Netbook: Re-inventing the Laptop as a PDA!?
Just when we think some ideas have gone obsolete, you see them hit the markets all over again. The big question one wants to ask is, "Why should they be useful or successful this time round?"
The new breed of Netbooks partially driven by the advent of the Atom processor and its cousins have made us rethink the idea.
The above image is a Simmtronics 10.2" screen based netbook, one of the larger of the lot. I have seen 8.9" screens and a lot of non-standard screen sizes wondering how they would really impact the actual price to the end-user.Anyone hearing the name "Netbook" would be instantly reminded of Asus' EEE PC, the first of its kind to reach ears worldwide.
So what is the netbook model?
Back in 2003, AMD came out with their 50x15 programme which was, quite similar to a venture of Intel's intending to make low cost PC motherboards integrated with software in a box that could provide low cost computing. The key to this product was to tie the Microprocessor, the Motherboard and the solution to a Service Provider thereby decreasing the cost incurred by the consumer in availing "Network" connected computing.
Five(5) years from then, one would guess that this never took off in the big way it was expected to. A similar one was the OLPC story. This was also "low power" computing that could be delivered at low cost to bridge the digital divide. The ambition of this project was definitely exaggerated.
These stories remind me of Larry Ellison's Network Computer (NC) idea which never really made it. To make the long story short, this was an attempt at the sub $1000 computer. Microsoft, with a knee-jerk reaction launched the "Network PC" at almost competitive costs but complemented with some of Microsoft's software stack. All of this never really made it big time.
While one side of the gadget spectrum is clearly targetted at:
- Powering the Mobile Phone to become a Multi-purpose Personal Information Manager
- Adding High Resolution Cameras, Music and Multimedia Capabilities to the Mobile Phone
- Making the Mobile Phone capable of web browsing
- Adding Office Document read/write capability to the mobile phone
- Introducing Mobile Phones to the consumers at subsidies through Service Providers intended as a Price subsidy and a Value addition
- Adding Wireless VOIP and Video Call capabilities (with or without Skype) to the Mobile Phone
- Enabling Application Developers to create simple value additions through easy application SDKs for mobile phones. (These are primarily Java or BREW based SDKs.)
Many would agree that the above strategy actually worked. I carry a phone that can do almost everything I have listed above.
Now there were down-sides to the strategy:
- Using my mobile phone for a corporate presentation isn't really possible yet although it does allow presentations and TV out
- Editing documents through the mobile phone would require me to buy at least a wireless keyboard that is compatible with the mobile phone.
- The mobile phone's battery isn't really equipped to help you handle long hours of WiFi connectivity, you will have to re-charge, this might potentially be a size constraint.
This gap needed to be bridged with an easy to carry device that can complement the user with Business use and use of Internet services seamlessly.
The Netbook allows you to:
- Connect to the Internet using Wireless or if needed a wired network.
- Use purely Wireless services including WiFi and WiMax for connectivity.
- Provide simple video-conferencing solutions using a higher megapixel camera doubling up as a Videophone.
- Allowing you to create, edit and display your corporate presentations, especially if you are a road warrior.
- For the first time have a strong case of large scale deployment of Bluetooth and GPS on a Gadget that can truly help in location based services.
- Play your favorite music and connect to devices through USB.
For practical purposes the netbook almost just offers you a web browser on steroids with little or no native software installed.
The Challenges in getting the netbook down to the market are
- Size of the netbook (which is something that has been achieved with low form factor screens.)
- Weight of the netbook making it lighter than almost all the standard Laptops available in the market making it attractive to carry for the road warrior.
- Usability in terms of tactile keyboards and easy solutions for the mouse like a track point.
- Cost of the netbook to make it compete within the Mobile Phone / PDA segment, rather than the high power laptop segment.
- Have the netbook adopted by Wireless or Mobile service providers by offering WiMax and 3G alternatives as the netbook relies heavily on being connected to the Internet.
- Today the netbook looks like a Low-cost or 'Cheap' Laptop, which is an image that has to be squashed and replaced with its role as the PDA-Laptop inbetween that can be carried around.
Unless the above challenges can be met, the Netbook will remain one more semiconductor driven attempt at offering large scale computing to tap a new kind of market. It might become an eerie reminder of the earlier technology like the OLPC or the AMD 50x15 or worse still the NC that never made it. Given the economic scenario today, there is a lot of hope for the Netbook if it can only get to market faster with the right value additions.
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