Is Cloud Computing Driving Us Toward Small Netbook Computers, or Vice Versa?
by Anita Campbell
This holiday season everybody seems to be talking about netbooks — the new small notebook-type computers designed primarily for Internet applications, without a lot of software loaded on the hard drive. As Zoli Erdos writes:
Hardly a day goes by without another new Netbook announcement, at lower and lower prices. The first baby eee PC by ASUS was toy-like … but the current crop are quite usable mobile computing devices.
These new Netbooks are flying off the shelf, so much so that sometimes you wonder if manufacturers rush to re-label their notebooks to netbooks, just to ride the wave. Whereas the first model had a puny 7” screen, the current standard is a minimumof 8.9, but 10” is becoming widely available, and when Dell recently announced their Inspiron Mini 12, ZDNet’s Larry Dignan rightfully noted that the netbook-notebook-laptop lines have just become blurry.
Despite not being an early adopter, I have to say that the prospect of traveling with a netbook is so enticing that I’ve started looking into one, such as the HP Mini (pictured).
Right now I have a 7 pound Dell laptop that has been with me on many many trips and feels like an old friend. But it also feels like a 50-pound sack of potatoes by the time I get from my car to the gate at the airport.
In the past I used a wheelie laptop bag for long trips — great for my shoulders. But these days, with checked-bag fees, on-plane storage space is scarcer than icicles in the Sahara. A small netbook looks more enticing with each passing day.
To use one of these small stripped-down computers, I am going to have to rearrange how I work. For instance, online file storage will be crucial, so that I can access documents while on the road. It’s also accelerating my evaluation of Google Apps for Business for my email. It’s much more convenient to get at GMail on the road than to have to remotely log in to my office server to check my Outlook.
I think the desire to travel light will drive us toward these mini-computers or netbooks. And once we buy into the convenience factor of these small machines, it will accelerate our uptake of cloud applications — out of necessity.
Thought...
