Netbooks Were A GOOD Thing And We Threw Them Under A Bus – Opinion
The Register’s Trevor Pott says the impending end of netbook production triggered a moment of introspection, noting that he loves his Asus Transformer, calling it the nearly perfect device. His only arguments with it lie with “the crap Google keyboard” (he needs one with delete and backspace keys), that multitasking requires a series of workarounds, and a lack of a workable WIMP ( Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointer — typical desktop mouse-driven software, not swipe and smear touchscreen stuff) office package.
Pott thinks Google could make Android a serious contender as a “good enough” netbook OS in a very short timeframe, but won’t because it views Android as its touch-based consumptive tablet and phone OS, and ChromeOS as the desktop replacement, and that Microsoft has little interest in meeting the needs of people using computers on the go. Instead, he says, we get this enormous, bloated operating system that takes up way too much space and consumes too much power, without getting into the ridiculous farce that is the Metro user interface.
The death of the “good enough” computer represented by the netbook disturbs Pott, who says he doesn’t need anything more powerful than an Atom or modern ARM processor for the system he’s hauling around. What he wants is a multitasking operating system (Mint, preferably) with a passable WIMP office package, installed and supported – by a computer manufacturer on a device with 12 hours of real-world battery life and a 10″ to 13″ screen.
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