11-14-2008, 03:57 AM
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Mystic
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 1,887
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An interesting point about the ones that *don't* get returned: most of those apparently get a new OS installed at home. Judging by the forum posts I've seen, just about the first thing prospective buyers of non-Windows Netbooks ask about is availability of Windows drivers. The second most popular is about how to install Ubuntu, Debian, or one of the higher-profile Linuxes.
Add in that, while originally intended for "emerging markets" and k-12 youngsters, the bulk of netbook sales have apparently gone to existing PC owners, and its pretty clear the manufacturers are missing their target with those configurations. However, they appear to have hit *something*--the things sell like hotcakes. They just haven't hit what they were aiming for. :-)
Which reminds me; at the recent Windows 7 confab, MS folks were showing off Win7 running well on Atom Netbooks and made it clear the dual core Atom is coming to netbooks. And today, AMD threw their hat into the Netbook arena by promising a dual-core chip by mid 2009. And, of course, there's the fact that the higher selling netbooks run traditional HDDs rather than SSDs.
Add it all up and it seems the only thing that is likely to remain of the original netbook paradigm, once the dust settles, is the idea of a small light notebook computer. All other defining traits are being "evolved" away; SSDs, Linux, small low-res screens, limited CPUs and even (sadly) the ultra low cost.
Essentially, netbooks are becoming regular ultraportables at half/one third the previous ultra-portable price point. Not a bad thing by any means, but not quite what they were supposed to be, either.
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