Netbook popularity ‘waning’
Today the BBC has an article on their news website which reports netbook popularity is on the slide and that they will become redundant within a couple of years. Read on for our thoughts on the subject.
Pretty interesting thought, but this certainly isn’t true.A few searches on the internet show that netbooks continue to outstrip sales of laptops and they’re still on the rise.
2010 will most likely be the year of the netbook with continued sales, great machines on the way. With more and more free internet connections in cafes, hotels, trains etc, it’s great to have a tiny computer in your bag to whip out and have a quick surf/email/chat etc.
So why does the BBC think this is the end? We’ll let’s have a look at their reasons:
“Operating systems require more resources”
This isn’t true. Almost all netbooks that have been on the market for the last two years can run Windows XP (most are pre-installed) to a good standard and certainly most netbooks from the last 6 – 12 months will have no trouble running Windows 7, which also comes pre installed.
Whilst Windows is the most popular operating system for netbooks it is resource heavy. This doesn’t affect your netbook speed, but it does typically mean a lower battery life than the same machine running a Linux based OS and (of course) means a higher price.
Amazingly though, 2010 will see the launch of the Google Chrome OS for netbooks. This Linux-powered OS will offer much of the same functionality as Windows, but with better security, and higher performance without the need for a highly specified machine. It also means Linux Operating Systems will have some marketing power behind them in the netbook space.
“Prices are getting higher”
I also think this is a load of rubbish. Check out the find from yesterday remove this as a link a fantastically spec’d Asus netbook for £199 pounds link this instead. This is even better when you consider the first netbooks on the market 3+ years ago we’re also around the same price.
Sure some netbooks are breaking the £350 mark, but these machines are offering greater specifications than £600+ laptops. Bottom line is that prices are not getting higher, you can still buy cheap, powerful netbooks and this is set to continue.
Smart phones & E-reader devices are “taking over”
Touch screen devices like the Apple IPhone and E-Reader devices now offer users access to get on the net to surf and check email. Sure they do, but these are certainly not going to replace or even affect sales of netbooks:
- They don’t have keyboards. Making them painful to use for more than 5 minutes at a time.
- Higher cost, for the cost of an IPhone you could purchase 2 netbook computers.
- File storage. Storing files on these things is a nightmare. For example – if someone calls you in the middle of a long train journey asking you to correct a power point presentation, what is the likelihood that you’ll be able to make those changes on your phone?
With more and more devices coming out in 2010 it will be interesting to see new features and ways of using them but for now netbooks are the most practical and cheapest way to work and surf on the move.
So the BBC thinks this will be the year netbooks die. We think this will be the year netbooks thrive. What do you think? Let us know in the comments!
