I Am Evidence Of iPad Impact On Netbooks

Yesterday Todd wrote about about how Asustek, commonly known as Asus, had lower shipments of netbooks in the third quarter of this year. PCWorld has further reporting on this and rightly points out that Asus was losing marketshare before the iPad was announced. I need to look no further than my own usage for further evidence of the impact the iPad has on netbooks. My Eee PC 1000HE had been my main portable computing device while traveling or moving around in the house. Since I've owned the iPad I have barely turned the Eee PC on, though I did take it with me on my trip in June as backup in case I couldn't use the iPad to write blog posts. Right now if I did not own a netbook I doubt that I would buy one. The main reason why I don't think I need a netbook is that I have found apps for the iPad that I can use to do whatever I need to do. My main frustration with the iPad is that occasionally I encounter web sites that don't render fully in Safari on the iPad. From time to time I also stumble on content that is in Flash that I cannot see on the iPad and that can be frustrating. Another reason why the iPad can replace a netbook is its support for Bluetooth keyboards. When I put the iPad in the Griffin A-Frame stand and connect the Apple Wireless keyboard to the iPad, I end up with a writing tool that has a bigger screen and keyboard than the Eee PC 1000HE. I do the majority of my writing in Evernote with little formatting beyond some simple HTML markup, but if I need to work with MS Office files I can do so with OfficeHD or any one of the other MS Office capatible apps for the iPad. What I have found to be important to me is what I can do with the iPad versus how I do it. Can I do things on the iPad the same way that I do on a Windows PC? No. Can I do what I need to get done on an iPad? Yes. I realize that there are people for whom how they need to get things done is as important is what they need do, and they will need the full capability of a Windows or OS X computer. I am not saying this because I think netbooks ought to go away, in fact I still see a use for them. If I need a portable computer that runs Windows, I would prefer a netbook over a full notebook computer. The netbook is smaller, tends to have better battery life, and is cheaper than most notebook computers. For me portability and battery life are more important than power, so a netbook is a good enough Windows computer for me.

Social Pro Daily

I Am Evidence Of iPad Impact On Netbooks

Frank McPherson

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Frank McPherson