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For most people any laptop is an indulgence. As is an mp3 player, xbox and any other gadget you care to mention.

In fact looking around my appartment I see nothing that I consider a necessity, even the computer I'm typing this on is something I can live without, as is my TV, all my books, my furniture and most the food in my fridge. For that matter I could probably live in an apartment half the size of this one so even this apartment is an indulgence. Any argument based on 'necessity' is stupid and flawed.


I can't speak for the rest of the world, but that certainly doesn't seem to be true from what I've seen. The vast majority of people I see using and buying netbooks are just normal folk who want a small and cheap laptop. In fact at the university where I live I see more netbooks among the humanities students than among the the science and engineering students.

I also know several people for whom a netbook is the first laptop they've owned. They've considered getting a latop before, but always found them to big and/or expensive.


True, and neither is a home internet connection. But I doubt most people here would be willing to give that up either.

So what you're really stating is your opinion?

Seriously, why do you come on a technology news site?
The whole point of technology is to provide a convenience over manual processes. So, given this is a technology news site, your argument is completely pointless.



Got any stats to back up that bold claim, or is it just a guess made up on your part to emphasise your earlier point?
The reason I'm asking you to back up your claim is because my own personal observations have seen more non-geeks netbook owners who were after ultra-portable devices than geeks after new toys.


You don't need an internet connection, yet you do have one.
You don't need to browse OSNews nor reply. Yet you did.
If you really beieved non-nessesity technology should be culled, then you wouldn't even be on here to make your point.


Self-indulgence drives technology.
If we stuck to the bare minimum of what we needed, then you wouldn't even have a computer let alone braudband internet connection to argue this perculiar point on.


But netbooks are still much lighter and more compact. Thus they are more convenient, thus they are more practical and thus it makes more sense for her to buy a netbook.
I really don't see why you don't get this point.


Are you a hippy by any chance?

Edited 2009-04-22 12:26 UTC

My this seemed to have touched a nerve with some, my the mere suggestion that some are buying this merely to fulfill a need to get in on the latest fad gadget.

Now go back to the highlighed quote:

This is to say it sums up what many are in fact buying these for. How long have netbooks been around, and yet not a single business client of ours has ever expressed any interest. Netbook sales: 0%, Laptop sales: 100%. That is a pretty damning figure when I consider what businesses seem to value. In talks with other people I know in the B2B/VAR/Consultant, the same statistics seem to carry over.

Sure they may evolve into a decent tool, but please do not give me some bullshit at this point that these are not merely geek toys at the moment. I think I have seen quite a few comments, no make that an abundance of comments over the past years, that give a pretty clear picture of why people want these.

When these netbooks first arrived, people were merely salivating at getting their hands on them, yet I never did see a good suggestion as to why someone wanted these. Good for the person in particular that actually finds one useful. But the sales as a whole pretty much indicates to me that young people are just buying these up out of consumer fetish.



After the desktop and laptop, it begs the question of what the use for a netbook other than to catch the train so to speak. Maybe this is just a generational gap. But I think it speaks volumes how defensive people are to the mere suggestions they paid for a fad. To me I find this no different than those that purchase the latest greatest video card every 6 months just to have the fastest card available.

This is just a comment about cell phones. I'm not enamored of all the various things that can be done with them, but people should consider a basic cell phone a necessity - it is the greatest emergency tool ever invented.

Since probably 95% of people only do email and surf the web with a rare foré into writing a short document, the netbook is supremely well suited to their needs. Why lug around a 5-8 lb. item when a 2.5 lb. netbook does everything you need? By your logic, no one "needs" a laptop either. They can use a ball point or wait till they get home to work on a computer. Who needs to work on the train or bus...

By that reasoning, any computer or technological advancement could be considered an "indulgence."

Why purchase clothing, when some animal skins would protect you from the elements? Why buy decent cooking knives, when you could just prepare a meal using some sharpened rock?



Well, yeah - that's how most commerce works: you trade money for convenience.

t

Edited 2009-04-22 23:06 UTC