NetBook
It is hard to give a general definition of netbook but the main theme of all the definitions are same given by different experts and professional. Netbook can be defined
A netbook is a class of laptop computer designed for wireless communication and access to the internet. (Intel.com: Thoughts on Netbooks)
A netbook is a new type of laptop computer, defined by size, price, horsepower, and operating system. They are small, cheap, underpowered, and run either an old or unfamiliar operating system. (Michael Horowitz)
The idea behind netbook was to make an ultra small laptop with enough computing power for a very low price. Physically netbooks may look like laptops but they really do not have full of a computer like laptops. Netbooks are particularly designed for web browsing, e-mailing and mobility purposes so you can stay connected wherever you are.
Most of the netbooks comes with Windows XP home edition or Linux installed in it, while Linux operating system is not very much familiar and user friendly for net surfing user of computer. They do not run XP professional, Vista or OS X. HP is the only computer vendor to offer Vista on a netbook. However, the price of that machine is so high that it is a debatable issue whether that machine comes into the category of netbook or not because netbooks are defined of their low price.
Microsoft has restricted windows vista to install on netbooks. To sustain in today’s competitive business world Microsoft is working on new operating system called Windows 7, reported CNET’s Ian Fried on October 24, 2008, and it will be an upcoming version of Windows on netbooks that will replace Windows vista.
When netbooks were introduce in 2007, no real sales were made and then in 2008 few other manufacturers showed there interest and offered netbooks and them netbooks became fastest growing segment in 2009. Netbooks upset the computer market with its introduction by Asus in the year 2008. People like it because of its very attractive features for general users. It is estimated that 70 % more sales were made in the year 2008 as compared to 2007.
Netbooks becomes very famous among the students and general computer users because of the following features
ü Low cost
ü Light weight
ü Wireless connectivity
ü Small keyboard
ü Small screen
ü Low powered
Computing technology is one of those sectors which have progressed a lot in recent 10 years or so and they have done it by taking innovation into account. Computing technology is still progressing very rapidly across the world. One of the very attractive and supportive parts of computing which will be very famous shortly is Cloud Computing.
Keeping in view the concept of Cloud Computing Netbooks is introduced in the market. The netbooks are targeted increasingly at cloud computing where user do not need full infrastructure, heavy software and hardware to run different applications. Keeping in view that concept of cloud computing different service providers are focusing on netbooks. For example, Google is working towards the new operating system called Android for the netbooks. It is expected that with the lunching of Android/Chrome from Google is going to make netbooks cheaper and more profitable in the PC market. Right now its only Asus whose going to adopt Android but experts are of the view that more vendors will adopt Android because it provides more profitability and it is cheaper.
A netbook is a class of laptop computer designed for wireless communication and access to the internet. (Intel.com: Thoughts on Netbooks)
A netbook is a new type of laptop computer, defined by size, price, horsepower, and operating system. They are small, cheap, underpowered, and run either an old or unfamiliar operating system. (Michael Horowitz)
The idea behind netbook was to make an ultra small laptop with enough computing power for a very low price. Physically netbooks may look like laptops but they really do not have full of a computer like laptops. Netbooks are particularly designed for web browsing, e-mailing and mobility purposes so you can stay connected wherever you are.
Most of the netbooks comes with Windows XP home edition or Linux installed in it, while Linux operating system is not very much familiar and user friendly for net surfing user of computer. They do not run XP professional, Vista or OS X. HP is the only computer vendor to offer Vista on a netbook. However, the price of that machine is so high that it is a debatable issue whether that machine comes into the category of netbook or not because netbooks are defined of their low price.
Microsoft has restricted windows vista to install on netbooks. To sustain in today’s competitive business world Microsoft is working on new operating system called Windows 7, reported CNET’s Ian Fried on October 24, 2008, and it will be an upcoming version of Windows on netbooks that will replace Windows vista.
When netbooks were introduce in 2007, no real sales were made and then in 2008 few other manufacturers showed there interest and offered netbooks and them netbooks became fastest growing segment in 2009. Netbooks upset the computer market with its introduction by Asus in the year 2008. People like it because of its very attractive features for general users. It is estimated that 70 % more sales were made in the year 2008 as compared to 2007.
Netbooks becomes very famous among the students and general computer users because of the following features
ü Low cost
ü Light weight
ü Wireless connectivity
ü Small keyboard
ü Small screen
ü Low powered
Computing technology is one of those sectors which have progressed a lot in recent 10 years or so and they have done it by taking innovation into account. Computing technology is still progressing very rapidly across the world. One of the very attractive and supportive parts of computing which will be very famous shortly is Cloud Computing.
Keeping in view the concept of Cloud Computing Netbooks is introduced in the market. The netbooks are targeted increasingly at cloud computing where user do not need full infrastructure, heavy software and hardware to run different applications. Keeping in view that concept of cloud computing different service providers are focusing on netbooks. For example, Google is working towards the new operating system called Android for the netbooks. It is expected that with the lunching of Android/Chrome from Google is going to make netbooks cheaper and more profitable in the PC market. Right now its only Asus whose going to adopt Android but experts are of the view that more vendors will adopt Android because it provides more profitability and it is cheaper.
Difference between Nettbooks and Laptops (http://hardware.silicon.com/desktops/0,39024645,39380096,00.htm)
Netbooks are cheaper, smaller, lighter, and low powered
A netbook is generally a low end machine made for word processing and web browsing
Netbooks come with Atom processors which are low powered and optimised for portable computers.
Limited to Windows XP home or Linux .
No optical Disk and normally low static storage but fast for data transferring. Some of new netbooks coming with 160GB storage space.
Netbooks does not come with PC card (PCMCIA) slot.
Laptops are expensive, large in size, heavy in weight and consume more power
Laptops are made to run bigger applications required by the professionals and organizations.
Laptops come with dual core processors which are of high power and design specially to run bigger applications
Can install Windows XP professional, Vista, Linux etc
All laptops have optical disk and can have customize storage as per requirement
Laptops come with PC card slot
Netbooks are cheaper, smaller, lighter, and low powered
A netbook is generally a low end machine made for word processing and web browsing
Netbooks come with Atom processors which are low powered and optimised for portable computers.
Limited to Windows XP home or Linux .
No optical Disk and normally low static storage but fast for data transferring. Some of new netbooks coming with 160GB storage space.
Netbooks does not come with PC card (PCMCIA) slot.
Laptops are expensive, large in size, heavy in weight and consume more power
Laptops are made to run bigger applications required by the professionals and organizations.
Laptops come with dual core processors which are of high power and design specially to run bigger applications
Can install Windows XP professional, Vista, Linux etc
All laptops have optical disk and can have customize storage as per requirement
Laptops come with PC card slot
Difference between Netbooks and PDA
Has larger screen, keyboard, and good colour resolution
Offer more memory
Consume more power
Need to load operating system and will take time before you can start working
Small screen, small keyboard, and low colour resolution
Has much less memory
Consume less Power
Need not to load operating system and can start working right away
http://ezinearticles.com/?Do-You-Know-The-Major-Differences-Between-Laptops-And-PDAs?&id=942172
http://www.pdastreet.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-10893.html
http://www.pdastreet.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-6942.html
Has larger screen, keyboard, and good colour resolution
Offer more memory
Consume more power
Need to load operating system and will take time before you can start working
Small screen, small keyboard, and low colour resolution
Has much less memory
Consume less Power
Need not to load operating system and can start working right away
http://ezinearticles.com/?Do-You-Know-The-Major-Differences-Between-Laptops-And-PDAs?&id=942172
http://www.pdastreet.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-10893.html
http://www.pdastreet.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-6942.html
Potential users of Netbook
The idea behind introducing netbooks was attracting general computer users and those professionals and students who like to keep connected all the time. Professionals may consider netbooks as their secondary computer because of some limitations of netbooks but eventually it helps them to keep updated of what is happening around the world every time. Because of low powered feature of netbooks more people buying it to keep them busy during their travel and spend leisure times in different meaningful activities over the computer.
For now, Netbooks are offering very attractive features with easy to carry, but still they will not be able even to run a large Excel book or multimedia-rich presentation. Moreover, existing netbooks cannot provide performance and functionality of notebooks at this time. Netbooks manufacturers will have to work on existing limitations of the netbooks to enrich the pool of potential user of netbooks.
According to ABI Research market research Company out of 1000 netbooks consumers only 11% of potential user would use netbooks as their primary computer, while a massive 79% consider netbooks as their secondary computer along with their laptop or desktop computers.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/mobile/display/20090204174344.html
Limitations of Netbooks
There is no doubt about the huge popularity of netbooks, being new technology in the PC market netbooks have some limitations towards its use for both professional and personal users. According to Dian Sofia, a general netbook user ‘I was very happy with the machine but staring at a small screen for a longer period of time; I realized my vision was a little wonky at the end of the day’. Moreover, being a professor if you wants to connect yours netbook with multimedia projector it doesn’t have VGA port to offer that facility. And then there’s the screen resolution problem after you hook it up 1028 x 600. Being a small is problem sometime when user has to play a lot with the web sites. User cannot see the whole page at once he has to scroll the page again and again. Netbooks can easily support web browsing and word processing but these machines are not very good to display videos and high-end graphics. Users have to keep USB or other mean of data transfer equipment to transfer their data into their netbooks because it does not have optical disk drive facility. Most of the existing models of netbooks come with 8GB or 16GB static memory which is not so very high but they offer very fast data transfer facilities. Single core processor limits netbooks to run heavy application smoothly, because of its low space and single core processor it does not support windows vista.
http://www.slaw.ca/2009/03/12/laptops-for-lawyers-netbooks-versus-laptops/ dian
Impact of netbook on organization
How will the netbook impact corporate sector depends on the use of the netbook in different organizations. They're merely for roving reference use; they should work fine as most librarians will need web-based access to the catalogue and any electronic resources. I personally wouldn't recommend that these machines be used to replace workstations. In an academic library a netbook may be of little utility since college students may have to use specialized software to do their homework. In a public library setting, netbooks may be a worthwhile investment depending on the type of computer services that your public library provides.
http://lisnews.org/buying_concerns_netbook_computers
one of the bigger issues using netbooks professionally is their security. It has been addressed time and again that netbooks are posing a problem to IT administrators due to their potential security risk. Netbooks do not have enough power to consume for the antivirus software installation. Some experts say netbooks' inability to run effective security could crimp future growth, scaring away lucrative corporate users who regularly deal with sensitive data. Corporate buyers now account for more than half of all PC sales
"For most companies, they'll still choose conventional laptops that allow them to run software that protects the information hidden inside it," said Eric Ashdown, senior director for security strategy and risk management at Accenture.
"If I'm somebody doing corporate IT work, I wouldn't be looking at netbooks as a viable option. I would need more security, which they can't offer right now." Ashdown
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/pcs/news/2009/03/reuters_us_pc_notebook_security
All the netbook computers are coming with Windows XP home or Linux, while Windows XP Professional is normally installed on laptops that are considered business class. The really only big difference between Pro and Home Windows is the ability to have the laptop join a domain. Microsoft believes that domains belong only in companies, and home networks should focus more on workgroup networking. Manufacturers have done this separation of products for years - avoiding their business class products bleeding into the consumer line. And last, netbooks are designed for consumer use and not business; manufacturers and Microsoft continue to push Vista for business
The idea behind introducing netbooks was attracting general computer users and those professionals and students who like to keep connected all the time. Professionals may consider netbooks as their secondary computer because of some limitations of netbooks but eventually it helps them to keep updated of what is happening around the world every time. Because of low powered feature of netbooks more people buying it to keep them busy during their travel and spend leisure times in different meaningful activities over the computer.
For now, Netbooks are offering very attractive features with easy to carry, but still they will not be able even to run a large Excel book or multimedia-rich presentation. Moreover, existing netbooks cannot provide performance and functionality of notebooks at this time. Netbooks manufacturers will have to work on existing limitations of the netbooks to enrich the pool of potential user of netbooks.
According to ABI Research market research Company out of 1000 netbooks consumers only 11% of potential user would use netbooks as their primary computer, while a massive 79% consider netbooks as their secondary computer along with their laptop or desktop computers.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/mobile/display/20090204174344.html
Limitations of Netbooks
There is no doubt about the huge popularity of netbooks, being new technology in the PC market netbooks have some limitations towards its use for both professional and personal users. According to Dian Sofia, a general netbook user ‘I was very happy with the machine but staring at a small screen for a longer period of time; I realized my vision was a little wonky at the end of the day’. Moreover, being a professor if you wants to connect yours netbook with multimedia projector it doesn’t have VGA port to offer that facility. And then there’s the screen resolution problem after you hook it up 1028 x 600. Being a small is problem sometime when user has to play a lot with the web sites. User cannot see the whole page at once he has to scroll the page again and again. Netbooks can easily support web browsing and word processing but these machines are not very good to display videos and high-end graphics. Users have to keep USB or other mean of data transfer equipment to transfer their data into their netbooks because it does not have optical disk drive facility. Most of the existing models of netbooks come with 8GB or 16GB static memory which is not so very high but they offer very fast data transfer facilities. Single core processor limits netbooks to run heavy application smoothly, because of its low space and single core processor it does not support windows vista.
http://www.slaw.ca/2009/03/12/laptops-for-lawyers-netbooks-versus-laptops/ dian
Impact of netbook on organization
How will the netbook impact corporate sector depends on the use of the netbook in different organizations. They're merely for roving reference use; they should work fine as most librarians will need web-based access to the catalogue and any electronic resources. I personally wouldn't recommend that these machines be used to replace workstations. In an academic library a netbook may be of little utility since college students may have to use specialized software to do their homework. In a public library setting, netbooks may be a worthwhile investment depending on the type of computer services that your public library provides.
http://lisnews.org/buying_concerns_netbook_computers
one of the bigger issues using netbooks professionally is their security. It has been addressed time and again that netbooks are posing a problem to IT administrators due to their potential security risk. Netbooks do not have enough power to consume for the antivirus software installation. Some experts say netbooks' inability to run effective security could crimp future growth, scaring away lucrative corporate users who regularly deal with sensitive data. Corporate buyers now account for more than half of all PC sales
"For most companies, they'll still choose conventional laptops that allow them to run software that protects the information hidden inside it," said Eric Ashdown, senior director for security strategy and risk management at Accenture.
"If I'm somebody doing corporate IT work, I wouldn't be looking at netbooks as a viable option. I would need more security, which they can't offer right now." Ashdown
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/pcs/news/2009/03/reuters_us_pc_notebook_security
All the netbook computers are coming with Windows XP home or Linux, while Windows XP Professional is normally installed on laptops that are considered business class. The really only big difference between Pro and Home Windows is the ability to have the laptop join a domain. Microsoft believes that domains belong only in companies, and home networks should focus more on workgroup networking. Manufacturers have done this separation of products for years - avoiding their business class products bleeding into the consumer line. And last, netbooks are designed for consumer use and not business; manufacturers and Microsoft continue to push Vista for business
Conclusion
Netbook for sure has revolutionized the face of modern computing by knowing and meeting the needs of general user. I believe the initial success of netbook is the result of its strategy to focus more on general users and considering netbook as a secondary machine for professionals. Even with imitations netbook has managed to upset the PC market with record selling in just two years time. Introduction of netbooks have definitely opened new horizons of portable computing. Netbooks have won bigger share of portable PC and PDA as well. It appears that these would be a perfect fit for education, however, failing to offer XP Professional hinders wide spread use for schools.
References
http://blogs.intel.com/technology/2008/03/thoughts_on_netbooks.php
(The Google OS Is Coming by Year's End, by steven J.Vaughhan-Nichols, March 9, 2009)
Netbook for sure has revolutionized the face of modern computing by knowing and meeting the needs of general user. I believe the initial success of netbook is the result of its strategy to focus more on general users and considering netbook as a secondary machine for professionals. Even with imitations netbook has managed to upset the PC market with record selling in just two years time. Introduction of netbooks have definitely opened new horizons of portable computing. Netbooks have won bigger share of portable PC and PDA as well. It appears that these would be a perfect fit for education, however, failing to offer XP Professional hinders wide spread use for schools.
References
http://blogs.intel.com/technology/2008/03/thoughts_on_netbooks.php
(The Google OS Is Coming by Year's End, by steven J.Vaughhan-Nichols, March 9, 2009)
