NY Times: choosing between netbooks and notebooks

[David M. Fahey]

http://www.nytimes.com/external/idg/2009/06/30/30idg-choosing-betwe...

[Lincoln Thurber]

[Sigh]

I really don't know who to believe? Are people 'really' unhappy with their netbooks? Somehow I can see where it would be possible....people are stupid after all. They see a price, they see a picture, see some specs, and then they buy blind. So yes there must be some idiots who just buy without understanding, but do I believe ist is a big percentage? Nope.

“Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to hobble netbooks.”

The way I see it my netbook does everything I want and I'm a picky users, so if I can use a netbook and be happy why can't the average consumer? I'm a power user and I use a netbook, so exactly what is the issue with these average consumers? Are they spies smuggling missile plans to Tibet? Is my elderly neighbors making 50,000 entry Excel spreadsheets for their prescription drug cartel? Or, are we being spoon fed stories about netbooks ath are total crocks of shit planted by the industry and some over-worked journalists who just dump press releases as news. DING DING DING!! Yeah, that is what I think is happening for sure.

Without a doubt I think some of these articles we see in newspapers, blogs, news sites are plants by the industry. You always see the 'typicla story or woe' that makes it seem like netbooks arrive broken covered in swine flu. If I believed half of the stories I see that have un-named analysts telling me to beware of netbooks I'm be quivering jelly in a dark room.

"They'll crack you know..."
"Those Atom processors are only as fast as a Pentium III you know..."
"They can't be used for business you know..."
"Ouch! Tiny keyboards cramp hands you know..."
"Pixies come out of the SSD slots at night and steal your shoes you know...."

What a bunch of bunk!

[David M. Fahey]

Suspect that different people have different problems that often boil down to not investing enough time in learning how to use their new netbook. I plead guilty myself. For instance, probably being in too much of a hurry explains my failure to get a live boot for a Linux distribution on my USB memory stick. Windows irritates me as does the Asus touchpad. I need patience and practice. Pray for me!

By the way, did it seem to others as it did to me that the NY Times writer was struggling to find enough words to fill his column?

[DougC-3]

Yes, since he spends much of the column caught up in nostalgia about his eight-year-old HP OmniBook 500. He compares netbooks mainly to it rather than laptops in general, which doesn't much help people trying to choose from today's products.

[DougC-3]

< "Or, are we being spoon fed stories about netbooks ath are total crocks of shit planted by the industry and some over-worked journalists who just dump press releases as news. DING DING DING!! Yeah, that is what I think is happening for sure."

Whether this is a plant from the industry or a hack writer jumping on the kick-netbooks-bandwagon, there is also an undercurrent of anti-Linuxism from somewhere:

"Operating systems run the gamut from Microsoft to Microsoft, with the company resurrecting XP yet again to steal the netbook market away from the Linux operating system experiments on the very first netbooks. (Italics mine)

He seems to be saying that the door has been totally shut to Linux on netbooks, that it was just an early experiment. He may live to see that the demise of Linux on netbooks is greatly exaggerated.

[BoloMKXXVIII]

I am sure there are some moronic customers that see netbooks on shelves in the stores and say "oh goodie, a really cheap laptop that I can use to play Crysis!" I just don't believe there are that many morons out there (could be wrong). Face it, most people use their personal laptops/netbooks for e-mail, web browsing, online bill payment, word processing, etc. A Pentium III is really overkill for that type of work. Yes, netbooks are not ideal gaming rigs, but neither is the i-phone. I don't see people complaining about it as a game platform.

[Lincoln Thurber]

Well, with these ION machines they can at least play Crysis on the lowest level. Well, okay, maybe Halo 3 or CoD at least