End-of-Year Thoughts and Resources on Netbooks

by Sam Dean - Dec. 10, 2008Comments (1)

As 2008 approaches its curtain call, one of the biggest tech surprises to record for the year has to be netbooks--lightweight, small and inexpensive portable computers. Many of these are Linux-based, such as the Asus Eee PC that I bought near the beginning of the year (I'm kicking myself for not waiting a few months for the version with the larger display, but I still like it). Ever since Asus made its mark early in the year with the Eee PCs, other players have jumped into the fast-growing market. In fact, Acer's Aspire One netbooks, which feature larger keyboards than Asus', outsold the Eee PCs last quarter. If you are looking into getting a netbook, here are some thoughts and some good links to previous coverage.

Netbooks are outselling the iPhone. As JKOntheRun reports, Gartner's sales numbers for Apple's iPhone in the third quarter came in at 4.7 million iPhones shipped, while DisplaySearch reports that 5.6 million netbooks sold in the third quarter. I'm not surprised by this performance, and we predicted big things ahead for netbooks earlier this year. Part of the success of these machines comes from the fact that we live in cost-conscious times, but it's also just plain good news for open source that many of them ship with Linux and come stocked with bushels of open source applications.

How can you get the most out of a netbook? One of the limitations of netbooks is that they come in at low prices by limiting some local hardware resources. For that reason, it makes a lot of sense to optimize the applications you use on these systems, and lightweight open source applications are often good choices. For recommendations on which applications can make the biggest difference, check this post I did on GigaOm. You'll find the applications there to deliver lots of productivity benefits without breaking the hardware resource bank.

What factors should you consider before buying a netbook? I highly recommend this post from James Kendrick about what to consider when you shop for a netbook. The displays, the keyboards and many other factors vary widely across manufacturers.

Evaluate the operating systems. The operating system you get on a netbook can make a big difference in how useful your system is to you. There are many flavors of Linux on various netbooks, and there are also operating systems being designed specifically for netbooks. gOS, famous as the Linux-based operating system on Everex systems sold at Wal-Mart, has been optimized for netbooks. There are also new flavors of Linux in the works specifically aimed at netbooks. One of these is Jolicloud, a version of Linux being customized for netbooks and cloud applications. Former Netvibes CEO Tariq Krim is behind the effort.

Personal impressions. I've used my Asus Eee PC since early this year, and my impression is that it doesn't work as my primary portable computer, but for mobile writing tasks where I don't want to be weighed down, and as an extra web-connected system on the Wi-Fi network in my house, it's great. Asus has several new netbooks planned for next year, including one expected to be priced at around $200. The competition will be worth watching.