Netbook Era » Michael Arrington

Why Netbooks Are “Nasty Little Computers Stifling Progress”

Jay Bika — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:33:25 +0000

“Michael Arrington had a good old gripe about netbooks (Michael Arrington on Why Netbooks Just Aren’t Good Enough) – the tiny, low powered laptops that have been appearing by the dozen over the past 18 months. He came up with three reasons why they weren’t good enough for purpose, but we reckon that might be just be the tip of the iceberg.” - Ten reasons to hate netbooks

Why Intel and Michael Are Wrong on Netbooks

Jay Bika — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:52:23 +0000

- Arrington misses the point, Intel the plot

- What All This Fuss About Netbooks Is Really About

These two opinion pieces give their take on comments made by Intel executive (Intel Thinking Of Bailing Out of Netbooks) and Michael Arrington, editor of Techcrunch (Michael Arrington on Why Netbooks Just Aren’t Good Enough).

While they are right to disagree with the Intel representative, I think that they did not fully read Mr Arrington’s article. Check it out for yourself and then make up your mind.

Michael Arrington on Why Netbooks Just Aren’t Good Enough

Jay Bika — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 18:10:19 +0000

Techcrunch editor Michael Arrington writes: “I’ve had a chance to test many of the units, though, and I can say that the promise is much bigger than the payoff. ” Read more: Three Reasons Why Netbooks Just Aren’t Good Enough

He basically does not like the little horsepower, the small screen and the uncomfortable keyboards. Like I wrote before (Intel Thinking Of Bailing Out of Netbooks), netbook owners should be surveyed and asked how they use their ultra portable notebooks. I seriously doubt that they mind the compromise that comes with the price or size.

In other words, those who got a netbook for its very low price are not dumb and knew that there would be sacrifices to make in the computing experience. Those who bought it for its portability (size, weight and battery life) probably have a notebook or desktop at home and use a netbook as a laptop replacement.

Mr Arrington puts it well by writing: “The problem with Netbooks is they are trying to address two markets at once: emerging markets where price is very important, and developed markets where people want a second computer.

The emerging markets don’t care about size, they just want it at a low cost – so offer them something that’s bigger and works better at the same price (remember, bigger = cheaper for most computer parts except the screen). Developed markets don’t care about price as much as performance, and Netbooks cut too many corners.

Perhaps that’s why Netbook screens are starting to inch up to 10 and 11 inches. Which doesn’t really make them much different from normal laptops (and the prices are about the same).“