PC are becoming netbooks
PCS ARE MORPHING into netbooks, according to the Associated Press after consulting the season's computer trends.
Laptops are changing, getting lighter, losing their CD drives and gaining touchscreens says the AP's guru in Seattle. Of course the report mentions a certain fruit-obsessed gadget maker, which it sees as responsible for the current trends, but let's look into the changing face of the PC a bit more practically.
Trend number one is that the gurus at AP have noticed that we no longer need CDs or DVDs, unless we're installing new software, watching movies or transferring music libraries into digital form. But is this such a new trend? Isn't this more a trend created by more people watching films and programmes online? Or saving to USB memory stick or a secure place online? This appears to be more about the evolution of the web than about whether Steve Jobs' minions approve of it or not.
Taking out the optical drive doesn't significantly lower prices. But the obvious downside of watching DVDs on netbooks is that you'll be squinting at a tiny screen and that's only if it has the power to stream it.
Perhaps the loss of the optical drive links more to trend number two identified by the AP, which is that we all suddenly like things thinner and lighter. "Thin and light is sort of the new black," says Forrester Research analyst Paul Jackson, knowingly. Apparently people want their PCs to be more portable so they can take them to the trendy coffee store, the AP suggests.
Perhaps this is because more and more people are working in more than one location. And anyway mobile phones have been getting thinner and lighter for years, as have PCs. Surely this is nothing new, and certainly nothing that we can credit to a certain blackshirted mob of fanboys.
Trend number three is that we all want things to be multi-touch. Now here, yes there was the Iphone, but Apple, despite its multi-touch trackpads and mouses, says it isn't interested in making a touchscreen Mac. Apple's chief operating officer Tim Cook calls the touchscreen "a gimmick".
Windows 7 includes support for multi-touch applications, making some basic touch commands work even on programs that weren't designed for it. There has also been, of course, the possibly backbreaking Microsoft Surface.
Touchscreens are a natural interface for a mobile, but on a PC they are frequently more of hindrance than useful, particularly in a normal desktop environment when poking at a near vertical screen with outstretched arms is going to get really old, really fast. µ
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People today want a PC that's to live in a secure location (their home) and basically do low power functions like file serving and online banking. They want low power and low cost. Netbooks fit that model so now it's time to take that concept to the PC and while keeping in mind, cheaper is better. Low initial cost and low operating costs is where it's at. Computers should be a commodity at this point, not an investment.
I have a netbook and love it. I read ebooks Internet and other junk, but I will never spend more than $350. for one.
My notebook must be powerful, lots of ram AND a cd-dvd burner. How thin it it is not very important. Notebooks are getting thinner by nature anyway. When I see a $2,000 1.6 2gb ram and no cd drive I have to laugh. Why spend a small fortune for something a little more powerful than a netbook? The big point is not if companys are making them but is if people are buying them.
Im sure some will but I never will.
I think only the idea of thin (and big profits for the oem) is in.
I failed to mention I will NEVER but a laptop with a non-removable battery either. The risk of something going wrong and staring a fire is way to high and I wish the U.S. government would a law forbidding it. Oem profits over safety is not a good idea.True the risk of fire is not great but there have been 2 times when something weird happened over the years and being able to unplug the ac adapter and pull the battery saved my laptop and my pocket book.
The Vole has got it the wrong way up. Ballmer put multi-touch on Windows for PCs (which is not needed), and has no multi-touch on Windows Mobile for phones, which is desperately needed. Yes, I know some Taiwanese handset makers managed to bolt on multi-touch to the front screen of Windows Mobile, but it doesn't work at an OS level.
So the handset buying public have deserted Windows Mobile, as have software developers, because it doesn't have multi-touch. Everyone's now buying Android and iPhone instead, which both have multi-touch throughout.
It's kind of bizarre that Microsoft assigned scores of software engineers to get multi-touch working on Windows 7 desktops, while leaving Windows Mobile to neglect and ruin.
Touchscreens are great, they're easier to use, but it doesn't matter how often we wash our hands, they get greasy. This is a good thing, it shows us we are not dead, but looks bad on screen.
I personally make a huge efford to not touch LCD screens, as they get greasy so easily and they are so hard to get spotless clean.
Unless they come up with a grease repellant technology, I guess won't buy touchscreen monitors.
Do what I did, buy some lard (pig fat is very close to human fat) and coat the screen good. Let it sit for maybe twenty minutes in a warm and then wipe it off with a dry, soft lint free cloth.
You screen will be evenly pre-coated and all your worries over greasy LCD screens just go away.
Or if you wish to have aroma computing, fry some bacon and use the drippings. But be aware that attracts dogs and rednecks.
Just at Walmart tonight, I saw an HP Laptop with a 13 inch screen and no CD/DVD drive. The case and LCD are made of aluminum and it's quite attractive, with Windows 7 Home premium at $489. I guess you could say that it was a large screen net book. I'm not giving up my full sized XP notebook with 2 DVD/CDRW drives any time soon though, because it still works quite well, thanks. If I was looking for a new notebook or Netbook, this is likely the direction I'd go in.