NetbookTech

It’s been interesting to see the public and media reaction to Andy Tung’s statements earlier in the week about how return rates were four times higher for MSI Wind netbooks running Linux vs netbooks running Windows. Yes – definitely fuel for good debates and of course, good flame wars. Here are some of my own thoughts and impressions about all of this. If you agree or disagree – awesome – I’d love to hear your thoughts!

So first off – remember NOT to generalize this. These are statistics coming from a single vendor for a single flavor of Linux with a limited distribution channel. Don’t start applying this statistic across the board to all vendors. We have absolutely no idea how Linux is selling for other vendors so please don’t start generalizing this as being a problem with Linux netbooks across the board.

Secondly, these are statistics.. and the problem with statistics is – it’s easy to come up with conclusions without taking a deeper look at the data. Case in point – sure the return rates are higher for Linux vs. Windows… but has MSI considered where these netbooks are being purchased from? Are the majority of the sales coming from places like Amazon.com? Or are they coming from places like Newegg.com or mwave.com? I’m willing to bet that the average consumer shopping at Newegg is perhaps a bit more technically savvy than the average consumer at Amazon.com.

Thirdly.. how is the netbook being marketed? Do consumers realize they are getting a netbook system with Linux? If so, is it perhaps the flavor of Linux being distributed with the netbook that’s the problem? What exactly are the problems people are witnessing? Are there not enough bundled applications for the netbook to make it useful out of the box? Are return rates different for different aged groups? Do older consumers return the netbook more often than younger consumers? 

The question of how the netbook is being sold is certainly an interesting one. Consider the way Dell sells the Inspiron Mini 9. With the direct sales approach, consumers get the chance to pick what components go into the Mini netbook. When you’re choosing the best model for your needs, it’s very apparent that you’re either choosing between Ubuntu Linux or Windows XP Home.

Now look at how MSI Wind is sold on Amazon.com. The fact that the system runs Windows XP vs Linux is buried in the title of the system. This is a sample title for one such MSI Wind netbook “MSI Wind 10″ Mini Laptop (1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor, 512 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, Linux Novell SUSE, 3 Cell Battery) White”. For the casual consumer, it’s easy to overlook the Linux mention in the product. They see a system that’s pretty darn cheap – that’s what they’re seeing! They then receive the netbook in the mail, start it up and find an OS they’re not familiar with. Guess what- RETURN!

So.. is this a failure of Linux? No of course not. In many ways, it’s a failure of marketing and education. 1) Consumers are often not realizing they are purchasing a Linux based netbook and if they are, 2) they don’t realize that Linux is indeed a viable alternative to Windows. 

The educational piece is perhaps the most important part of it all. Consumers need to know that they can probably get almost all of their work done on Linux as they could on Windows. The same marketing campaign that Apple does with the Mac and OS X is in fact what Linux needs for the average consumer. This is why Apple succeeds in selling more and more Apple systems.. consumer education through savvy commercials and advertising.

Thus I repeat – this is NOT a failure of the Linux OS as much as it is about marketing and education. However the Linux community shouldn’t be completely left off the hook here.  If they (and “they” here means developers, hardware manufacturers, anyone out there who wants Linux to succeed) want the consumer world to accept Linux as an alternative to Windows, they need to make it far more friendly to the average consumer. Take a look at Apple and see what they’ve done with OS X. A pretty sweet and powerful OS yet simple enough to use for the average user. Linux is getting there with flavors like Ubuntu but it’s NOT there yet.  Thus the Linux community needs to see this as an opportunity to reach out to average consumers and say – “Hey everything you do on Windows, you can do on Linux, except it’s for free. It’s just as easy to do this on Linux”. Perhaps it’s mostly education than additional software development.. but there’s clearly something that needs to be done.

With that said, I think it’s great that manufacturers are bundling Linux with netbook systems. I don’t think you’ll see this option go away – especially as long as Microsoft continues charging for Windows XP Home or Windows Vista. For the ultimate power users out there, the best alternative would be a hardware purchase only – no software installed on the netbook. Take this a step further by truly passing the cost onto the consumer. Bundle both Windows and Linux install DVDs and then have the consumer pay Microsoft directly if they want to unlock Windows on their netbook. THEN perhaps consumers will begin to see the “costs” of running Windows vs. Linux.. and for those that still want Windows.. well then they want it (the same goes for Linux).

Just my 2 cents of course…

Here’s a list of other articles about this story…

• “What’s wrong with Linux netbooks?” – InternetNews.com
• “Bad marketing undermines Linux netbooks” – Tectonic
• “Have consumers spoken and said: “Linux sux”? – iTWire
• “Linux Netbook Returns: Not Surprising but likely Avoidable” – OStatic
• “Linux ready to replace Windows? Not yet..” – ZDNet
• “Linux netbook returns higher?” – eWeek
• “Consumers might not be ready for Linux netbooks, but we are” – ZDNet