6 ms·

Chromebooks are netbooks and they seem to be doing just fine. To me they're a bastardization of what the concept what's supposed to be but that's beside the poi

Chromebooks are netbooks and they seem to be doing just fine. To me they're a bastardization of what the concept what's supposed to be but that's beside the point.

dhimes 11y ago
I thought they had a shitty hd? The netbook was awesome because it was a full-stack dev station that was wicked portable. It wasn't the best dev environment, but I could do whatever I needed- from mysql script updates to javascript to whatever else.
- digi_owl 11y ago
  And MS&Intel choked the life out of them because they threatened to undermine those expensive ultraportables.
  - scholia 11y ago
    No, they didn't. In fact, under OEM pressure, Microsoft foolishly prolonged their life by providing support for a next generation of netbooks with Windows 7 Starter. Fact is that that you could get a proper laptop for the same money as a netbook, and this was much better for users. Note that the original netbook (from Asus) had a 7in screen, and this was a substantial part of the cost saving. However, market forces drove bigger screens into the netbook market: 10in became the standard, and some had even larger screens. Prices went up to match. The netbook actually died because OEMs reduced laptop screen sizes from 13.3in (which used to be very popular) while retaining the extra RAM (2GB or 4GB) and the extra screen resolution (1366 x 768). At this point, many real laptops with 11.6in and 10.1in screens were cheaper than netbooks, so you had to be an idiot to buy a netbook. Or to manufacture one, which is why they disappeared from the market. This had nothing to do with Ultrabooks. Note that Ultrabook is an Intel trademark and Ultrabooks were also required to follow Intel's specification, which made them premium products. But every OEM was and is able to make whatever thin-and-light laptops they like, regardless of the Ultrabook spec.
    - digi_owl 11y ago
      Thing is that to get XP, and later 7 Starter, OEMs have to follow strict specs defined by MS. This then choked off any potential differences the OEMs could experiment with. Similar restrictions came out of Intel, iirc.
      - scholia 11y ago
        Yes, that was part of the deal. OEMs could choose to design whatever they liked, or choose to exploit a netbook/nettop design package that provided some discounts on Microsoft/Intel technologies. OEMs were not obliged to market netbooks. They did it because they thought they could make money that way.
    - douche 11y ago
      I loved my eeePC back in college - either a 700 or 701 running, I think, Xunbuntu. Perfect for taking notes in class, which a tablet, or even the Surface RT I have now, would be garbage for. Not bad for light hacking either. Still, that's a pretty small niche.
      - creshal 11y ago
        > Still, that's a pretty small niche. A niche that existed for years before and was filled by (slightly less useless) subnotebooks like the Macbook Air, or Thinkpad X series.
        douche 11y ago
        Still, I could buy 3-4 of my old eeePCs for the price of a Mac Air, and neither is really in the same form-factor. When you're working an $8/hour work-study job for your discretionary income, that price differential matters. The eee was also great for fitting on those comically tiny lecture hall chair-desk surfaces that a 10-13 inch laptop would swallow up, with room to spare for a honking big container of bad, strong coffee.
        11y ago
- zanny 11y ago
  I'd probably get a Chromebook with an SD card slot and get ~144GB out of that. Throw on Kubuntu and I'm good to go.

Chromebooks are netbooks and they seem to be doing just fine. To me they're a bastardization of what the concept what's supposed to be but that's beside the point.

dhimes 11y ago

I thought they had a shitty hd? The netbook was awesome because it was a full-stack dev station that was wicked portable. It wasn't the best dev environment, but I could do whatever I needed- from mysql script updates to javascript to whatever else.

digi_owl 11y ago
And MS&Intel choked the life out of them because they threatened to undermine those expensive ultraportables.
- scholia 11y ago
  No, they didn't. In fact, under OEM pressure, Microsoft foolishly prolonged their life by providing support for a next generation of netbooks with Windows 7 Starter. Fact is that that you could get a proper laptop for the same money as a netbook, and this was much better for users. Note that the original netbook (from Asus) had a 7in screen, and this was a substantial part of the cost saving. However, market forces drove bigger screens into the netbook market: 10in became the standard, and some had even larger screens. Prices went up to match. The netbook actually died because OEMs reduced laptop screen sizes from 13.3in (which used to be very popular) while retaining the extra RAM (2GB or 4GB) and the extra screen resolution (1366 x 768). At this point, many real laptops with 11.6in and 10.1in screens were cheaper than netbooks, so you had to be an idiot to buy a netbook. Or to manufacture one, which is why they disappeared from the market. This had nothing to do with Ultrabooks. Note that Ultrabook is an Intel trademark and Ultrabooks were also required to follow Intel's specification, which made them premium products. But every OEM was and is able to make whatever thin-and-light laptops they like, regardless of the Ultrabook spec.
  - digi_owl 11y ago
    Thing is that to get XP, and later 7 Starter, OEMs have to follow strict specs defined by MS. This then choked off any potential differences the OEMs could experiment with. Similar restrictions came out of Intel, iirc.
    - scholia 11y ago
      Yes, that was part of the deal. OEMs could choose to design whatever they liked, or choose to exploit a netbook/nettop design package that provided some discounts on Microsoft/Intel technologies. OEMs were not obliged to market netbooks. They did it because they thought they could make money that way.
  - douche 11y ago
    I loved my eeePC back in college - either a 700 or 701 running, I think, Xunbuntu. Perfect for taking notes in class, which a tablet, or even the Surface RT I have now, would be garbage for. Not bad for light hacking either. Still, that's a pretty small niche.
    - creshal 11y ago
      > Still, that's a pretty small niche. A niche that existed for years before and was filled by (slightly less useless) subnotebooks like the Macbook Air, or Thinkpad X series.
      - douche 11y ago
        Still, I could buy 3-4 of my old eeePCs for the price of a Mac Air, and neither is really in the same form-factor. When you're working an $8/hour work-study job for your discretionary income, that price differential matters. The eee was also great for fitting on those comically tiny lecture hall chair-desk surfaces that a 10-13 inch laptop would swallow up, with room to spare for a honking big container of bad, strong coffee.
        11y ago
zanny 11y ago
I'd probably get a Chromebook with an SD card slot and get ~144GB out of that. Throw on Kubuntu and I'm good to go.