Oh you’re killing me. ROTFL!

Apple’s first netbook shipped in 1994 or so. It was called “eBook” if I remember correctly. Very small and curvy and made out of translucent plastic. I think it was the first enclosure designed by Jon Ives. It ran NewtonOS, which had a Web browser, email, calendar, contacts, and thousands of other applications. Used flash memory in 2 PC card slots, no moving parts. Clamshell. Tiny keyboard. Netbook.

Me, I think the iPhone and iPod are great netbooks. For $299 your iPod has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, OpenGL graphics, Unix OS, HTML 5 -compatible Web 2 browser, advanced typography, Exchange/Gmail/Yahoo/MobileMe/IMAP/POP3 email, MP4 audio video, Podcasts, text editor that auto-saves after each character, instant wake-and-sleep, awesome stability and software quality, all solid-state parts and storage, and hours more battery life than any other netbook. Thousands of plug-in and add-on accessories. Also the iPod has over 15,000 mobile-optimized applications, like Google Mobile where you speak your search instead of typing, and the results come up ordered by closeness to your location, and many others that are very handy when on-the-go as opposed to just making do with desktop software. Yeah, the screen is a little smaller than other netbooks, but it is of extremely high-resolution and high-quality and the specialized UI (no mouse pointer scroll bars showing) mitigates that quite a bit also. And, the iPod fits in your pocket and can plug into a full-size TV very easily, so that balances that out somewhat also.

The keyboard is the main point of contention when considering iPod as a netbook. But everyone who has a netbook tells me you can’t touch type on the thing, you have to hunt and peck, and the keys are often in the wrong places. But on my iPhone I type over 40 words per minute with 2 thumbs. And the iPhone OS 3.0 opens up the hardware to 3rd party developers … we are only months away from a wireless Bluetooth iPod keyboard for touch typing. It will have full-size keys and be better than any built-in netbook keyboard on the market. If the Apple Bluetooth keyboard works with it, then consider the Apple Bluetooth keyboard against a typical netbook. It’s one piece of flat aluminum with a keyboard growing out of it. Ultra portable.

Instead of asking why Apple doesn’t have the same kind of netbook as everyone else, you should be asking why HP and Dell don’t have touchscreens, don’t have 15,000 mobile apps, are still running last century’s software.

There are the best of both worlds. I have the power to run all my major apps on the move and also use it in clamshell mode connected to a 22″ monitor. This is all I need. No desktop/netbook/notebook choice to be made. It does the lot. Very impressed so far.

If you really need to work a 13 inch laptop like the Dell XPS M1330 is much better. more power, more memory, more screen for just half a kg more than a notebook

I agree with all the other points

I have tiny hands that can barely reach across my keyboard at home, but I find myself typing so fast on an 8.9 acer aspire netbook I wonder how come I never realized my previous handicap.

It’s also quite intuitive-I can take it everywhere with me and type on the run-whether it is a long email a short story or a paper. I can even go sit by the water and type if I want to.

One thing you have to be carefull about with netbooks_the screens are delicate, don’t even drop them once. I already broke mine once but easily fixed it by buying a new screen on ebay.

:)

I bought a Linux Aspire One ZG5 to help me write my dissertaion and it was my saviour, I was able to type notes on the tube, connect to the Wifi at the london Library and not worry too much about it being stolen, especially as it has one of those Kensington locks to deter opportunists.

Unlike a laptop I can take it with me even when there is oly a small chance of me using it. The ergonomics aren’t great but then I do most of my work on a deskop computer. The netbook delivers what laptops promised so long ago.

The funny thing though is how many Operating systems I now use on a regular basis; Vista Ultimate at home, OSX and XP at work and Linux For One on my Netbook.

It fits on train and plane seat back tables so much more easily with the screen at a much better angle. The battery is FANTASTIC – realistic 5+ hours with screen brightness turned down.

Only downsides are having to use Fn key for home and end keys but this is easily learned and lack of securing screws on monitor connections.

Running XAMPP on 2GB SD card for web development on the move – really pleased with it. :)

They aren’t really truly portable – I have a Dell XPS M1330 laptop, which is just as portable as a netbook, fits in a backpack etc, but also has the power to do a lot more things, like running photoshop, my PHP IDE, a browser etc all at once, without slowing down any – which is what I need to work on the move. The screen resolution is good, plenty of HD space, and no less portable. The only disavantage is the price.

If I wanted something portable for communication, browsing the internet, reading documents etc, then the first thing that springs to mind is a smart phone, which is far more portable than a netbook.

Netbooks for me take the worst of both worlds – not powerful enough to be all that useful, and not portable enough to be ‘truly’ portable like a smart phone would be.

• The keyboard is hard to touch-type on. You can type pretty quickly, but things that require ‘fingers on home positions’ like Vim are difficult.
• Some dialog boxes just don’t fit on a screen that’s 600 pixels high. This is the fault of the respective software developers, not of the netbook, but nonetheless it is a harsh reminder that the days of 600-pixel-high resolutions being commonplace are all but gone.
• I need to increase the font size for comfortable reading. You fit slightly less on a page with a larger font (and some websites kind of break).

Anyway, definitely I’ll buy a netbook soon.

Netbook is good for light weight tasks and that is it. Use a lightweight editor. Put your ebooks on it. Or as this article suggest, use it with skype. It is great for the go, but don’t expect to replace your laptop or desktop.

Netbooks are nice, but i know that in many situations i wouldn’t use it, and keep using the 13″ laptop instead.

I’m still waiting for the ebook reader of the future (with color eInk, video, internet connectivity, supple “screen”, and whatever they have in the labs). :)

surely the Mac version was the air

There are strong rumors of a Mac “netbook” to be announced soon. Could be rubbish, but I’d be surprised, given the popularity and usefulness of these little things. (I bet Apple is miffed IT didn’t think of them first.) The Air is still much too big.

You are probably right that they would be expensive, though… [Sigh]

I wholeheartedly recommend them.

But I couldn’t live without my laptop with wireless acess becoming the norm in places!

The definition of a netbook is small and cheap. Any apple on will more likely be an untra portable, which is small, more powerful but more more expensive.

I have an Acer Aspire One and it’s one of the best little things I’ve ever got. So light and more than powerful enough for browsing the web quickly.