Counterpoint: Netbooks Not Going Down Without a Fight

I was ready to say goodbye to the netbook. Obviously I know it's not going anywhere tomorrow, and I'll probably still get one for my birthday, but I imagined netbooks would have a fate similar to Heathcliff's in Wuthering Heights. On the one hand, fiercely loved by its supporters (Cathy) and on the other, extreme hate, distrust and even occasional name calling from the other side (Hindley Earnshaw ... and, well, everyone else in the book). After that the comparisons fall apart, but fear not, the netbook's future is not nearly as dismal as Heathcliff's.



Despite earlier predictions that the netbook may not make it past 2010, we're hearing (ok, reading) reports that its future may actually be bright. In a blog post by Mike Elgan, he talked about how there are ideas "out there" that netbooks are actually going to kill desktop PCs and laptops. Interesting. We've heard laptops will kill netbooks, and now netbooks will kill laptops. How can you know which is true?

When you think about why we people buy netbooks that's where you can see that the odds of these compact laptops actually going extinct are pretty slim. Someday they may join the ranks of the elephant, wild Bactrian camel, rhinoceros and northern hairy-nosed wombat on the endangered species list, but for now it looks like they could stick around for while. People aren't buying their netbooks to replace their laptops, they're buying them as a supplement or, in the case of students and those attracted to the low price of netbooks, with the idea that it's better than nothing. For those reasons alone I will completely contradict myself and say that you can expect to see netbooks make it well into 2010 ... maybe not 2011.

For more blog posts, that are far less contradictory, please keep reading the suggestions below, or you can check out or netbook review site for ideas on which pocket-sized companion is right for you.

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