SecretMethod70

(Yes yes, I know, correlation != causation. Just go with the flow here, it'll make for a more interesting discussion.)

iPad Brings the Growth of Netbooks to a Halt [CHART]

As much as Apple's corporate attitude disturbs me, and as ridiculous as the hype surrounding Apple products like the "magical" iPad (their word, not mine) can get, I see this as a natural progression of computing technology.

Netbooks are an inelegant solution to the problem of convenient mobile computing, and tablets seem to be a more natural way of accomplishing the same goals. That said, the problem I see with the iPad specifically as a replacement is that it's far less powerful and more expensive than your average netbook, which is already far less powerful than a laptop. If the technology industry still advanced mostly based on quality rather than hype, that wouldn't be such a problem with webOS-based tablets apparently coming down the pipeline (not to mention Android, but I think webOS might be the better OS for tablet implementation). Instead, I have to wonder if Apple's penchant for saying "magical" and "the best" over and over again, and the media eating it up, already positions the iPad too far above other devices, no matter how superior they may be. (If there's one thing Apple clearly does better than anyone else, it's social psychology... and that's kind of scary.)

With the iPad and other tablets coming to market, do you see any reason to consider buying a netbook in the future? I don't. Do you have any immediate plans to buy a netbook or tablet?

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Cynthetiq

I bought a netbook during this cycle that is being reported.

I'd also say that many tech people do a hold when something awesome is coming down the pike.

I thought of buying an ipad instead of a netbook, but once I used the ipad and held it for 10-15 minutes in my one hand, I found it heavy and tiring.

I had to buy a netbook not just because of an issue, but because I needed a USB port to attach my credit card reader device. Now i know of an iphone/potentially ipad device, but when I know something works on the PC I don't wonder "will it work on a mac?"

I really do think that it's a matter of the market continuing to splinter, smartphones have found their legs, and same thing for the netbook market.

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snowy

Netbooks are all over campus these days because they're easier to carry around than laptops. I've seen 1 iPad on campus and it wasn't in a class. I really don't see them being practical for notetaking. I got a netbook specifically so I wouldn't have to write anymore. I don't see a tablet accomplishing this as well as the netbook does, even with its smaller keyboard. Without a USB port, you also can't plug in a jump/thumb drive, which is a pretty essential piece of college equipment these days. With access to a large network drive while on campus (and via VPN off-campus) a netbook is great for school. I can run multiple Office programs (Word, PowerPoint, and OneNote are typical) on the netbook without issue. One thing to consider when looking at the graph is when people are buying things like netbooks for school. That seasonal buying might be a contributing factor here.

I think what you buy depends more on what you need. There are a lot of people out there who aren't good with technology, and I imagine an iPad really appeals to them for its ease of use. Personally, I'll wait and see what happens in the tablet market. Right now I don't have any needs that a tablet would fill better than my netbook or laptop.

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Shadowex3

I know several people with netbooks and one guy with an iPad. The people with netbooks said they basically needed a portable terminal for working their Deep Magic on various computers or something they could type notes/essays on bloody fast that was very light and then swap it out for a computer at home.

Mr. iPad said he saw people playing with the pads in Star Trek and said "I want one of THOSE".

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Rekna

The graph above is percent growth which is very misleading. It is basically impossible to hold a constant percent growth. When you have very little total units sold it is easy to have a high percent growth. When you have a large number of total units sold it is very hard to have a high percent growth.

Redjake

QFT

IPad won't kill netbooks. Netbooks are too versatile and cost effective.

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Shauk

<--- netbook owner

I think iPads are more hype than substance.

^--posted from a netbook

ASU2003

I don't understand either one's desirability. My 17" MacBook Pro is my netbook. It is lightweight compared to the laptop I had in college.

I think if the iPad can get color & video college textooks (all of them for the college), then it might be more useful. It needs to get pre-loaded (podcast like) video of the news & weather in the morning (possibly from newspaper sources. And I would like to see Mac OS X on it.

I can also see someone making a iPad into a ;netbook' with the addidtion of an external keyboard.

Shadowex3

Honestly for once I do agree with an iFan, if apple were to actually go open platform and standards compliant the iPad would probably have a 50% market share in netbooks overnight because there are so many people who do basically want a star-trek pad to use place and use wherever.

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snowy

You can't fit a 17" MacBook on most of the desks in the various lecture halls around campus--they're too narrow and the MacBook is far too wide. A small netbook, however, fits perfectly. I didn't carry my laptop to school before getting the netbook; even a 15.4" laptop is too big for most of the desks. My netbook is smaller and weighs less than all of my textbooks.

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Baraka_Guru

Maybe that's because the desks are meant for books, not computers.

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snowy

Some of these are so small you can't fit a full-size notebook (a regular ol' paper one) on them either.

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