Yes, Dave, Why Not?

Reader Dave Marley emailed his observations, noting that just about every other netbook review seems to include the phrase “while not appropriate as your only computer” and asked why not?

Dave himself is using an “elderly Toshiba laptop, running WinXP, with 512K memory, with an external HD for music, photos, and backups.”

And I have many blogger friends who are perfectly contented with their stock configured Asus Eee PCs, Cloudbook variants, MSI Winds, and other netbooks – not as secondary computers but as their ONLY computer. Important note: a lot of them bring their netbooks wherever they go.

So, yes, Dave, why not?

I think the problem is that just about every other netbook reviewer is not writing for or about the new breed of netbook users. They simply are not aware of the growing confluence of increasingly wider availability of WiFi hotspots, more Web2.0 features, and of course, cheaper, smaller, and lighter netbooks – and the resultant emerging paradigm shift in mobile user experience.

A netbook reviewer who does not discuss the actual user experience will invariably miss the point. Because that would imply the reviewer merely sees the netbook as a mere deviant iteration of the laptop form factor as technology improves. After all, the trend has always been to produce more powerful models while maintaining or even decreasing the price. E.g. for Intel CPUs – if you want to start from the original IBM PC – 8088 – 286 – 386 – 486 – Pentiums – Core Duo. RAM – 256K – 640K – 1MB - to the present 2 or even 4GB. Etc.

Obviously netbooks do not follow the pattern. They are not necessarily more powerful. They do not always use the latest processor. The screen does not necessarily have the highest resolution. They do not have a lot of memory either. Ergo – they are not meant to replace the previous model. They are meant to be supplemental devices. Secondary computers, if you will.

This is where a lot of reviewers miss the point. They conveniently forget that almost all netbooks integrate connectivity features – WiFi, Bluetooth, and even 3G. Why? Because as their names imply (NETbook, CLOUDbook), they are meant to be connected to the InterNET for Cloud-type usage.

With just about all offline mainstream functions (office applications, video streaming, drawing, photo albums, games) now available as on-line apps, that means the requisite computing power has been (partially) off-loaded to the sites. Which means a netbook does not need to have the most powerful CPU.

And if huge files are created, these can also be stored on-line, for free, courtesy of email services like Gmail. So hard drives are optional, too.

And of course, email, instant messaging, chatting are all on-line activities that are easily supported by netbooks. Which means a typical netbook should actually suffice as the primary and sole computer for most users. And given their size, weight, and relatively lower price, some users actually bring them around, anywhere they go, just as they do with their mobile phones.

So if the reviewers would only go around and ask users, then they wouldn’t miss the point. Better yet, if they actually use a netbook then they will see its point.