influence is great! But these Jedi mind tricks only work on the weak minded."
;-)
but there are just SOOOOooooooo....... many of them.
Ever notice who many emails from iPhone users still say "sent from my iPhone"? They've no clue that the default signature is set to that and they just keep going on with it.
LoB
I wasn't there so I can't tell if it was put forward but what makes Android attractive is that it'll run on more than one phone. Although Microsoft did a great job at keeping phone vendors from talking about their soon-to-ship Android phones earlier this year, there was some press over the last month or so about over a dozen Android based phones due to ship this year.
It should have been sold to the investors as the difference between the IBM PC compatibles and the Apple PC market. Apple makes a great device but it's a single vendor solution. The IBM PC compatibles shipped from dozens, hundreds, and then thousands of hardware vendors. If all they saw was the G1 and thought that it was the only market for the software then they completely missed the point of Android.
LoB
and the N900 should have had an HDMI connector instead of a TVout connector. Bad move on Nokia's part there.
LoB
Maybe because it's another fantasy so we'd get a laugh out of it. 2 3/4 lbs, and Intel CPU, Windows and they claim 12 hours of battery life? Are there any laptops or even netbooks on the market with Intel CPUs and Windows getting even close to 12 hours of battery life?
It seems Nokia has learned Microsofts technique of advertising/selling something they can't provide.
LoB
but the system is designed such that it gives the impression that you invite people to share with and that includes your info. Now, I wonder why they say you can't see someones info unless you're "friends" with them when in fact, you just needs to be friends with one of their friends. And you know, when you go to click an app and see where it says the developer has access to your profile data? It didn't, and probably still doesn't, say that if any of your friends accepted the app, the developer already has access to your profile data.
Public info is public info but not when you're given the impression of selective publicity.
LoB
Isn't that one of those beefed up "netbooks" or better yet, small laptop? From what I saw, it's got an Intel Atom (1.6 GHz), RAM installed is 1 GB, and it's got a 160 GB Hard drive along with a price tag over $500US. I know someone who bought one of the first HP "netbooks" and to get 4 hours of runtime he had to get this battery which stuck out the entire length of the device and across the bottom.
So I'm sure there are a good number of "netbooks" which have enough power these days to run Windows with anti-virus after all, since Microsoft jumped in, the hardware has jumped considerably. The problem is, you lose what advantages were originally there, long runtimes, and light weight, cool running.
but fair enough, I didn't spec what the others had and were saying they had performance issues. So the trick is to buy in the high end and you'll probably be able to run Windows with AV software and maybe something else for a few hours.
LoB
screwy editing, I was typing along the lines of "GNU/Linux system" etc but then figured I'd try mentioning the kernel,, all the stuff above the kernel but below the desktop. I really sucked at that didn't I.
lash me with a wet gnuddle, I deserve it for this.
LoB
what I made of that was along the lines of it using a full GNU/Linux kernel and most of what you'd get/use on a laptop or deaktop. When you look at what's on all the other devices, you see they are something much less than what you get on your desktop. Apple's iPhone uses a special SDK although it's still Objective-C based, Google's JVM-ish platform, Microsofts WindowsCE based OS, Palms new WebOS, etc. The N900 appears to bring a standard Linux kernel, GNU utilities, and what's expected on pretty much any distro under the GUI. I think that has pretty much been the standard fare for the N8xx series but this time they stuck a GSM phone in it so someone decided to get cheezy with the description.
I was surprised to see a comment that Windows Mobile was dead and that Microsoft has plans for trying to shrink Windows down to run on these and porting it to these CPUs. If they're targetting 2012, it'd probably be 2014 before it was anywhere near useful. And yes, I've heard Windows 7 works on "netbooks" but never have I seen it stated they were running the required anit-virus software and the one time I heard a user say he'd installed anti-virus he said Windows was unusable on his netbook. So, having "the unmatchable power of GNU/Linux" on a phone is pretty cool but not something people generally even think about since they've never had it on such a small device before.
LoB
they spent billions, with a "B" to create the product, after its first year on the market, they had to dump over $1 billion into it to fix all the broken units and extend the warrant and that was on top of the hundreds of million in annual losses. The old PS2 was and probably still is selling better than the product. IIRC, the PS3 is getting smaller, cheaper to make, and dropping in price to $299 so that's not going to help the Xbox sales or reduce losses. Are Microsoft investors getting their moneys worth when Microsoft keeps spending billions in profits on perpetual money losers?
It makes one wonder who would, from a business point of view, or even could continue _selling_ such a poorly performing product? The emphasis on "selling" is because when you're having to pay out so much in losses for so long, is the word "selling" really the right word.
LoB
much like the OLPC design for their mesh networking. Another cool thing they, the OLPC people, was to let the CPU sleep but the video card keeps displaying what's on the screen.
LoB
I believe a consumer focus on gasoline has lead to car companies' focus on gasoline-electric hybrids instead of diesel-electric.
we may see more diesel hybrids but the jury is out now that GM has been allowed to continue to exist. IMO, had they been allowed to live the true capitalistic life and died from their failures, we would be seeing a growing market of innovative car companies picking up the slack. Ford and Chrysler would be toting the old-school line with some diversions in new directions but not like Tesla or Aptera are doing. We probably would have seen many many more of those kinds of companies. Instead, we've still got GM and they are still mentally old-school and they are still tied to the oil industry and tied down with the power of the unions.
LoB
as great a mile logs or odometers are at keeping track of distance, it does not keep track of what roads you traveled on. I could spend most of my time out of state and have to pay my state fees for all those miles. Up in Oregon, they've been trying to put a tax on hybrids since just after they were released in the US so someone should look up there to see what they've come up with or failed at. And the logic of adding a tax on the people who are paying alittle extra to do the right thing so that those who continue to drive clunkers, for what ever reason, don't is backwards.
something needs to fund the upkeep of the roads and in time, hybrid and EV owners should become part of that process. But not now, and not until some large percentage of owners are driving those kinds of cars. Maybe 30% is a good number.
Now a gps tracking system would be great for this but I will tell you that if the government were to tell me that it would be completely anonymous, I would not believe them unless it was an open source system where the analysis of the instate sections was a module devoid of reference to the vehicle and its only exported data was the number of miles. The track data would have to be 100% volatile once uploaded and the data path completely protected.
otherwise, it could be done at smogging or registration time in a drive-thru type of situation via wireless.
LoB
they are already experienced at using ARM because they already ship GNU/Linux on ARM in their computers with the quickboot bios called "Latitude ON". It's an ARM processor and memory on the mobo along with the x86 chips and boots Montavista Linux. So I would say that they are already experienced at this to know how well it does work and would like to capitalize on that ability. As stated, it also takes Microsoft out of the picture regarding existing contracts and changes the ways Microsoft can pressure them to do what Microsoft wants them to do in the design and software packaging whatever that may be.
IIRC, on those laptops with "Latitude ON", when running on the ARM subsection, that laptops have runtimes counted in days, not single digit hours. And they can play video, do web access, email etc so Dell is in a position to lead or help lead in this sector. Their work with Ubuntu on x86 is another major plus for them and with ARM Inc working with Ubuntu on the ARM platform, that's a strong partnership( Dell, Canonical, ARM ).
This is an important one to follow and it would be great to see something from Dell this year.
LoB
yes and finding a reason for Windows Mobile to exist since it is really starting to lose share and they really can't dump more $$$ into paying vendors to use it. It sounds like what they would like to have is a Facebook kind of social network phenomenon but with a gaming tie-in. Think mining for gold in common areas of the game and while you are typing, you're not only mining but also conversing with other miners.
It's and interesting concept but can Windows Mobile hold up to the resource demands of such interactive and connected resource usage?
I see this as Microsoft starting to figure out how to get enough money coming in from its many money losing products to pull them off of the Windows teat. IMO
LoB
doesn't Google Gears give you localized storage and localized caching of applications? If it's not Gears, it's something else that I read Google had for doing those things. So it's not "the network" or nothing. If those don't work very well than that would be a problem for the reasons you stated.
LoB
except that they've never been very successful at anything off of Windows. Xbox has lost them many billions, Wndows Mobile and it's other names(Windows CE, etc ) has lost them around $20 billion and the Zune is another big failure. If they had a history of profits off of things tied to their desktop OS then you would have a higher likelihood of being correct. So, when Ballmer lets his kids use the iPod and Microsoft start selling products for profits which are not tied to Windows, only then should you believe they'll survive a shift because of a company the size of Google.
LoB
those might have a slimmer likelihood of success than you think. Those things could only survive if they can be transitioned from money losing products to profitable ones at the very same time that Microsoft is scrambling to keep Windows relevant. losing profits, and probably dumping more hundreds of millions on marketing. They get funding from Windows profits now and in a downward spiral, that kind of transition in that environment is going to be a tough one. They will also have to be moving those tools to other platforms while still part of Microsoft and that is something Microsoft does not do and has not done. It's been all about keeping Windows front and center and that'll have to change way before the cliff dive.
But it could happen.
LoB
You are correct only if you look at the content of his post and not the title( "No need for a conspiracy" ). I should have addressed his content also since I believe that too is a naive way to look at the issue. So here goes:
"The whole reason for having a netbook is that it's tiny and portable." is your opinion based on your needs, so what about those who want a netbook that's light and lasts more than 4 hours? Maybe they one with not fan running so they don't have to worry about sucking in dirt, hearing it, or blocking the intake? Now about not having a spinning hard disk and a nice big screen to play videos on over the network? There is more to the netbook segment than a small screen but it looks like that option is getting pressure to disappear.
And as far as thinking that "Market forces at work." is how the hardware you get is offered goes, you are seriously mistaken. There are other forces which have far more effect on what you see on the shelves and on the web sites. If you've ever been involved in retail, you know it has a lot to do with how much the store is paid for the shelf space and how much they store employees are paid for commissions and advertising. These are just some of that which determines what the public gets. And as we can see from the differences between Microsoft's "maximum"( yes, maximum) hardware spec for Windows licensing on netbooks(WinXP vs Win7), you'll see it is probably a major factor as to why no more 12" netbooks will be seen.
For me, I would love to see a 12" netbook with 6+ hours or more of battery life, GNU/Linux installed and the ability to play HD video. Seeing that Intel does not like the 12" netbooks and Microsoft spec'ed their licensing against it, the ARM platform is likely going to be the only option available. The ARM vendors shouldn't be making them to Microsoft's spec's since Windows does not play there.
LoB
Jane you ignorant slut... here's one discussion of the games they play and it's not a conspiracy theory when it's real:
http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/02/18/microsoft-plays-the-heavy-in-the-smartphone-wars/
and after Apple shipped the iPhone, one of Microsoft's partners was quoted to have said they had to ask permission to put a custom UI on the Windows Mobile phone kit. I didn't save the link and couldn't find it but I know what I read and it sounded like the normal MS practice of controlling what the customers see when using an MS OS on devices.
And Jane, look at what Microsoft dictates as the maximum hardware for Windows 7 on netbooks and then find what they spec'ed as the max for Windows XP. hint: 10" and 12.1"
LoB