Netbooks doomed to oblivion by 2015; do you care?

[MoodyBlues]

It looks like netbooks are about to go the way of the dinosaurs. Personally, I don't care one way or the other. I never got around to buying one, nor have I missed having one. (I don't have a tablet, either.)

So, will you be sad to see their demise?

Netbooks doomed to oblivion by 2015, report says

Netbooks doomed to oblivion by 2015, report says

By Chris O'Brien

9:55 AM PDT, April 12, 2013

Looks like the iPad is about to cause another casualty. The latest victim: Netbooks.

You remember those small, cuddly laptops launched just a few years ago, with lower power, less functionality and lower prices to match. They were kind of computing 'tweeners designed to fill the perceived gap between big, honkin' laptops and the new, gee-whiz smartphones.

That was fine, for about a minute, according to a report from IHS iSuppli. Then along came the iPad in 2010, and that, as they say, was that.

According to the report, shipments of netbooks in 2013 will be mere 3.97 million, a nosedive of 72% from the 14.13 million shipped last year. That's a long way down from the 32.14 million netbooks shipped in 2010, the peak for a product introduced in 2007.

Wile E. Coyote couldn't survived a fall off a cliff that steep, and neither will netbooks, according to iSuppli.

The firm projects that in 2014, there will be 264,000 netbooks shipped. And by 2015: Zero. Zip. Nada.

"Netbooks shot to popularity immediately after launch because they were optimized for low cost, delivering what many consumers believed as acceptable computer performance," said Craig Stice, senior principal analyst for computer platforms at IHS in the report. "However, netbooks began their descent to oblivion with the introduction in 2010 of Apple’s iPad."

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[dontpanicbobby]

I bought one of the first. Crashed it with not enough memory to run anything and never bothered to try to fix it. I was trying to use it as a full fledged laptop and that just wasn't happening. The netbook did what the tablet does now. I haven't gotten a tablet yet but that has more to do with my financial circumstances than what I think they are useful for. Which is not a laptop replacement.

 

[MoodyBlues]

I haven't gotten a tablet yet but that has more to do with my financial circumstances than what I think they are useful for. Which is not a laptop replacement.

I use a laptop all the time, and I don't see that changing any time soon. I LIKE having a real keyboard! My current laptop is so wide that its keyboard is easily as large as a standard desktop keyboard--so I never even use any of my desktops.

I wanted a tablet when they first came out, but kept hesitating, thinking I'd wait until the prices went down...then realized I really don't care! Without a real keyboard, it'd be nothing more than a fancy toy for playing games and listening to music.

 

[general eclect]

I've never had a desire to own one, when my last PC died I bought a fairly cheap laptop (which was more powerful than the PC that was four years old) and when that proved to unequal to the task of editing video after I bought my Nikon I bought a better laptop. The older lappie stays at home and the newer one goes with me wherever I go...




...When ultrabooks get cheaper I'll probably buy one of those.

 

[MoodyBlues]

I've never had a desire to own one, when my last PC died I bought a fairly cheap laptop (which was more powerful than the PC that was four years old) and when that proved to unequal to the task of editing video after I bought my Nikon I bought a better laptop.

What kind of Nikon? I'm a Nikon person myself--I have a D40 and a D5100.

 

[ScandaLeX]

Nope....I won't miss the netbook. I bought the Samsung NC10 (back when white became available) and can count the # of times I actually used it. I still have it though. Let the kids play on it.

 

[dontpanicbobby]

I use a laptop all the time, and I don't see that changing any time soon. I LIKE having a real keyboard! My current laptop is so wide that its keyboard is easily as large as a standard desktop keyboard--so I never even use any of my desktops. SNIP

Been there, done that. Unfortunately it was the HP behemoth that was plagued with the blanking out screen issue. Never got that fixed either. It was just to big to carry around.

I wanted a tablet when they first came out, but kept hesitating, thinking I'd wait until the prices went down...then realized I really don't care! Without a real keyboard, it'd be nothing more than a fancy toy for playing games and listening to music.

That's it exactly! That's why I would rather have an Android tablet than a netbook. An Android tablet is much better for playing games, watching movies on the tablet or transfering them to the TV, and a bunch of other fun stuff that a netbook was just to cumbersome to handle. In short I won't miss the little buggers at all.

 

[general eclect]

What kind of Nikon? I'm a Nikon person myself--I have a D40 and a D5100.

D7000, 18-55 zoom, 55-200 zoom and 85 macro.

When I'm shooting video of bands, because the on board mic is shite (and mono) I use a Zoom H4n recorder as external mic. Even then I sometimes get some distortion if the band's particularly loud or if I'm close to the PA so I then edit the camera's soundtrack out and replace it with the recording from the Zoom.

My yootoob page: bluepov's channel - YouTube

 

[saptech]

I had an Acer Aspire One with the 8.9" screen, around '09 and it wasn't too bad until the newness wore off. By 2010, I wasn't really using it much. The one factor was the small screen for these old eyes. I ended up giving it to one of the grandson this past Christmas.

I also got my first tablet this past September and actually like using it much more then the netbook. I can handle it with one hand while I type and move it closer to read the screen much easier then the NB.

Now I wouldn't mind getting an Ultrabook or a nice laptop with maybe a 15" screen. It would be nice to use at home when I don't want to use the desktop.

 

[mikedt]

TBH the first generation of netbooks were pretty crap things. The first ones usually came with horrible off-brand versions of Linux, which was awful, Linpus anyone? Then Windows XP, and that wasn't particularly good either, given the limited RAM and slow CPUs.

Although I actually bought a modern netbook type PC last year, which IMO is actually a good machine. A Lenovo S110, 2GB RAM, dual core CPU, and a decent sized HDD, running Linux Mint. Because I liked the size and lack of bulk for putting in my bag and carrying it around for work and travel. A regular laptop would be OK, but it would be more bulky and heavy. And a tablet wouldn't be suitable for my particular needs.

Netbooks used to be very popular with backpackers and travellers, especially those staying in hostels in Hong Kong. But these days many of them are using iPads and Android tablets. Usually they only want to play Facebook, and maybe do Skype and email as well. No serious productivity stuff.

 

[Speed Daemon]

I don't care. It would be one thing if it was a "famous flop" like Thomas J. Watson's prediction that the entire world market for IBM computers would be 5. But since the "report" is just shameless iHype, it's worth ignoring completely.

 

[breadnatty08]

I bought an HP when my desktop crapped out since I really didn't have the cash for a decent laptop (or desktop). It was okay, ran XP. But, really slowed to a crawl.
Now, you can get a full fledged laptop for not a whole lot more. Also, at $250, my Chromebook does nearly everything I need to.

 

[SiempreTuna]

Nope.

For the minute, I justify a fully fledged laptop by claiming I'll use it to run work-related things like Orifice (which I don't) and for the odd bit of gaming (which I do).

Ironically, by 2015 those very thin justifications will almost certainly have lost their current, ever so tiny remaining element of credibility and consequently, a netbook might have been viable.

By then though, I guess I will also have - very, very reluctantly - come around to the view that I don't actually need a home PC at all and could quite easily manage everything I actually do at home with a tablet.

 

[ardchoille]

It looks like netbooks are about to go the way of the dinosaurs. Personally, I don't care one way or the other. I never got around to buying one, nor have I missed having one. (I don't have a tablet, either.)

So, will you be sad to see their demise?

Netbooks doomed to oblivion by 2015, report says

When I'm traveling, I don't see those big honkin' laptops, as the article put it. What I see are netbooks.. the exact kind that the article says are doomed. This article strikes me as one that isn't reporting about what is happening, rather it's trying to steer the public to make it happen.

My last three "desktop" computers have been netbooks because they're portable. As far as I know, you can't install full desktop apps like Photoshop on an iPad or an android tablet and, until that is possible, netbooks aren't going to die off.

 

[SiempreTuna]

I guess it depends on your definition of Netbook: my missus has a MacBook Air for work, mostly because it's size and weight are great for when she travels. The Air could never be called honkin', but I would also never call it netbook.

For me, a netbook is something pretty low-end that's basically only capable of running a browser and maybe a media player. The sort of thing you get in a 13" chasis these days will run pretty much anything short of high end games or CAD/CAM.

 

[mikedt]

There is a sort of new generation of "netbooks", they're called Chromebooks. Just designed to do "net", and do it well.

 

[SiempreTuna]

There is a sort of new generation of "netbooks", they're called Chromebooks. Just designed to do "net", and do it well.

They fit my definition perfectly, though the price (think: that new $1,200 Chromebook) might not

 

[LeoRexus]

Well, I think the way it is going is smaller tablets and larger ultrabooks with touchscreens and removable keyboards, basically a huge, fast tablet with a good keyboard 'dock'. Everything else is going to fade away. The Chromebook is a tough call, but even those might end up being more like a surface pro than a traditional laptop in the end...

 

[ardchoille]

There is a sort of new generation of "netbooks", they're called Chromebooks. Just designed to do "net", and do it well.

I have a Samsung Chromebook and I love it because:
* It boots in 7 seconds
* Factory reset involves one click and takes 2 minutes
* Apps, extensions and bookmarks are automatically synchronized
* Updating the system requires nothing more than a reboot
* It can run a full Linux distribution
* It can do anything I need to do online

You actually spend less time maintaining a Chromebook and more time enjoying it.. and that's why I feel they will gain popularity.

They fit my definition perfectly, though the price (think: that new $1,200 Chromebook) might not

Typical Chromebooks are from $200 to $300. That $1,299 Chromebook is the Pixel.. it's a high-end Chromebook with a touch screen and backlit keyboard.

 

[Scootmien]

I have an Asus EEE netbook running on Linux. I mainly use it for watching movies from a portable USB HDD when I go away. It's cock all good for anything else, to be honest.

 

[saptech]

TBH the first generation of netbooks were pretty crap things. The first ones usually came with horrible off-brand versions of Linux, which was awful, Linpus anyone? Then Windows XP, and that wasn't particularly good either, given the limited RAM and slow CPUs.

I believe putting the wrong version of Linux on netbooks when they first appeared was one of its downfall. Why would they put some crappy version of Linux on them instead of contracting with Fedora, OpenSuse, Debian or even Ubuntu. I believe they would have prospered much better. Using those off brand versions helped Microsoft to gain traction with XP on netbooks instead and made Linux look bad. Conspiracy anyone?

I installed first Mandriva and then switched to Mageia and didn't have any issues. It also dual booted with XP and Mageia ran much better then XP on mine.

 

[MoodyBlues]

The laptop I use ALL the time is an HP dv7t (running Kubuntu Linux), which has a 17" screen and a full-sized keyboard. It is NOT heavy or bulky at all, and on the very rare occasions when I need to take it somewhere, it's definitely not a big deal. It has completely replaced my need/desire to use any of my desktops; they're now relegated to being used for backups over my network.

For me, a tablet seems like an annoying, cumbersome toy. I'm correct, aren't I, that they don't have physical keyboards? With all the typing I do, I just can't imagine adjusting to the slowness that would go along with doing that on a touchscreen vs a real keyboard. I type FAST. Slowing down to a crawl wouldn't work for me.

 

[saptech]

I had bought the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 Student Edition, which came with a keyboard & USB adapter. You can also buy a keyboard to use with tablets also, USB or Bluetooth models.

I'm not saying it can take the place of a laptop but it can be just as convenient as one.

 

[MoodyBlues]

I had bought the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 Student Edition, which came with a keyboard & USB adapter. You can also buy a keyboard to use with tablets also, USB or Bluetooth models.

Thanks for that info.

I'm not saying it can take the place of a laptop but it can be just as convenient as one.

Hmmmm...I don't know about that. I mean, if you have to lug around a keyboard PLUS the device, how convenient is that really? I'd rather have everything in one place!

 

[argedion]

umm well wait for it


wait for it


wait for it

Spoiler

NO