Now though, some companies aren’t happy and would like to see Netbooks well and truly put back in their place.
Consumers just love Netbooks mainly because they don’t have to spend a fortune to get one of these ultraportable devices for connecting to the Internet and they are cute and easy to use.
For the consumer, Netbooks have just got better and better. They used to be much smaller than they are now, with tiny keyboards and screens that you had to squint to see.
Today you can buy Netbooks which have quite respectable screens with almost full size keyboards and as far as appearances go, some of these devices are indistinguishable from the lower spec laptops.
Those days are now well and truly numbered as it looks like that’s all going to change according to a Digitimes report, thanks to two of the industry’s biggest influences.
Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, and Microsoft, the software giant, have decided that there should be a limit of 10.2 inches placed on the screen sizes of netbooks that will be running Windows 7 operating system.
This isn’t going to please Netbook manufacturers who have been cashing in on the public’s demand for low cost devices by bring them the much coveted larger sized netbooks at a fraction of the cost of a fully fledged laptop. Nope, you will not be seeing an 11.6 inch Netbook running with Windows 7.
If a manufacturer insists on making a Netbook with a larger screen size, then they will not be able to take advantage of the lower licensing rates on Windows 7 for Netbooks.
Of course we’re all waiting to see what impact the soon to arrive Pine Trail Netbook platform with HD playback capabilities may well have on sales. Will it eat into sales of traditional Netbooks as well as Ultra Thin CULV machines, the new darling of the industry? Possibly!
We’ll have to wait and see if consumer demand for a Pine Trail Netbook with a larger screen size puts a spanner in the works and scuppers Intel and Microsoft’s’ strategy.
With Netbooks, anything could happen.
