Is an Apple netbook a good idea?

I don’t think Apple will release a netbook

…and if they do, I don’t think it’ll fare well at all.  Sure it’ll make a decent amount of Apple fans who’ve been asking for one happy, but in our current financial situation is it a smart product to release?  To me netbooks are the opitomy of a discretionary income purchase.  They’re not powerful enough to do a lot of things that most people want from a Mac (things like video editing) and yet they’re not small or cheap enough to compete with a smartphone.  So who will purchase an Apple netbook?  One would probably assume a business user, someone who’s on the road frequently and doesn’t need a powerful machine – this person would favor portability over processing power.  Does it sound like I’m describing an existing Apple product?  Ohhh that’s right, the Macbook Air!

So aside from the fact that the product doesn’t fit easily into their product line, are there any other reasons why I might think it won’t happen?  Well, if I were a betting man I’d put my life savings on it not being at Macworld.  A netbook is a big product addition, one that I’m sure Steve Jobs would want to demo for the community.  We all know that Jobs isn’t doing the keynote at Macworld this year as Apple moves away from the trade show, so I’m assuming there won’t be any earth-shattering announcements, nor should there be.  Based on the latest reports of how retailers fared during the holiday season, it would seem that we consumers aren’t too happy to part with our dollar in this time of economic turmoil (or, in many cases, we don’t have a dollar to part with in the first place).  So you’re telling me that Apple’s going to release a product meant to snap up discretionary income in a time when there’s very little to be had, especially considering the solidity of their current hardware lineup?  It just doesn’t make sense to me.

If anything I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple killed a product or two.  The Mac Mini has been in its death throws for a while, perhaps they’ll do away with it now.  I’d expect Apple to focus on their strengths by making those strong products even better, as was showcased with their notebook refresh not too long ago.  I wouldn’t be surprised if at Macworld we saw some significant software enhancements.  Whether iLife gets a new, fresh coat of paint or iWork is revamped, software makes sense.  Software is the perfect way to refresh your product without having a large financial investment in hardware, and it’s a relatively cheap product to sell to the consumers.  Expect Phil Schiller to spend some time talking about Snow Leopard, the latest version of OS X.

I’d also like to see an iPhone refresh, but that’s just because I’m going to be in the market for an iPhone pretty soon.  With my luck Apple will probably put out a new model just after I purchase the current 3G.  Anyways, leave a comment and let me know if you think I’m way off-base here.  Does the Apple netbook make sense to you?  Why?  Leave a comment!

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Young Dubliners – McAlpine’s Fusiliers
Too many games….

The netbook explosion

If you subscribe to any of the gadget site feeds as I do you might have noticed a trend as of late – everyone is working on a netbook.  If you’re not sure what I’m talking about let me give a little background.  Around the time that the XO laptop (OLPC) and Asus’ Eee PC were announced a lot of people weren’t sure whether these ultra-small, lightweight and inexpensive machines would be profitable.  Did they really have a specific use?  For the most part, to compensate for the lower price and smaller size, these machines didn’t have the processing power found in your average laptop or notebook computer.  They also were originally based on various distributions of Linux, taking advantage of the operating system’s lightweight system requirements.

As it turns out these first couple forays into the world of netbooks were very successful.  Since that time Asus has released and announced several different versions of its Eee PC, and other manufacturers like Acer, Lenovo, MSI and Sylvania of all places are jumping in with their own netbook offerings.  Obviously there’s a market for netbooks, but who is prone to use one?  When I first saw the Eee PC I though to myself “Wow, that’s really cool – having a tiny machine for casual use would be great!”  Then, at the same time, I remembered that I have a 2-year old Macbook that is plenty small and outperforms it.  On top of that I purchased an iPod Touch not too long ago and I find myself using that more than anything for when I just need to check a website or do basic computing functions.  Netbooks kind of fall in between these two product ranges so it’s hard for me to justify using one.

I suppose the people that will use one will be business travelers who are interested in having a very small, convenient computer that’s easy to take with them.  I have to say though, as more and more of these come out and the performance improves they become increasingly interesting.  They’d be amazing for a school situation – give every student in a middle school access to an unimposing netbook that’s relatively inexpensive and integrate that into their curriculum.  Or imagine having them available for rent on planes.  Instead of having to worry about carrying on your potentially bulky laptop you could rent a netbook for $5 and have access to your email, the internet and maybe do some word processing along the way.

I think that netbooks do have a future in the industry but I’m still not sure where they fit.  Asus can’t have only sold so many units to people falling for the wow-factor, right?  We’re on the cusp of the cellphone making the step up from telephone to computing device, and in the interim perhaps netbooks fill the gap.  I think for them to really take of it’ll require a bit more attention paid to the original premise of a netbook – cheap.  A lot of the most recent versions have started to creep up into the $500-$600 range where you can just as easily purchase a low-end PC.  I’d also like to see a lot better battery life.  If I could get a netbook with a battery that lasted all day (8 hour estimate) that would be a huge feature which traditional laptops don’t provide.  For now though, I think I’ll stick with my collection of devices to get the job done.

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Mudvayne – Nothing to Gein
Too Human