NetbookTech

Hello and welcome to NetbookTech – a new online blog and forum dedicated to following the wonderful world of netbook computers. Our goal with NetbookTech is as follows:

• Provide the latest news and product announcements regarding netbooks
• Provide a convenient means for netbook users to meet and interact with one another
• Provide a place where tips and tricks can be shared with one another
• Be a central hub for literally everything related to netbook technology

Now with that said, it’s probably a good idea to discuss what the heck a netbook is (for those of you new to the lingo).

The term “netbook” was originally conceived of by a company called Psion back in 1999 (thanks to Wikipedia for this info). The term was originally used to define a small form factor laptop-like design which resulted in the Psion netbook. Years later.. (actually earlier this year), Intel decided to re-introduce the term to define a new class of sub-notebooks or ultra-portable notebooks with common properties such as:

• Small form factor
• Low cost
• Light weight
• Runs a standard desktop OS such as Windows or Linux

According to the Technology@Intel blog, netbooks “are small laptops that are designed for wireless communication and access to the Internet.”

In many ways, the recent success of netbooks owes itself to projects such as the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project and the Intel Classmate PC project. These projects showed the rest of the world that small inexpensive laptops could indeed be made to run operating systems such as Windows XP or Linux with decent enough performance.

Yet if it were simply these products, then the netbook market would probably never have taken off. What really sparked the market was the introduction of the ASUS Eee PC. The original Eee PC had a 7 inch display, a small solid state drive, and a low price point. More importantly, the system was capable of running a Linux variant which meant computer enthusiasts from all over jumped on the system. The Eee PC became an overnight sensation and PC companies all over realized that ASUS was onto something.

Now, as we enter into the fall of 2008, we’re seeing more and more vendors enter the netbook market – proving that inexpensive lightweight notebooks with just enough power could indeed be manufactured and made successful.

While netbooks were originally conceived of for use by children, the truth is, netbooks are an attractive option for a wide range of consumers. Who wouldn’t want a small lightweight Internet connected notebook capable of running web browsers, email applications, and typical Office productivity applications? Thus, netbooks have become popular with mobile professionals, students, folks looking for a secondary computer, children, parents, you name it. They’re small and lightweight which means they’re easy to bring with you wherever you are. If all you do on a notebook is read and write email, then there’s really no reason you shouldn’t be carrying a netbook instead!

As you can see, netbooks utterly rock.

So with that said, welcome to NetbookTech and we truly hope you’ll enjoy the site. Oh yes.. please excuse the look and feel of the site – I’m working on a new site design but I found no reason to not begin posting articles! Enjoy!!!!