The tiny laptop trend

Netbooks: the Anti-High Tech Movement

In the single year since their arrival, the tiny, inexpensive laptops more commonly known as netbooks have taken a 7% bite out of the global laptop market. And that's just the beginning: Next year, they are expected to have a 12% share of the market. In particular, Europeans are ditching their traditional laptops and buying these tot-scaled computers; netbook sales in Europe are eight times higher than those in the States. 

Netbooks first entered the marketplace in a reverse fashion from that of the usual new technologies: Instead of starting off in the luxury market and slowly being mass-marketed as the technology grew more affordable, netbooks were originally conceived as a cheap way to distribute basic laptops to underprivileged children globally via the One Laptop per Child project. When the Taiwanese firm that produced One Laptop per Child computers started mass producing the slim machines with the expectations of marketing them to impoverished families, they were surprised by the rush of professionals buying them up. 

At its most basic, a netbook consists of a keyboard, a screen and a processor used primarily to connect to the Internet. They have an extremely minimal amount of memory and, for the most part, offer no software beyond a basic typing program. Their main function is to serve as a hub for online activity. So, instead of storing photos on a laptop, the user uploads them to Flickr, and instead of saving word documents to a desktop, they're kept in an email account. Giving easy access to daily Internet activities, a netbook can more feasibly be tossed in a bag than can a standard laptop computer. One of the most popular netbooks of the moment is the Acer Aspire One, which weighs just over two pounds and has a ten-inch screen. Currently, netbooks generally cost somewhere in the $300-$600 range. 

The growing popularity of netbooks is twofold: Some consumers are excited to own them as auxiliary gadgets that make computing while traveling easier (and without the worry of losing the precious and pricey main computer), while others are attracted to them as their primary computer. The latter group is increasingly coming to the conclusion that their computer needs are basic and that they never really needed all the "stuff" traditional computers offered in the first place. 

Considering that many 3G mobile carriers such as AT&T and Verizon are teaming up with netbook producers to offer them at huge discounts as long as buyers sign up for a two-year plan (much like the iPhone), it seems likely that netbooks will grow in popularity. Even Apple, who originally had no plans of producing a netbook, is now rumored to be experimenting with a 10-inch touchscreen version. Whether they will serve as most people's primary PC or just something extra that makes business travel a little easier, we will have to wait and see.

-Via Trendcentral