By zxmacman
zxmac8384@yahoo.com
About a year ago when Apple CEO Steve Jobs was asked how the company was planning to respond with a product to compete with the growing netbook category, his response was along the lines of, "Essentially, the iPhone is a netbook."
As an owner of an iPhone, I scoffed at the notion my cell phone cradled in my hand could be thought of as a netbook. Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my iPhone. It is one of he most revolutionary computer devices I have ever owned. But it took me purchasing a netbook to convince me that Jobs might just have a point.
The Dell Mini 10 I purchased had a nice build and didn't seem to be cheap at all. It came loaded with Windows XP and Microsoft Works, which seemed adequate for light duty web surfing, word processing and such.
However, after a week of testing, installing software, configuring and re-configuring, I was pretty much a frustrated netbook user. XP is clunky at best, and I had constant problems with the small keyboard. I boxed it up and returned it to the store.
Now I think I understand what Jobs meant. If a netbook is designed to provide a user a highly mobile device that’s always accessible, he’s right on. What’s more, I found the small keyboard on the Dell Mini hard to used and made lots of typing errors on it. While the “virtual” keyboard on my iPhone has its challenges as well, I must admit it compares well with the cramped "physical" keyboard on the Mini.
And here’s an important point. My iPhone has something that most netbooks don’t possess…always on email and Internet access. That’s huge. In the end, returned to my 15-inch work-issued MacBook Pro and having mostly gotten the “netbook fever” out of my system.
When I need something highly portable for light word processing or to make a “to do” list or look up something on Google, I don’t have to packet anything additional. I just reach in my pocket for my iPhone. No netbook today has that feature.
As an owner of an iPhone, I scoffed at the notion my cell phone cradled in my hand could be thought of as a netbook. Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my iPhone. It is one of he most revolutionary computer devices I have ever owned. But it took me purchasing a netbook to convince me that Jobs might just have a point.The Dell Mini 10 I purchased had a nice build and didn't seem to be cheap at all. It came loaded with Windows XP and Microsoft Works, which seemed adequate for light duty web surfing, word processing and such.
However, after a week of testing, installing software, configuring and re-configuring, I was pretty much a frustrated netbook user. XP is clunky at best, and I had constant problems with the small keyboard. I boxed it up and returned it to the store.
Now I think I understand what Jobs meant. If a netbook is designed to provide a user a highly mobile device that’s always accessible, he’s right on. What’s more, I found the small keyboard on the Dell Mini hard to used and made lots of typing errors on it. While the “virtual” keyboard on my iPhone has its challenges as well, I must admit it compares well with the cramped "physical" keyboard on the Mini.And here’s an important point. My iPhone has something that most netbooks don’t possess…always on email and Internet access. That’s huge. In the end, returned to my 15-inch work-issued MacBook Pro and having mostly gotten the “netbook fever” out of my system.
When I need something highly portable for light word processing or to make a “to do” list or look up something on Google, I don’t have to packet anything additional. I just reach in my pocket for my iPhone. No netbook today has that feature.
