It's their own fault...
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| Sander_Marechal Apr 04, 2010 8:08 AM EDT |
It's their own fault that sales lacked. They started to build 10" netbooks with a buttload of features and junk in order to run Windows 7. A 10" netbook now is only a tad less expensive than a full size or 13" notebook. If they would have stayed with cheap, simple hardware running Linux at a price-point of US$ 199 they would have sold like hot cakes! |
| jdixon Apr 04, 2010 8:29 AM EDT |
> They started to build 10" netbooks with a buttload of features and junk in order to run Windows 7. Well, the words run, Windows 7, and netbook should never be used in the same vicinity (crawl, perhaps, but not run), but otherwise, yes. |
| helios Apr 04, 2010 10:58 AM EDT |
If the announcement and subsequent release of the Ipad didn't instigate this, I would be surprised. I am thinking that R&D/manufacturing budgets might be redirected into competing with the Ipad. I'm just sayin"... I sat side by side with long-time friend Andrew Magnus yesterday with his Ipad and I had a borrowed Dell Mini 9 opened along side him. The Ipad wouldn't play Hulu or any other flash sites and personally, I am not seeing this device as much else than a cool way to keep up to the minute by minute drama(s) of Facebook et al. It is simply a "tween" device that has some cool pinch-y, squeeze-y technology sans the Iphone. A glossy gadget that allows the goofy social phenomenon of Facebook to further proliferate. It also gives the macboys something to huddle in the corner with...and anything that keeps them out of the way for any period of time is a good thing. Aside from my disdain of all things Apple/Mac, I see a brilliant marketing strategy here...it's hard NOT to think that the Mini 10's will become extinct or then evolve into competing devices via Dell or HP. Thiinkin' allowed here... |
| Scott_Ruecker Apr 04, 2010 2:44 PM EDT |
I've seen several vids of the iPad in action and I am not..not impressed. Its an over sized iPhone, that's it. Sander is right, if they had stuck to the price point and feature list it would have worked, much to MS's displeasure.. |
| Sander_Marechal Apr 04, 2010 6:28 PM EDT |
@helios: Time was that the netbook was a "tween" device. I'm sure that the tablet format will take off as well. Just not the iPad (too expensive and it lacks flash. Most users really need flash on the web). I hope manufacturers smart up on this. Make a tablet with simple hardware, running Linux at a US$199 price point. They'll sell like hot cakes, just like the first netbooks did. Price-point is key here. US$199 is an impulse buy for many people. US$399 (current bloated netbooks) and US$500 (iPad) are not. At that price point you're competing with normal computers and laptops and you will fail. Tablets and netbooks can't compete with desktops and laptops. You need people to get to buy tablets and netbooks in addition to their desktops and laptops, not instead of. |
| moopst Apr 04, 2010 10:33 PM EDT |
I saw an iPad at the Apple Store yesterday and I have to say, it looks nice, but holding the thing in my left hand and operating it with my right got old in 5-10 minutes. I can't see anyone doing any work with this thing. My sister just wanted to buy the angled acrylic stand they were displayed on. |
| Steven_Rosenber Apr 04, 2010 11:11 PM EDT |
$199. I agree. That's the price point. $99 is another price point. How much do you think the Google netbooks are going to run when they eventually are available? |
| Sander_Marechal Apr 05, 2010 4:20 AM EDT |
The Archos tablet which runs Android is going to sell for US$179 IIRC. |
| caitlyn Apr 05, 2010 1:17 PM EDT |
You want netbooks that will really sell. Here is the recipe: 7" screen and lightest weight possible Lowest cost possible Best performance possible Run Linux That recipe worked for the original EeePC and it can still work. Keep the price down, keep it for people who want small, cute, light and functional. Today's netbooks bear little resemblance to the originals and the originals were successful. Today's overblown mini-laptops are not. |
| jdixon Apr 05, 2010 3:46 PM EDT |
> 7" screen and lightest weight possible I'd say 7 to 9" screen, but that's about the only thing I'd disagreement I'd have. |
| bigg Apr 05, 2010 4:05 PM EDT |
The thing that has surprised me is that vendors are trying to eliminate the netbook. As noted, they should be complementing desktop/notebook sales, not substituting for them. I think the weird "make as much as we can on each sale" attitude has hurt rather than helped the vendors. The netbooks on sale today are sufficiently expensive, large, and powerful that they are notebook substitutes. |
| Steven_Rosenber Apr 05, 2010 4:07 PM EDT |
I really don't know why Dell and HP didn't build to that $199 price point. There's a definite market there. Even Asus stopped trying to hit that price. I really don't understand it. Somebody's going to clean up with netbooks - but who? I'm still betting on whoever partners up with Google. |
| kingttx Apr 05, 2010 4:53 PM EDT |
Sheep bought the netbooks, didn't read the regular-sized print (only read the ad-sized jumbo letters), and got ticked off that they didn't do everything a $600+ laptop does and more. Vendors started building up to those crazy expectations, the price went up, and sheep started getting more ticked off at the higher prices. Duh! If you squeeze more power into a smaller package, design and manufacturing costs more than the comparable power in a larger package. So now sales are down because, like Sander and bigg and others alluded to, they are basically small notebooks anymore and are not the original intended, low-priced low-powered, web and email machines they once were. About the only thing that is good in the netbook evolution is the better keyboards. Had someone stuck with the original recipe with the original price and a good keyboard, they'd have dropped sales for a little and then picked back up once everyone else jumped off the cliff just because someone else jumped. Clear as mud? |
| jdixon Apr 05, 2010 8:52 PM EDT |
> ...and are not the original intended, low-priced low-powered, web and email machines they once were. Except they never were. My wife has an EEE 701. It can do pretty much anything she wants, within the limitations of it's drive storage capacity, lack of CD/DVD, and screen size. And if you add an external monitor, external hard drive, mouse, and keyboard, pretty much all of it's limitations are overcome. It'll handle pretty much anything you want to throw at it running Linux. Windows? Well, that's a different story. |
| caitlyn Apr 05, 2010 9:00 PM EDT |
I agree with jdixon entirely. My netbook, running Linux, can serve as a desktop/laptop replacement. Right now it's converting an .avi file to a video DVD .iso. It has an external DVD burner so I'll use it to burn the resulting image as well. My original 7" Sylvania g netbook, a reworked Everex Cloudbook, could have done the same. Yes, netbooks are light on processor and memory for a bloated warthog of an operating system called Windows. Running Linux they can do almost anything any other PC can do. |
| gus3 Apr 05, 2010 9:39 PM EDT |
Current releases: Ubuntu Lucid Lynx Windows Bloated Warthog I love it! |
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