Of netbooks, tablets and Linux's revenge - The H Open: News and Features

D. Hugh Redelmeier hugh-pmF8o41NoarQT0dZR+AlfA at public.gmane.org
Wed Jan 23 04:04:26 UTC 2013


| From: James Knott <james.knott-bJEeYj9oJeDQT0dZR+AlfA at public.gmane.org>

| http://www.h-online.com/open/features/Of-netbooks-tablets-and-Linux-s-revenge-1783069.html 

Interesting article but I think it misses a few points:

- netbooks died for me because

  + their performance plateaued.  How could that be, in the face of
    Moore's law etc.?

    * Microsoft and Intel forced limitations on manufacturers
      (OS, screen resolution, RAM size, CPU crunch, and perhaps disk size)

    * the AMD end-run around the Intel portion of the restrictions
      seems to have been too little, too late, and not embraced by
      "the channel".
      (My Acer Aspire One 522 has 1280x720 display, fast video,
      faster-than-atom CPU and cost only $229 because the store
      orphaned it.)

  + "real" notebooks got cheaper, approaching the cost of netbooks

  + tablet niche overlaps netbook niche, but only partially

- netbooks surely didn't make money for Microsoft.  Microsoft
  essentially gave away hobbled software to protect their flank from
  Linux.  This, along with the licensing restrictions, probably proves
  anti-trust rule violation to any reasonable court.

- consumers like sizzle.  The iPad was sexy in a way that netbooks
  were not.  Many Android tablets are cheap-like-netbooks.  But there
  are decent Android tablets too.

  (My daughter has an LG 120 Netbook.  I recently played with it
  again: it was well made and didn't feel cheap.  And it has a
  1366x768 screen.  That made it expensive and it didn't sell well
  (so we got it on clearance).)

- Android is built on the Linux kernel but it isn't a Linux
  environment and the conventions of Android vis-a-vis privacy make my
  hair (singular) curl.
  (Standard Operating Procedure on Android is that every application
  and the system itself leak and sell your privacy.  On Linux,
  only Ubuntu's seach bar does that.  Of course web sites are bad
  but you kind of know that when you are asking to reach beyond
  your machine.  Windows 8 seems to have embrased this misfeature.)

- if my tablets ran Ubuntu or Fedora, they'd be much better
  replacements for my netbook.

- the Samsung Chromebook is probably a great replacement for a netbook
  (it can run Ubuntu or Fedora, I think).

- Ultrabooks are (intended to be) sexy and have a decent profit
  margin.  I won't buy one until they are cheaper.  From what I hear,
  Ultrabooks have failed in the market because too many feel like me.
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