Does the iPad kill the netbook?

Some guy called Joel Johnson reckons that Apple Just Tried To Assassinate Laptops. The proposed formula has that faintly absurd but strangely convincing Cupertino formula: ask why most consumers buy them, then aim at that restricted set of needs without much regard to what tech fans consider important. Adam Frucci thinks he's nuts. [Gizmodo]

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mortis

It reminds me of those over-sized remotes…so basically, it’s an iPhone for my parents.

^m^
Zac

My two cents: As someone who uses a desktop primarily and an aging laptop on the go, I have been looking at netbooks for when my laptop bites the dust.

Now I know what I’m getting, an iPad. With the keyboard accessory it can totally replace laptops (as a second computer) and it will be much more comfortable to use for 90% of what I use my laptop for, and not bad for the other 10%.

Is it a perfect product? No. Will it sell like hotcakes? Yes, absolutely.
Anonymous

This WILL NOT be a great e-book reader. Backlit LCD screens make the eyes bleed when trying to read for the length of time people read novels and in the sun these screens are horrible.

E-ink is far superior and thats who Kindle, Nook and Sony uses it
- Anonymous
  
  im reading this article on my LCD monitor and egad my eyes are bleeding!
arkizzle / Moderator

anon21

I read ebooks on my Touch all the time, and did on my laptop before that. The only problem with the laptop, for me, was the big lump of keyboard between me and the screen, for reading in bed etc. This totally solves that.

You do hear the backlit-screen = burst-eye thing a lot, and for some people it certainly seems to be an issue. But more and more people are finding that it isn’t an issue for them, at all.
paulj

Recently my wife and I took a road trip, and she took her iPhone, but not her notebook. She connected to local wifi hotspots whenever she could, but by the end of the trip she said it would be cool to have something like the iPhone for web surfing, but bigger. That’s the market Apple aimed at, and maybe they got it right.
jetfx

Does anyone else find it terrifyingly ironic that Jobs is sitting in Le Corbusier’s chair? Can you say totalitarian architecture?

http://www.fondationlecorbusier.asso.fr/fondationlc_us.htm
- dougrogers
  
  “Bring out the Comfy Chair!”
  
  Maybe Le Corbusier accidentally made something… comfortable?
  - zio_donnie
    
    Le Corbusier accidentally made something that is considered cool looking and thus expensive making it a perfect fit for the presentation of a new shiny “artsy” gadget.
    
    i am pretty sure that Jobs would make himself comfortable on a bed of nails if fakirs where considered designer icons.
MasterSauce

This kills nothing. They may have tried to kill netbooks, but that’s like sending Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase to end the Cold War. Not exactly the best candidates for the job.

I’m with Frucci on this one. No Thanks!
akbar56

I am much more interested in the entourage edge coming in march
http://www.entourageedge.com/
Chris S

Specifically – no Flash? Not killing the general purpose computer just yet.

More generally – if the iPad still retains Apple’s AppStore as the only source of software, then this is not going to take out the netbook. I love my Lenovo netbook – it’s small enough to carry at the same time as my work laptop (corporate environment!), and I can install what *I* want, not limited either by Apple’s nor my employer’s policies.

As for the iPad hardware – you need a dongle to connect to just about anything else. You can’t read either an SD card or a USB drive without one of two adapters. (Actually, the USB adapter is described as being for reading from cameras – I don’t know if it even reads effectively from regular USB drives.) Your brand new iPad owner can’t accept a file on a USB stick. Most *picture frames* accept USB sticks!

This strikes me as a “peripheral device” not a “core device”. I use my netbook to load up my iPod – but I don’t see that the iPad can reload my iPod. And while we are comparing those two – the largest iPod holds 160 GB and claims 36 hours of audio playback, so I would still have lots of reason to have an iPod. By comparison, the iPad’s storage space appears to suffer from trying to stay slim and low-powered.

Lots of regular mobile use – off-loading the camera, loading up the iPod (or – horrors! – an non-Apple mp3 player), or refilling Grandma’s picture frame – is just going to run better with a netbook that has lots of built-in connectivity, with no restrictions on apps. And those are all everyday uses, not geek uses.
zio_donnie

wait till your average joe catches up to the fact that there will be no free (and being an apple product probably not even paid) on this and see how the netbook is far from dead.
bkad

Work computers are one thing; home computers are another. I can speak only for myself of course, but what do I most use my computer for?

1. Surf the Internet.
2. Check email, facebook, and comment on blogs (mostly #1)
3. Look at pictures I have taken.
4. Play music and video.
5. But mostly 1.

Though I more serious writing, number crunching, etc. on my home computer, probably 99% these other things which an iphone can already do pretty well and an tablet PC of any make can do even better. I could imagine an ipad replacing the ‘computer I use to check email/surf while watching TV’ function or the ‘thing I use to read before I go to bed’ function performed by my laptop and my iphone. And otherwise, yeah, I would consider a netbook for that category.

But that is just me.
- Anonymous
  
  yes but… an apple tablet had soooo much more potential, think about it, apple fist amdes its dough in the publishing business along with adobe, they both couldnt exist without the other.
  
  for jobs to not include something that has been on tablets for thousands of years ie a STYLUS and lack of handwriting recogntion software or even a simple sketchpad, was an eksbawkz hueg blow to graphic designers/content creators everywhere myself included.
  
  i make a living sketching/drawing/desinging things both on the go on moleskins and legalpads, when im out in the field jotting down notes/sketches to improve/correct/document architectural & mechanical devices i need a pad that can do this one function and do it well.
  
  when the ipod touch came out i rejoiced i thought tomyself alas here is my toolbox! when i realized i could only use third party stylus’s that couldnot duplicate my writing on paper feel or accuracy i was indeed much disapointed. then rumors of the ipad came out i took heart in the fact that maybe just maybe a stylus/handwriting recognition/writing on slippery glass would be a thing of the past.
  
  to this day i will continue to use a moleskin & legalpad in spite of owning 2 ipod touches.
  
  theres a wish list of things we all wanted this thing to do stevo should of paid attention to these lists as they are the SAME IDENTICAL top 10 things that should of been included that everyone has already repeated and rehashed.
  
  i would of thought stevo would of lernt of his mistakes and shortcomings on the ipod touch and tried to correct them, instead he just ploded along and gave us an uninspired giant ipod touch.
friendpuppy

you folks are really thinking inside the box on this one.
RikF

Much as I hate to drag out a tired meme, I think you accidentally a word there.
El Stinko

I dunno about netbooks and laptops, maybe some but I think of those users having slightly broader needs… But I think what Apple has really done is tried to assassinate the iMac. It does what 99% of iMac users need, plus it’s portable. I think the new ‘App’ platform that Apple has designated with this and the iPhone will become the predominant platform for Apple, with the Macintosh delegated to purely high-function needs of a smaller group of professionals. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the iMac completely disappear within 5 years, to be replaced with an entire i-Line of App based computers in different form factors for the masses. Macbooks and the Mac Pro lines will live on though.
- friendpuppy
  
  the iMacs in the future years will adopt the touch technology then fade into whatever the new product is.
demidan

Until Apple buys a clothing manufacturer that builds in huge ass pockets w/USBs and calls them Ipants or Iskirts no, ain’t gonna happen.
Chris Barrus

One niche market a lot of naysayers are ignoring w.r.t. the iPad is the sheer volume of synth/drum machine/generative music apps that already exist for the iPhone. One iPad could potentially replace a pile of expensive kaoss/monode/etc. controllers out there.

Again, it’s a niche market but speaking as someone who uses an iPhone as a musical instrument more than as a phone I’m kinda excited.
- Inventorjack
  
  That’s really interesting. I’d never thought of the iPad appealing to your market. I don’t really know much about the cost of instrument controllers, so how cost effective would the iPad be as a controller compared to the others you mentioned? And do you use the iPhone in a live environment or in the studio? Cool stuff either way.
  - Chris Barrus
    
    That’s really interesting. I’d never thought of the iPad appealing to your market. I don’t really know much about the cost of instrument controllers, so how cost effective would the iPad be as a controller compared to the others you mentioned? And do you use the iPhone in a live environment or in the studio? Cool stuff either way.
    
    Synth and effects controllers run from a couple hundred bucks all the way to skies-the-limit depending on features and the coolness factor of the interface. There’s already some basic MIDI controllers for the iPhone/iTouch andThe iPad makes them 100x more useful. And yes, I’ve used my iPhone live on occasion and very often in the studio. I’m primarily a guitarist, but I used my phone as a drum/rhythm machine, synthesizer, theremin, mellotron, field recorder, emergency guitar tuner/chord dictionary, and even as a recorder for vocals.
    
    Much like in the early life of the iPhone, the usefulness was debatable until the next rev of the OS was released and I feel similarly towards the iPad. I suspect that iPhone/iPad OS 4.0 (probably demoed at next WWDC?) is where we’ll really see the potential blow up.
Tom Andersen

This is the end of the PC and Mac.

PCs and Macs are way too complicated with backup/virus/system software configuration/headaches. No one ‘wants’ one. They just need one to surf the web and do email, etc. Enter Google OS and iPhone OS.

The tablet PC is the ultimate joke: All the complexity of a PC with another layer of complexity tossed on top. ugh.

Why install a PC in an office environment? They need constant babysitting to keep them working and virus free. Data can end up on them. It costs more just to setup a corporate PC than it does to buy an iPad. iPads can be bigger – they also support eternal monitors. Locked down with signed software – that’s the IT dept’s dream.

I don’t see Microsoft doing anything about this.
ian71

“Attack Of the Giant iPhone” does not kill anything.
Anonymous

Until I can run `javac`, `gcc`, `clj`, or `irb`, the iPad is a non-starter.
- t3knomanser
  
  That’s why I threw out my TV. It didn’t run gcc or ghci. Neither does my microwave, so I’m looking for a replacement.
Anonymous

i beg to differ, netbooks can run full fledged windows applications for $200-300 than an ipad which does not run mac osx applications.

im holding out for the macbookpro with touchscreen & touch/user-app configurable keyboard that can actually run both iphone & ipad apps along with serious MAC OSX software.
sally599

Well since I already have a netbook and an e-reader and a mini-wifi tablet (N800) they aren’t really offering anything new. As far as I’m concerned they really missed the boat on this one.
dculberson

Reading those shrill whiny Gizmodo comments makes my teeth grate. I feel sorry for Joel, writing for those monkeys.

I think there’s a lot of promise in this device, and Apple definitely has the hype and muscle to make a serious attempt at delivering the promise. Anybody dismissing it because it doesn’t do x, y, or z is seriously missing the point. There are 300,000,000 people in the united states alone; how many of them do you think care about running gcc? If you’re a manufacturer depending upon selling millions of something, are you going to shoot for the gcc demographic? And if you’re in the gcc demo, and something doesn’t fit that, why does that mean it’s not going to succeed? You do realize that there are markets other than the one you’re in, right?

If the gcc demographic was the only market for portable computers, we would still be stuck with magnesium cased SPARC clones that cost $10,000. While I loved the SPARCbook, it was not a path to a large market full of affordable machines.
Inventorjack

**** the iPad AND netbooks. Here’s what I want: http://www.entourageedge.com/devices/entourage-edge.html

It’s got excellent reviews, does more than an iPad, is more portable and convenient than a netbook, and has enough features to make you drool. Unless something better comes along in the next couple months, I’ll be getting one as soon as they start shipping.
Anonymous

all the convenience of it’s portable cousins, AND not portable? brilliant! no! silly! oh I get it, it’s a joke ipad..the reeal ipad will be unveiled next week when they figure out all the stuff that would make it worthwhile.
Anonymous

Are iPads for iPussies?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctQ-uNoTyyk
Anonymous

Gearheads who need to do confusing and alarming things like “run irb” already have plenty of choices for neato hardware.

Apple is betting that a work/play oriented tool based around the iPod/iPhone form factor is exactly good enough for most people. I am failing to see why this is such a disappointment.

Honestly, Apple has made a business out of giving tech fans and developers plenty of opportunity without having to make every single device they create be some sort of holy grail for that most impossible to please demographic.

A demographic that is /tiny/ compared to that demographic that sees a shiny little thing they can take on trips that gives them about as much as they need. How many of us now carry a S-M-R-T phone for 80% of what we do? What if this device gave you another 12%?

And yes, you can be *sure* that Apple spent more money than god on R&D for the ideal market, and made some hard choices about what is and is not included in the feature set. Find someone who loves their iPhone. Ask them what they love about it. See what you can incrementally add to make that love stronger. Profit.
t3knomanser

Which really, is to say: no, this isn’t a netbook killer. But that’s mostly because netbooks are already a niche market that nobody cares about. I fiddled with an Eee for awhile, and ignoring the garbage keyboard, it really wasn’t anything exciting. I already have a laptop, and while a 15″ laptop isn’t exactly svelte, it’s portable enough to be ported and used anywhere.

Netbooks are of interest to a very small segment of the population. The iPad, I think, will be of interest to a larger portion of the population. I think the overlap on this Venn Diagram is very small.
Bottlekid

I don’t have a dog in this fight. I think Apple makes some good stuff and is an amazing hype generating machine. I was curious to see if these might be a netbook alternative for my school, but they simply cost more and can do less. End of argument.
- Anonymous
  
  they simply cost more and can do less
  
  amen
zio_donnie

“But that’s mostly because netbooks are already a niche market that nobody cares about”

so where did they sell 500 million units? last year i think they outsold laptops. netbooks are far from a niche, if you want an example here in Greece every school student got one for free last year. and i think that something similar was going on in Portugal too. that’s more than 250.000 netbooks in 2 small countries alone.

if you want anecdotal evidence i own 2 netbboks and all of my friends have one too. for most of them it has practically replaced their first pc laptop or desktop since they mostly use it for mail, IM, music and facebook.

so you were saying?
Anonymous

Pardon my French (just copied a post of mine from a French website)

Je ne pense pas que les NetBooks ont du mouron Ã se faire car, Ã l’avantage du netbook :
- Taille et poids Ã©quivalents Ã la tablette
- Protection naturelle par le boitier, peut se porter dans n’importe quel sac sans faire attention
- 250 Go de stockage pour 300 Euros (Asus 1005PE). Heum, je n’ose mÃªme pas regarder les chiffres pour cette tablette : 64Gb???
- Un vrai clavier, toujours sur soi !
- 14 heures de batterie pour les gÃ©nÃ©rations rÃ©centes
- Je rÃ©dige cette note affalÃ© sur mon canapÃ©, le netbook posÃ© tranquillement sur une de mes jambes repliÃ©e, sans le tenir Ã la main, le clavier horizontal pour taper, l’Ã©cran vertical pour lire sans problÃ¨me. Je devrais faire comment avec une tablette Apple ?

En conclusion, la tablette d’apple sera surement un netbook killer Ã condition de la transporter en mÃªme temps qu’un disque dur USB (si il y a une prise ??) et un clavier… Bonjour la logistique ;)
Les points sur lequels les Netbooks devraient peut Ãªtre travailler :
- AmÃ©liorer la rÃ©solution de l’Ã©cran
- AmÃ©liorer les performances, particuliÃ¨rement en vidÃ©o
- Peut Ãªtre mettre un peu de tactile, quoique…

Je suis curieux de voir la suite cependant.
Anonymous

I can definitley see replacing my 4yr old MacBook with this.
I have a nice iMac which I use for photos, video, music, etc.

The iPad would cover 95% of what I need a computer for at home which is email, twitter, google reader, facebook. In other words web apps.

You can’t compare it to a $500 wintel netbook because they’re completely differnt products. Much like an iPhone and a blackberry are completely different.
- Anonymous
  
  Okay, they are completely different products.
  
  I need something to WORK with. I need to type papers for hours at a time, and leave JSTOR open in the background. I need to be able to send files freely. I need to be able to use Smart Classroom data projectors with one out to the projector, and one in from my USB thumb drive – so I can easily transfer from my desktop I use to write to my portable I use to teach.
  
  No multitasking.
  No video out without proprietary adapter.
  No USB without proprietary adapter.
  No keyboard!
  
  And no, I know how to touch type. No keyboard = no home row = no touch type.
  
  So am I going to spend $250 on a netbook or $500 and go without?
  
  The iPad is a toy.
straponego

For my needs, this thing is way too restricted. But when I think about all the, ah, what’s the nice word… non-techies… who ask me for help shopping for and installing Windows laptops, this thing is the perfect answer. I’ve already sworn off of doing any unpaid tech support for these folks (okay, except family). All 99% of them need is a gadget that gives them:

1) Facebook
2) Email
and either
3) Porn
or
4) Lolcats (Hi Mom!)

This will work pretty well for all of that. Portable and easily cleaned, to boot.

And I’ll never again have to explain malware/virus safety, or help them recover/reinstall when they didn’t listen.
billgrove

Not even a CHANCE of it killing netbooks. A tablet is neat, but one just running the iphone OS is good for… well… a phone. It will be a great eBook reader, and will browse the web, but heck, it won’t even do Flash until they fix that! It’s just like the old Windows CE tablets that came out years ago. They were novel, but I would NEVER consider swapping one for an ACTUAL computer. Netbooks are real computer, the iPad is not.
Anonymous

I`was expecting something different…
Like that : http://tiny.cc/Qix8S
But Time will tell…
Anonymous

I think this will be a great home device for internet addicts who want to browse from the sofa with out the hassle of a laptop size or being tethered to a desk top
Anonymous

I’m waiting for the thinner iLiner to come out. It should show less and I don’t have very heavy data flow.
andygates

You know, everyone who comments is going to be biased against it (I am too) because we’re not consumers, we’re interactors. We love to blether on forums and blogs, not just fire off one line in tweetbook and then watch a movie.

Of course we don’t like it, we’re not the target market.
zio_donnie

RE: keyboard dock.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ziodonnie/4309498007/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ziodonnie/4310239176/

had this touchscreen device some time ago…
Avram / Moderator

This looks great for me. It’ll probably do about 90% of what I use my laptop for, weigh less than a third as much, and will fit in my regular shoulder bag.

I could even skip over having a laptop entirely. Desktop computer for home use; iPad for carrying around.

There’s an SSH client available for the iPhone (I think you have to jailbreak the device first). That could let me use the iPad as a portable interface to a desktop machine for some tasks that the iPad can’t handle on its own.
- arkizzle / Moderator
  
  Avram,
  
  TouchTerm is an SSH client for the iPhone that’s available in the AppStore. It’s excellent.
  
  http://jbrink.net/touchterm/
- Anonymous
  
  I’m with you. I’m getting exhausted with all this pontificating from techies who always, ALWAYS demand that everything is the top of the line at Tic Tac prices. Rob’s post is exactly right – the market of 40-somethings+ who want to sit on the couch, watch TV, check e-mail, and maybe even start using Facebook is about 10,000 larger than the audience of geeks who care about everything else.
  
  This thing is going to be huge.
busydoingnothing

No.
Daemon

As I said in the other thread, I can get a netbook with a 10hr battery life, a real keyboard, windows 7 (read: real software selection) and a decently sized HD for $500.

Apple fanboys are, no doubt, drooling over it just because it has the apple logo on it, but I’d rather spend my money to get something with decent hardware and no iFascism.