Beware — “Tens of Millions” of NetTabs About to Attack!
Image Credit: The Next Bench
Do we really need another name for devices that are smaller than a notebook and bigger than a smartphone? I’m finally seeing the name MID, or Mobile Internet Device, lose traction but now it looks like it could be replaced with “NetTabs.” Ugh. No matter what you call them — slates, tablets or MIDs — they’re poised to sell big in 2010: to the tune of tens of millions, says a Deloitte report quoted in the Telegraph.
”NetTabs are expected to meet specific consumer needs compared to smartphones on the one hand – which are still a bit small for watching videos or even Web browsing – and notebooks, netbooks, and ultra-thin PCs, on the other – which are too big, heavy, or expensive.”
Obviously, the basis for at least some of these thoughts is around an Apple tablet device, expected to appear later this month. But smartphones and other handhelds are maturing to drive this market as well.
While I don’t agree with the name, I do see a point in the first part of the NetTab definition — these devices are “expected to meet specific consumer needs.” I take that to mean media playback, web browsing and other popular content consumption activities. Why make that distinction? Because when I look from the first Origami devices to the latest HP / Microsoft slate shown off at CES, I’m convinced that this market won’t fully succeed with a desktop operating system and paradigm.
Yes, the touch features of Windows 7 are ideally slated for a slate, but all of the extra baggage and functionality of Windows simply isn’t needed for a device targeted at content consumption. If and when this market takes off — as I expect it will this year — it will be interesting to see which devices have sold and which really haven’t. My money is on devices that meet specific consumer needs without much extra native functionality. After all — thriving app stores can fill functionality gaps quite nicely.
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The name “NetTabs” is way better than “MIDs” or “slates”. I think this will catch on.
NetTab. Sounds like a pill that makes you have dreamy, soft sleep all night. :)
I have always referred to my TC1100 as my “couchputer,” but I doubt that will catch on.
“Yes, the touch features of Windows 7 are ideally slated for a slate” Someone’s got slates on the brain :)
My name for “bigger than pocketable” (screen >= 5″ or 6″), but “less than a laptop” (screen <= 12") is "mid-range" or "mid-size" device. Not "MID", but "mid", as in middle.
For me, MID == pocketable non-phone. Probably a tablet, but I tend to lump small clamshells into that group too. That doesn't exactly fit Intel's definition, but I don't care.
UMPC == probably could be used as a synonym for "mid-range", but that name seems to be archaic, and imply pre-Atom systems that are overly power hungry and heat generating.
So, what I have:
a mid-range tablet (7" Samsung Q1 Ultra, running Ubuntu NBR)
a mid-range clamshell (netbook; Dell mini-9 running Dell-buntu)
What I want:
a mid-range tablet (10" Android slate … or maybe the eDGe "dual-book")
When netbooks were still something new, many people suggested that they will be the revolutionary product that will make Linux mainstream. Many articles have been written about netbook-specific variants of Linux.
And look where we are now. Almost all netbooks are sold with Windows and I expect the same thing to happen with these tablets (if they really do catch on).
The Apple tablet might be something completely different, though(oversized iPhone with a twist, my guess).
Touch features of Win 7 are not slate-ready. The menus, widgets and other control features are just not finger-friendly. I own a slate-style PC (Viliv S5) and I can’t imagine using Windows without a stylus of some kind and I don’t see slates becoming popular without finger friendliness. Sorry inkers, you’re not the killer app.