Comments on: Maybe an Android Netbook Isn’t a Good Idea After All

By: remote desktop software

remote desktop software — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:23:58 +0000

I definitely agree. If Androids app catalog was a LOT bigger this might make sense, but until now it sits awkwardly between laptops and smartphones without the appeal of either. It’s a little early for something like this.

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 03:09:25 +0000

i think android would be fine, on the right device. that device isn’t a netbook. netbooks are too close to ‘traditional’ PCs (they are traditional PCs, just smaller).

i think android might make a lot more sense if it was one a thin e-reader-like device with NUI options (touch, voice, pen).

By: Glenn

Glenn — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:25:41 +0000

Kevin,I agree with both of your positions. The many questions relating to form factor are not articulated well enough (in public, in press, or -least of all-, in marketing) for clear answers to be appreciated. Since there are physical realities involved in people’s mobile environment there will eventually be a settled set of devices which will allow us transparent access to and management of our information regardless of to our circumstances. The devices will cooperate with one another and the “cloud” will include our own part of it as well.
For now, you are right. Eventually, you will be right again.

By: Kevin C. Tofel

Kevin C. Tofel — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:50:22 +0000

True, I am a good target for a device like this. But at $250, it doesn’t represent a good value to me over a netbook.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 12:16:48 +0000

Look how Open Pandora is doing with Angstrom linux distro.. IMHO both Android & Ubutnu suck.. it’s time for some other distro to thread the path of better netbook future.

By: Oliver

Oliver — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 02:57:48 +0000

> Even though it has web access and a solid browser,
> it doesn’t offer me much more than a solid smartphone.

Didn’t you say you live in a browser? So it offers you that, plus a bigger screen and a better keyboard than a solid smartphone. You’re their target customer.

I am not, however :)

By: Shane

Shane — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 02:48:18 +0000

The App Store does have a lot of apps but how many would translate over to a larger screen? Will the current apps even scale or would it require a rewrite with a fluid layout manager? I’m unsure what the layout manager is like on the iPhone.

And a more pithy question is how many of those apps would lose their luster if not done on a tiny device like a phone? Not that I’m arguing they all would, I’m genuinely curious.

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:41:12 +0000

What about a larger form-factor iPhone? They touted it as having the full Mac OS on it. The app store does have a lot of apps…